Independent Lens - Episode Guide

A profile of Hannah Senesh (1921-44), a heroic Jewish woman from Budapest who, although safe in British-controlled Palestine, joined a 1944 mission to rescue fellow Jews---including her mother---from the Nazis. She was captured, tortured and executed by the Gestapo, a fate witnessed by her mother. The documentary features remarks from classmates, fellow kibbutz members, fellow prisoners and her nephews, and also includes photos and excerpts from her letters.

Dirt! The Movie

Episode: 11x22 | Airdate: Apr 20, 2010

Garbage Dreams

Episode: 11x23 | Airdate: Apr 27, 2010

Sunshine

Episode: 11x24 | Airdate: May 4, 2010

The Horse Boy

Episode: 11x25 | Airdate: May 11, 2010

Project Kashmir

Episode: 11x26 | Airdate: May 18, 2010

A Village Called Versailles

Episode: 11x27 | Airdate: May 25, 2010

Goodbye Solo

Episode: 11x28 | Airdate: Jun 1, 2010

Season 12

The Parking Lot Movie

Episode: 12x01 | Airdate: Oct 19, 2010

Art & Copy

Episode: 12x02 | Airdate: Oct 26, 2010

Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian

Episode: 12x03 | Airdate: Nov 2, 2010

The Longoria Affair

Episode: 12x04 | Airdate: Nov 9, 2010

Lost Sparrow

Episode: 12x05 | Airdate: Nov 16, 2010

Deep Down

Episode: 12x06 | Airdate: Nov 23, 2010

45365

Episode: 12x07 | Airdate: Dec 14, 2010

The Calling, Part 1

Episode: 12x08 | Airdate: Dec 20, 2010

The Calling, Part 2

Episode: 12x09 | Airdate: Dec 21, 2010

Men Who Swim

Episode: 12x10 | Airdate: Jan 4, 2011

Children of Haiti

Episode: 12x11 | Airdate: Jan 11, 2011

For Once in My Life

Episode: 12x12 | Airdate: Feb 1, 2011

When I Rise

Episode: 12x13 | Airdate: Feb 8, 2011

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within

Episode: 12x14 | Airdate: Feb 22, 2011

Me Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story

Episode: 12x15 | Airdate: Mar 1, 2011

Pushing the Elephant

Episode: 12x16 | Airdate: Mar 29, 2011

The Desert of Forbidden Art

Episode: 12x17 | Airdate: Apr 5, 2011

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child

Episode: 12x18 | Airdate: Apr 12, 2011

Waste Land

Episode: 12x19 | Airdate: Apr 19, 2011

Marwencol

Episode: 12x20 | Airdate: Apr 26, 2011

A Film Unfinished

Episode: 12x21 | Airdate: May 3, 2011

Bhutto

Episode: 12x22 | Airdate: May 10, 2011

Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo

Episode: 12x23 | Airdate: May 17, 2011

Welcome to Shelbyville

Episode: 12x24 | Airdate: May 24, 2011

Two Spirits

Episode: 12x25 | Airdate: Jun 14, 2011

Season 13

Wham! Bam! Islam!

Episode: 13x01 | Airdate: Oct 13, 2011

Donor Unknown

Episode: 13x02 | Airdate: Oct 20, 2011

Lives Worth Living

Episode: 13x03 | Airdate: Oct 27, 2011

Deaf Jam

Episode: 13x04 | Airdate: Nov 3, 2011

We Still Live Here -- as Nutayunean

Episode: 13x05 | Airdate: Nov 17, 2011

The Woodmans

Episode: 13x06 | Airdate: Dec 22, 2011

These Amazing Shadows

Episode: 13x07 | Airdate: Dec 29, 2011

Have You Heard From Johannesburg: Road to Resistance

Episode: 13x08 | Airdate: Jan 12, 2012

Have You Heard From Johannesburg: The New Generation

Episode: 13x09 | Airdate: Jan 12, 2012

After the murder of resistance leader Steven Biko, young people in the West join a movement to isolate South Africa.

Have You Heard From Johannesburg: From Selma to Soweto

Episode: 13x10 | Airdate: Jan 19, 2012

African Americans lead a grassroots movement to force the United States to reverse its policies toward South Africa.

