American Documentary

Overview

POV Shorts Returns For Its Third Season on PBS

Featuring Critically-Acclaimed Festival and Oscar Nominated Shorts That Highlight Our Interconnectedness

Select titles Include: In the Absence, The Love Bugs and All Cats are Grey in the Dark

The Season is Available on PBS and to Stream Beginning October 26, 2020

New York, N.Y. — October 1, 2020 — POV Shorts, American Documentary's newest series, continues its third season with fifteen films featuring a diverse range of short-form documentary content packaged into seven half hour episodes. The films, curated into themes that highlight interconnectedness, are available Mondays on PBS and to stream at http://www.pbs.org/pov/ beginning October 26 through November 23, 2020. The season opener premiered on PBS July 20, 2020. Notable standouts of the new season include: Field of Vision’s In the Absence, a 2019 Oscar® nominee, which chronicles the 2014 sinking of the MV Sewol passenger ferry in South Korea; The Love Bugs, a 60-year love story between two octogenarian entomologists; and All Cats are Grey in the Dark and Kachalka, two shorts featured at Oscar-qualifying festivals earlier this year.

“The third season of POV Shorts features stories with unexpected parallels and subjects whose lives illustrate that which connects us,” said POV Shorts Producer Opal H. Bennett. “Building on the notable success of the first two seasons of POV Shorts, I’m thrilled to continue our long-standing collaboration with Field of Vision and NYT OpDocs, and excited to introduce new voices to POV audiences.”

Launched in 2018, POV Shorts sources films through a variety of channels, particularly its open call for entries page (cfe.pov.org). POV Shorts has almost 40 titles in its catalog. In addition, the strand works with major short-form digital distributors such as Field of Vision and has worked with others including The New York Times Op-Docs and Condé Nast.

Below is the list of upcoming films. Titles are listed in order of play.

Click HERE for photos

October 26 — POVS 302

THE SPECTRUM OF DIVIDE - Two perspectives on how shared beliefs connect and divide.

• Natours Grocery. Filmmaker Nadine Natour turns her lens on her parents and her hometown–Appomattox, VA–to tell the story of her parents’ emigration from Palestine to the United States. Director: Nadine Natour
• The Golden Rule. Two people on opposite ends of the political spectrum reflect on the moment that brought them together. Director: Richard O’Connor

November 2 — POVS 303

IN THE ABSENCE - A South Korean community is torn apart by a ferry disaster which claimed the lives of hundreds of children. When government incompetence is revealed as the main cause, the victims’ families seek justice.

• In the Absence. When the passenger ferry MV Sewol sank off the coast of South Korea in 2014, over three hundred people lost their lives, most of them schoolchildren. Years later, the victims’ families and survivors are still demanding justice from national authorities. Director: Seung-jun Yi

November 9 — POVS 304

LEGACY - Three stories looking at time encapsulated.

• The Love Bugs. Over 60 years, Lois and Charlie O’Brien, renowned entomologists, traveled to more than 67 countries, amassing the world’s largest private collection of insects. Directors: Alison Otto, Maria Clinton
• Now is the Time. When internationally renowned Haida carver Robert Davidson was only 22 years old, he carved the first new totem pole on British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii in almost a century. On the 50th anniversary of the pole’s raising, Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter revists history to experience that day in August 1969, when the entire village of Old Massett gathered to celebrate the event that would signal the rebirth of the Haida spirit. Director: Christopher Auchter
• Life in Miniature. Kath Holden is an artist of the everyday. Inspired by the world around her, Kath’s creations are whimsical yet keenly observed, and a far cry from the genteel museum pieces that her contemporaries are producing. A proud Yorkshire woman, Kath reflects on her life and art as she carves a place for herself in the precious world of miniatures. Director: Ellen Evans

November 23 — POVS 305

UNIQUELY EURO - Two quirky stories as distinctive as the countries from which they hail, Ukraine and Austria.

• Kachalka. A journey into the heart of what is widely considered the world's most hardcore gym - Kiev's enormous open-air "Kachalka" gym. This observational film follows the gym's caretaker as he takes us through the enormous scrap-metal site, allowing a glimpse into the workouts of various other local gym goers along the way. Director: Gar O'Rourke
• All Cats are Grey in the Dark. Christian lives with his two cats Marmalade and Katjuscha. As he is yearning to become a father, he has his beloved cat Marmalade fertilized by an exquisite tomcat. Director: Lasse Lindstrom

November 30 — POVS 306

COMIC CULTURE - Slices of life from opposite sides of the world--where the everyday veers into comedy.

• Tungrus. A week in the peculiar lives of a middle-class suburban Mumbai household, which is turned topsy-turvy when the family adopts a chicken as a pet. Director: Rishi Chandna
• The Traffic Separating Device. A traffic separating device is installed in the middle of Stockholm. It is designed to keep normal cars away and only let buses pass, but ultimately illustrates how practical solutions can turn into human failures. Director: Johan Palmgren

December 7 – POVS 307

THE CALLING - Two films exploring creed and conviction.

• Redneck Muslim. A Muslim hospital chaplain honors his Southern heritage while challenging white supremacy. Directors: Jennifer Taylor, Mustafa Davis
• The Masses. The Masses portrays three South London neighbors’ devotion to their respective religions: Islam, Christianity and Football. Director: Dorothy Allen-Pickard

POV Shorts premiered July 20, 2020 with the following films:

CHERISH (POVS 301) - Three stories reflecting the many faces of love through memory, community and family.

• True Love in Pueblo Textil. Nine-year-old Maribel tells us how it feels to be stricken with the world's oldest affliction. Director: Horatio Baltz
• When I Write It. In a love letter to the Bay Area, two teenage artists spend a day in creative and community fellowship. Directors: Nico Opper, Shannon St. Aubin
• La Lectora. A decades-old cigar factory in Cuba is home to the long-standing tradition of La Lectora--a reader who entertains the cigar makers while they go about their delicate toil. Director: Yulia Piskuliyska

About POV Shorts

About POV Shorts

Produced by American Documentary, POV Shorts was launched in 2018 as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. The program offers short form filmmakers a trusted broadcast and streaming, public venue to showcase their work to audiences. Additionally it is a great opportunity to welcome emerging and up-and-coming filmmakers into the POV family. POV Shorts is a sister project to POV, 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.

POV Short films have been honored with numerous awards and nominations including from The News & Documentary Emmys, The Academy Awards and The International Documentary Association Awards. Learn more at pbs.org/pov and follow @povdocs on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Wyncote Foundation, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Open Society Foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding comes from Acton Family Giving, Nancy Blachman and David desJardins, Bertha Foundation, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Charitable Trust, Park Foundation, Sage Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 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.