POV (1988)
POV is a Public Broadcasting Service public television series which features independent nonfiction films. POV is an initialism for point of view. POV is the longest-running showcase on television for independent documentary films. PBS presents 14-16 POV programs each year, and the series has premiered over 300 films to U.S. television audiences since 1988. POV's films have a strong first-person, social-issue focus. Many established directors, including Michael Moore, Jonathan Demme, Terry Zwigoff, Errol Morris, Albert and David Maysles, Michael Apted, Frederick Wiseman, Marlon Riggs, and Ross McElwee have had work screened as part of the POV series. The series has garnered both critical and industry acclaim over its 20-plus years on television. POV programs have also won major industry awards including three Oscars, 32 Emmys, 36 Cine Golden Eagles, 15 Peabody Awards, 11 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Awards, the Prix Italia and the Webby Award.
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Episode 1 - When I Walk
Release Date: 2014-06-23The Season 27 premiere features Jason DaSilva's "When I Walk," in which the filmmaker chronicles his life for five years after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 25. By happenstance, a family member records the moment when the diagnosis hits home: while vacationing in the Caribbean, his legs give out. Yet, not all is bad: he meets Alice Cook, whose mother also has MS, at a support group. The two fall in love, marry and collaborate on completing the documentary.
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Episode 2 - American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs
Release Date: 2014-06-30A profile of 98-year-old Grace Lee Boggs, a Chinese-American social activist in Detroit who has spent much of her adult life fighting for civil rights and female equality.
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Episode 3 - My Way to Olympia
Release Date: 2014-07-07Filmmaker Niko von Glasow profiles participants at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, including a one-handed Norwegian table tennis player, the Rwandan sitting volleyball team, an American archer who uses his feet and a Greek paraplegic boccia player. Along the way, von Glasow—who was born with severely shortened arms—sees his preconceptions and stereotypes about the Paralympics and sports in general upended.
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Episode 4 - Getting Back to Abnormal
Release Date: 2014-07-14The changed realities of post-Katrina New Orleans, including a population that is less African-American and less poor than before the storm, are examined in this documentary, which focuses on the 2010 re-election campaign of city councilwoman Stacy Head, a polarizing figure, and her aide, Barbara Lacen-Keller.
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Episode 5 - Dance for Me
Release Date: 2014-07-21The world of professional ballroom dancing in Denmark, where participants often look beyond the country's borders for the perfect partner, is examined. The documentary follows Egor, a 15 year old from Russia, as he adjusts to life in Denmark and to his 14-year-old Danish partner, Mie.
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Episode 6 - Fallen City
Release Date: 2014-07-28After Beichuan, China was destroyed in an earthquake, buildings are rebuilt more quickly than the community. Official Selection of Sundance 2013.
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Episode 7 - 15 to Life: Kenneth's Story
Release Date: 2014-08-04The story of a 15-year old sentenced to four life sentences. Does society benefit from incarcerating young teens to a lifetime in prison?
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Episode 8 - A World Not Ours
Release Date: 2014-08-18A family's experience living in a Lebanese refugee camp for multiple generations. Love and family are tinged with desperation. Official Selection of the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival.
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Episode 9 - Big Men
Release Date: 2014-08-25Explorers the world of backroom negotiations and deal making in Ghana's oil business.
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Episode 10 - After Tiller
Release Date: 2014-09-01The story of the four abortion doctors that remained in Wichita, Kansas after the assassination of George Tiller in 2009.
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Episode 11 - The Genius of Marian
Release Date: 2014-09-08Pam White and her family struggle to retain her memories and life by recording their interactions in the face of an Alzheimer diagnoses.
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Episode 12 - Koch
Release Date: 2014-09-22The mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989, Ed Koch fought crime and financial difficulties during a difficult period for the City of New York.
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Episode 13 - The Act of Killing
Release Date: 2014-10-07Joshua Oppenheimer visits men accused of playing a key role in the killing of over one-million Indonesians in 1965. Initially, the men explain their actions as patriotic and necessary. But over time, some question their actions. 2013 Oscar nominee. 2014 BAFTA Best Documentary.