Have You Heard From Johannesburg: The Bottom Line

Episode: 13x11 | Airdate: Jan 19, 2012

A grassroots boycott and divestment campaign targets Western corporations doing business with the South African regime.

Have You Heard From Johannesburg: Free at Last

Episode: 13x12 | Airdate: Jan 26, 2012

The apartheid regime in Pretoria crumbles under pressure, and the freed Nelson Mandela is elected president of a democratic South Africa.

Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock

Episode: 13x13 | Airdate: Feb 2, 2012

As a black woman who was a feminist before the term was invented, Daisy Bates refused to accept her assigned place in society. Learn why this unconventional revolutionary paid dearly for her instant fame.

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

Episode: 13x14 | Airdate: Feb 9, 2012

More Than A Month

Episode: 13x15 | Airdate: Feb 16, 2012

Find out why an African-American filmmaker wants to end Black History Month.

You're Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don't

Episode: 13x16 | Airdate: Mar 30, 2012

Experience a total immersion into the fragmented day-to-day experience of a man with Alzheimer's.

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey

Episode: 13x17 | Airdate: Apr 5, 2012

Every day, millions tune in to SESAME STREET to see one of the world's most adored and recognizable characters - a furry red monster named Elmo. Yet, with all of Elmo's fame, the man behind the icon is able to walk down the street without being recognized.

When the Drum Is Beating

Episode: 13x18 | Airdate: Apr 12, 2012

Explore Haiti's complex past and present through the music of the country's oldest and best-known band.

Revenge of the Electric Car

Episode: 13x19 | Airdate: Apr 19, 2012

Facing the Storm: Story of the American Bison

Episode: 13x20 | Airdate: Apr 26, 2012

Review the rich history of human sustenance, exploitation, conservation and spiritual relations with the ultimate icon of wild America: bison.

Circo

Episode: 13x21 | Airdate: May 3, 2012

Accompany the Ponce family circus as it struggles to make a living in Mexico's collapsing rural economy.

Summer Pasture

Episode: 13x22 | Airdate: May 10, 2012

Get a rare view of an insular community seldom seen by outsiders: nomads living in the high grasslands of eastern Tibet.

Precious Knowledge

Episode: 13x23 | Airdate: May 17, 2012

Watch as student leaders in Tucson High School's Mexican American Studies Program fight to save their classes.

Left by the Ship

Episode: 13x24 | Airdate: May 24, 2012

With four Amerasian children, delve into the consequences of the U.S. military presence in the Philippines.

Hell and Back Again

Episode: 13x25 | Airdate: May 28, 2012

Witness the overlapping stories of a Marine at war and the same Marine in recovery at home.

We Were Here

Episode: 13x26 | Airdate: Jun 7, 2012

When AIDS arrived in San Francisco in 1981, it decimated a community, but also brought people together in inspiring and moving ways to support and care for one another and to fight for dignity and a cure.

Strong!

Episode: 13x27 | Airdate: Jul 26, 2012

Follow a champion weightlifter who struggles to defend her status as her career inches towards its end.

Season 14

As Goes Janesville

Episode: 14x01 | Airdate: Oct 8, 2012

Spend time in Janesville, Wisconsin - the front lines of the debate over the future of the middle class.

Love Free or Die

Episode: 14x02 | Airdate: Oct 29, 2012

Experience the struggles and triumphs of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay elected bishop.

Solar Mamas

Episode: 14x03 | Airdate: Nov 5, 2012

Explore India's Barefoot College, which gives impoverished women skills to change their communities.

Park Avenue: Money, Power & the American Dream

Episode: 14x04 | Airdate: Nov 12, 2012

Witness the economic disparities faced by New Yorkers only minutes from one another as the crow flies.

Soul Food Junkies

Episode: 14x05 | Airdate: Jan 14, 2013

Learn about soul food's relevance to black cultural identity.

Beauty Is Embarrassing

Episode: 14x06 | Airdate: Jan 21, 2013

Enter the world of artist Wayne White, an iconic auteur of the weird, the silly and the joyfully absurd.

