American Documentary

Overview

Brooklyn, N.Y. – December 13, 2023 – American Documentary’s POV and POV Shorts and America ReFramed programs were celebrated during the 39th Annual IDA Documentary Awards which recognizes the best nonfiction films and programs of the year. POV Season 36 won the award for “Best Curated Series” while POV Shorts Season 6 received the “Best Short-Form Series” award. America Reframed’s A Decent Home directed by Sara Terry, received the “Best TV Feature Documentary or Mini-Series” Honorable Mention. Announcements were made during IDA’s virtual ceremony on December 12, 2023. The accolades add to this year’s streak of industry and media recognition and the continued success at the IDA Awards: the organization now has seven curated series wins since 2009.

Premiering on June 26, 2023, POV Season 36 features an international selection of critically-acclaimed films, including the 2023 Oscar® nominee for Best Documentary Feature, A House Made of Splinters, a moving portrait of Ukrainian children temporarily separated from their parents as war rages on the nearby Eastern front. Breakout films and festival favorites including While We Watched (which was nominated in the Best Feature Documentary category at the IDA awards), Liquor Store Dreams and Fire Through Dry Grass earned praise from press, have won awards or have made critics’ lists as awards season contenders such as unseen (premiering March 18, 2024). POV Shorts continues to flourish in Season 6 with festival standouts and award winners including IDA Best Short Documentary shortlist nominee Between Earth and Sky, the award-winning Under G-d and Freshwater by celebrated director dream hampton.

Sara Terry’s film A Decent Home, addresses urgent issues of class and economic inequity through the lives of mobile home park owners. The IDA recognized the documentary with the “Best TV Feature Documentary or Mini-Series” Special Mention for the courage to tell this urgent and important story that is all but ignored in the U.S.

A Decent Home aired as part of America ReFramed’s landmark 11th season.

"Each season we strive to highlight unique stories and perspectives from the documentary field, presenting films which not only speak to our hearts and minds but that chart our organization’s curatorial DNA as we continue to champion bold, authentic filmmaking that engages and inspires. On behalf of American Documentary, the staff and I are honored by IDA’s recognition of our series programming. IDA is a beacon of stewardship, support and advocacy for documentary films and film teams around the world and deeply enriches the culture of this field. We are thrilled to be able to share the brilliant work on this year's POV and POV Shorts and we are immensely proud of the filmmakers who contributed to the power and strength of our seasons’ showcase," said Erika Dilday, Executive Director of American Documentary and Executive Producer of POV.

POV and POV Shorts programs are available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website.

Follow @povdocs on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

About

About POV Shorts

POV Shorts launched in 2018 as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. The series is known for its curation, and for broadcasting award-winning titles, including: Emmy® winner The Love Bugs, Emmy® nominated Earthrise, Water Warriors, The Changing Same, Oscar® nominated Joe’s Violin and A Night at the Garden and the Oscar® shortlisted Stay Close, A Broken House and Aguilas. POV Shorts won Best Short Form Series at the IDA Documentary Awards in 2022 and 2020.

About POV

Produced by American Documentary, POV is the longest-running independent documentary showcase on American television. Since 1988, POV has presented films on PBS that capture the full spectrum of the human experience, with a long commitment to centering women and people of color in front of, and behind, the camera. The series is known for introducing generations of viewers to groundbreaking works like Tongues Untied, American Promise and Minding The Gap and innovative filmmakers including Jonathan Demme, Laura Poitras and Nanfu Wang. In 2018, POV Shorts launched as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. All POV programs are available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website.

POV goes “beyond the broadcast” to bring powerful nonfiction storytelling to viewers wherever they are. Free educational resources accompany every film and a community network of thousands of partners nationwide work with POV to spark dialogue around today’s most pressing issues. POV continues to explore the future of documentary through innovative productions with partners such as The New York Times and The National Film Board of Canada and on platforms including Snapchat and Instagram.

POV films and projects have won 46 Emmy Awards, 27 George Foster Peabody Awards, 15 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards and the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award.

Learn more at pbs.org/pov.

About American Documentary, Inc.

American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia organization dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media outlets. AmDoc is a catalyst for public culture, developing collaborative strategic engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, online and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and community participation.

Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, the Open Society Foundations, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Park Foundation, and Perspective Fund. Additional funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Sage Foundation, Nancy Blachman and David desJardins, Chris and Nancy Plaut, Abby Pucker, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.