American Documentary

Overview

New York, N.Y. –August 24, 2023 – POV Shorts announced today they have acquired three new short documentaries to close out their sixth season: When the LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood, directed by POV Shorts alum Nathan Truesdell; When It’s Good, It’s Good, directed by Alejandra Vasquez; and POV alum Emily Cohen Ibañez’s, and Débora Souza Silva’s, Sol in the Garden, a co-release with Time Studios. Completing the lineup is the previously announced, Between Earth & Sky, directed by Andrew Nadkarni.

These films complement POV Shorts Season Six commitment to highlighting topical storylines addressing religious rights to advance pro-abortion argument, surviving trauma and abuse, environmental racism, intergenerational relationships and childhood aspirations. Each season, POV Shorts offers the best and boldest independent non-fiction short films from recent film festivals and the POV (America's longest-running documentary series) catalog.

All four films will be available to stream at POV.org and on the PBSApp beginning October 5, 2023. Check local listings for broadcast dates. In addition to standard closed captioning, PBS, in partnership with audio description serviceDiCapta, provides real time audio interpretations for audiences with sensory disabilities.

“With these new acquisitions, POV Shorts completes its Season 6 and marks a new collaboration with Time Studios,” said Opal H. Bennett, Executive Producer, POV Shorts and Senior Producer, POV. “I am delighted to be working again with alums of POV Shorts, Nathan Truesdell and POV, Emily Cohen Ibañez. We are also pleased to showcase the works of artists new to the series Débora Souza Silva, Alejandra Vasquez and Andrew Nadkarni. All have crafted powerful and important stories that we’re honored to bring to public television."

POV SHORTS Season 6 Part 2 Schedule:

Episode 4: Boom and Bust

When the LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood

Director: Nathan Truesdell (Balloonfest --POV Shorts, Season 3--, The Water Slide)

Producers: Will Lennon (Speaking is Difficult), Kat Nguyen (Not So Pretty)

Tensions rise on a busy street as news organizations and local residents witness an extremely volatile situation turn into a literal powder keg.

14:14 MIN | USA | 2022

2023 TheWrap’s Shortlist Film Festival, Winner Industry Prize

2023 San Diego Underground Film Festival, Winner Selections Jury Award

2023 Slamdance Film Festival, Nominee, Grand Jury Prize, Best Documentary Short

2023 Florida Film Festival, Nominee, Grand Jury Prize, Best Documentary Short

2022 Hamptons International Film Festival, Winner Golden Starfish Award, Documentary Short

When It's Good, It’s Good

Director/Producer: Alejandra Vasquez (Going Varsity in Mariachi)

A filmmaker returns to her hometown in West Texas to document the effects of the boom-and-bust nature of the oil industry. An intimate portrait of family, memory, and economy, When It’s Good, It’s Good centers around life in an oil town called Denver City, Texas.

10 MIN | USA | 2022

2023 IndieMemphis Microcinema

2022 BAMcinemaFest

2022 EarthX Film Festival

2022 New Orleans Film Festival

2022 Indy Shorts International Film Festival

2022 Social & Economic Justice Film Festival

Episode 5: Sol in the Garden

Sol in the Garden

Directors/Producers: Débora Souza Silva (Black Mothers Love & Resist) and Emily Cohen Ibañez (Bodies At War/Mina, Fruits Of Labor)

A formerly incarcerated woman catches the sun as she nourishes a garden with her new community.

21 MIN | USA | 2022

2023 San Francisco International Film (World Premiere)

2023 BlackStar Film Festival

2023 Indy Shorts Film Festival

Episode 6 - Season Finale: Between Earth and Sky

Between Earth & Sky

Director: Andrew Nadkarni

Producers: Swetha Regunathan (If There is Light), Katie Schiller (The Principles of Pleasure), Andrew Nadkarni (Actual People)

25 MIN | USA, Costa Rica | 2023
Nalini Nadkarni is a world-renowned ecologist who climbs trees in the rainforest canopy to study “what grows back” after an ecological disturbance. In 2015, her rope snapped on a research climb, and she fell fifty feet from a tree and nearly died. After making a miraculous recovery, Nalini begins to explore a new research subject - herself. Between Earth & Sky follows Nalini as she prepares for another research climb in Monteverde, Costa Rica, before considering retirement from the field. In the process, she unearths the roots of other disturbances she faced throughout her life, as the daughter of mixed Indian-Jewish immigrant parents who prized high achievement and contribution above all else.

As a child, trees provided a place of solace and safety to Nalini, so much so that she swore an oath to protect them. Now, Nalini is doing the work of untangling the roots of her past and bringing family secrets to light, in order to understand how each impacted her life's course. In an attempt to heal, she revisits the site of her fall on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, where her past, present, and future converge.

2023 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival - World Premiere, Winner Best Short;
2023 Hot Docs - International Premiere; 2023 Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival - European Premiere; 2023 Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital, Winner Audience Award; 2023 Mountainfilm Festival

POV Shorts is known for its curation and for broadcasting award-winning titles, including: 2022 News & Documentary Emmy nominated, Oscar® shortlisted, and IDA Documentary Awards winner, A Broken House; A Night at the Garden, which received an Academy Award nomination; Emmy® nominated Earthrise, Water Warriors, The Changing Same; Emmy® winner The Love Bugs and Oscar® shortlisted Àguilas. The series won Best Short Form Series at the IDA Documentary Awards in 2020 and 2022, and was nominated in 2019 and 2021.

POV Shorts launched in 2018 as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. POV Shorts has almost 60 titles in its catalog. In addition, the strand works with major short-form digital distributors such as Field of Vision and has collaborated with The New York Times Op-Docs, Condé Nast and Chicken & Egg Pictures. POV Shorts films were official selections at the Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Hot Docs, DOC NYC, Palms Springs International ShortFest and True/False Film Festivals, among others.

Photos

Download POV Shorts Season 6 photos here.

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® nominated Earthrise, Water Warriors, The Changing Same, Emmy® winner The Love Bugs and the Oscar® shortlisted A Broken House and Aguilas. It 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, Minding The Gap and Not Going Quietly, 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 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 and follow @povdocs on social media.

About American Documentary, Inc.

American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia company 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, the Chasing the Dream and Peril and Promise public media initiatives of The WNET Group, Chris and Nancy Plaut, 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.

About PBS

PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 120 million people through television and 26 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’s broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. Decades of research confirm that PBS’s premier children’s media service, PBS KIDS, helps children build critical literacy, math and social-emotional skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality educational content on TV – including a 24/7 channel, online at pbskids.org, via an array of mobile apps and in communities across America. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Communications on Twitter.