The Revisionaries

Episode: 14x07 | Airdate: Jan 28, 2013

Learn why the textbook tempest in Texas is jeopardizing the next generation's education.

The Powerbroker: Whitney Young's Fight for Civil Rights

Episode: 14x08 | Airdate: Feb 18, 2013

Follow Whitney Young's journey from segregated Kentucky to head of the National Urban League.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

Episode: 14x09 | Airdate: Feb 25, 2013

Learn about the life and work of celebrated Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei.

Kind Hearted Woman

Episode: 14x10 | Airdate: Apr 1, 2013 (90 min)

The House I Live In; As I Am

Episode: 14x11 | Airdate: Apr 8, 2013

Explore the human-rights implications of the nation's least winnable war-the war on drugs.

Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines

Episode: 14x12 | Airdate: Apr 15, 2013

The Island President

Episode: 14x13 | Airdate: Apr 22, 2013

See how President Mohamed Nasheed is trying to prevent the drowning of 385,000 Maldivians.

The Undocumented

Episode: 14x14 | Airdate: Apr 29, 2013

Meet the Arizonans who try to identify the bodies of illegal crossers lost in the desert.

Seeking Asian Female

Episode: 14x15 | Airdate: May 6, 2013

View the love story between an aging white man and the Chinese bride he finds online.

The Invisible War

Episode: 14x16 | Airdate: May 13, 2013

Hear about the epidemic of rape and sexual assault within the ranks of the U.S. military.

Detropia

Episode: 14x17 | Airdate: May 27, 2013

Learn how Detroit residents are ready to create a radically new post-industrial city.

The Revolutionary Optimists

Episode: 14x18 | Airdate: Jun 17, 2013

Witness the transformation some of the poorest slums of Kolkata through the empowerment of children.

Season 15

Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey

Episode: 15x01 | Airdate: Sep 30, 2013

Follow the personal journey of Arnel Pineda, of the rock band Journey, on a whirlwind world tour.

The Waiting Room

Episode: 15x02 | Airdate: Oct 21, 2013

View the healthcare system through the eyes of those stuck in an ER waiting room in Oakland.

The Graduates/Los Graduados

Episode: 15x03 | Airdate: Oct 28, 2013 (120 min)

Indian Relay

Episode: 15x04 | Airdate: Nov 18, 2013

Young Lakota

Episode: 15x05 | Airdate: Nov 25, 2013

Playwright: From Page to Stage

Episode: 15x06 | Airdate: Dec 16, 2013

Watch two young playwrights, African- and Indian-American, create a new language for the stage.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Episode: 15x07 | Airdate: Dec 23, 2013

How to Survive a Plague

Episode: 15x08 | Airdate: Dec 30, 2013

At Berkeley

Episode: 15x09 | Airdate: Jan 13, 2014

Go back to school in Frederick Wiseman's intimate and sprawling documentary about UC Berkeley.

Blood Brother

Episode: 15x10 | Airdate: Jan 20, 2014

Trace Rocky Braat's journey from America to India, where he devotes his life to HIV-infected orphans.

The State of Arizona

Episode: 15x11 | Airdate: Jan 27, 2014

Witness the tense emotions and complex realities behind Arizona's struggle with illegal immigration.

Spies of Mississippi

Episode: 15x12 | Airdate: Feb 10, 2014

Learn about a spy agency formed by the state of Mississippi in the 50s-60s to preserve segregation.

Las Marthas

Episode: 15x13 | Airdate: Feb 17, 2014

Follow the Mexican-American girls who help preserve the Martha Washington debutante ball in Laredo.

All of Me: A Story of Love, Loss, and Last Resorts

Episode: 15x14 | Airdate: Mar 24, 2014

Medora

Episode: 15x15 | Airdate: Mar 31, 2014

Brothers Hypnotic

Episode: 15x16 | Airdate: Apr 7, 2014

The Trials of Muhammad Ali

Episode: 15x17 | Airdate: Apr 14, 2014

Muscle Shoals

Episode: 15x18 | Airdate: Apr 21, 2014

Follow a down-but-not-out basketball team whose struggles parallel its town's fight for survival.

A Fragile Trust: Plagiarism, Power, and Jayson Blair at The New York Times

Episode: 15x19 | Airdate: May 5, 2014

See how the eight band members test their father's ideals against their own brotherly vision.

Let the Fire Burn

Episode: 15x20 | Airdate: May 12, 2014

Track Ali's battle to overturn his five-year prison sentence for refusing U.S. military service.

God Loves Uganda

Episode: 15x21 | Airdate: May 19, 2014

The New Black

Episode: 15x22 | Airdate: Jun 15, 2014

See how the African-American community grapples with the divisive gay rights issue.

Season 16

Bully

Episode: 16x01 | Airdate: Oct 13, 2014

Get an unflinching look at the effects of bullying on the lives of five kids and their families.

Twin Sisters

Episode: 16x02 | Airdate: Oct 20, 2014

Examine the inextricable bond between adopted twins reared apart.

Brakeless

Episode: 16x03 | Airdate: Oct 27, 2014

Examine the Japanese pursuit of efficiency, even at the expense of safety.

Powerless

Episode: 16x04 | Airdate: Nov 3, 2014

See a man who provides illegal electrical services in India and the woman trying to dismantle them.

Happiness

Episode: 16x05 | Airdate: Nov 17, 2014

See how television may affect a Bhutanese child isolated from commerce, materialism and celebrity.

Rich Hill

Episode: 16x06 | Airdate: Jan 5, 2015

Witness the challenges, hopes and dreams of three boys in an economically depressed Missouri town.

Evolution of a Criminal

Episode: 16x07 | Airdate: Jan 12, 2015

The Kill Team; Confusion Through Sand

Episode: 16x08 | Airdate: Jan 19, 2015

Learn about a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan who tried to alert military to war crimes committed by his platoon.

A Path Appears

Episode: 16x09 | Airdate: Jan 26, 2015

Sequel to the series based on Half the Sky, as Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn track stories of women overcoming gender-based oppression, sexual violence and sex trafficking

Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People

Episode: 16x10 | Airdate: Feb 16, 2015

American Denial

Episode: 16x11 | Airdate: Feb 23, 2015

Explore the power of unconscious biases, using Myrdal's 1944 investigation of Jim Crow racism.

Little White Lie

Episode: 16x12 | Airdate: Mar 23, 2015

See what happens when a filmmaker unlocks a powerful family secret about her real father's identity.

Little Hope Was Arson; A City in Flames

Episode: 16x13 | Airdate: Apr 6, 2015

See how the burning of 10 churches ignited the largest criminal investigation in East Texas history.

The Homestretch

Episode: 16x14 | Airdate: Apr 13, 2015

Follow three ambitious Chicago teens who fight to stay in school, graduate and build a future.

The Great Invisible

Episode: 16x15 | Airdate: Apr 20, 2015

Kumu Hina

Episode: 16x16 | Airdate: May 4, 2015

Watch a transgendered teacher inspire a young girl to claim leadership of an all-male hula troupe.

Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity

Episode: 16x17 | Airdate: May 11, 2015

Follow the evolution of daredevil choreographer Elizabeth Streb's movement philosophy.

1971

Episode: 16x18 | Airdate: May 18, 2015

Hear from eight citizens who stole secret FBI files and shared them with the public and the press.

Limited Partnership

Episode: 16x19 | Airdate: Jun 15, 2015

Meet one of the first gay couples to marry, and learn about their 40-year fight for legal status.

Season 17

Stray Dog

Episode: 17x01 | Airdate: Nov 9, 2015 (90 min)

Cameras follow an unconventional veteran of the Vietnam War as he rides his motorcycle with fellow servicemen to the Vietnam Memorial and runs a business with his wife while contending with the conflict's legacy and reaching out to others.

India's Daughter

Episode: 17x02 | Airdate: Nov 16, 2015 (90 min)

The rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student in Delhi, India, sparks an international movement.

Mimi and Dona

Episode: 17x03 | Airdate: Nov 23, 2015

A 92-year-old woman, still caring for her 64-year-old disabled daughter, realizes it is time to find her daughter a new home.

East of Salinas

Episode: 17x04 | Airdate: Dec 28, 2015

Born in Mexico but living in Salinas, California, 3rd-grader Jose Ansaldo loves school. With little support at home, he turns to his teacher, Oscar Ramos, who like Jose was born the son of migrant farm workers, and who inspires him to imagine a life beyond the fields. Jose dutifully finishes his math homework before eating dinner or watching TV. He's anxious to get good grades so he can join the class field trip to the beach — a place he's never been despite living on the California coast. Follow Jose's quest for a better life away from the rough streets of LA.

Chuck Norris vs. Communism

Episode: 17x05 | Airdate: Jan 4, 2016

A black market VHS racketeer and a female translator bring the magic of film to Romanians during the 1980s.

Autism in Love

Episode: 17x06 | Airdate: Jan 11, 2016 (90 min)

Four adults with varying degrees of autism navigate dating, romance and relationships.

In Football We Trust

Episode: 17x07 | Airdate: Jan 25, 2016 (90 min)

Polynesian-American high-school football players in Utah aim for careers in pro sports while dealing with day-to-day gang violence and poverty.

No Más Bebés (No More Babies)

Episode: 17x08 | Airdate: Feb 1, 2016

The history of Mexican-American women who were sterilized against their will during the 1960s and '70s at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

A Ballerina's Tale

Episode: 17x09 | Airdate: Feb 8, 2016

Few dancers reach the elite level of ballet; of that already small number only a fraction are black women. Misty Copeland shattered those barriers in 2015, making history as the first African American principal dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre (ABT).

A Ballerina's Tale intimately documents Copeland's historic rise while shining a light on the absence of women of color at major ballet companies. The film also explores how ballet's emphasis on waifish bodies impacts the health of ballerinas while sending a negative message to young fans.

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

Episode: 17x10 | Airdate: Feb 16, 2016

(T)ERROR

Episode: 17x11 | Airdate: Feb 22, 2016

Wilhemina's War

Episode: 17x12 | Airdate: Feb 29, 2016

An Honest Liar

Episode: 17x13 | Airdate: Mar 28, 2016

Welcome to Leith

Episode: 17x14 | Airdate: Apr 4, 2016

Democrats

Episode: 17x15 | Airdate: Apr 18, 2016 (90 min)

My Nazi Legacy

Episode: 17x16 | Airdate: May 2, 2016

Peace Officer

Episode: 17x17 | Airdate: May 9, 2016

The Armor of Light

Episode: 17x18 | Airdate: May 10, 2016 (90 min)

Dogtown Redemption

Episode: 17x19 | Airdate: May 16, 2016

Meet three street recyclers who fight to survive in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Oakland, CA.

Trapped

Episode: 17x20 | Airdate: Jun 20, 2016

Visit the front lines of the fight over controversial laws designed to restrict abortion access.

T-rex Her Fight For Gold

Episode: 17x21 | Airdate: Aug 2, 2016

T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold is the coming-of-age story of boxing phenom Claressa Shields, who was just 17 years old when she won the Olympic gold medal for women's boxing in 2012. Now with a record of 69-1, she is ranked number one in the world heading into her second Olympic competition, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.

Season 18

Best of Enemies

Episode: 18x01 | Airdate: Oct 3, 2016 (90 min)

The debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley during the 1968 political conventions.

Meet the Patels

Episode: 18x02 | Airdate: Dec 26, 2016 (90 min)

Explore the influence of culture and identity on an intense, personal, important part of life - love.

Best And Most Beautiful Things

Episode: 18x03 | Airdate: Jan 2, 2017

Join a quirky young woman on a journey of self-discovery that celebrates outcasts everywhere.

Containment; Excerpt From Uranium Drive-in

Episode: 18x04 | Airdate: Jan 9, 2017 (90 min)

Governments around the world struggle to protect future generations from nuclear waste; excerpt from "Uranium Drive-In.''

What Was Ours

Episode: 18x05 | Airdate: Jan 16, 2017 (90 min)

Join a group of Native Americans as they embark on a journey to reclaim lost tribal artifacts.

The Witness

Episode: 18x06 | Airdate: Jan 23, 2017 (90 min)

Get a fresh look at the notorious 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese, a crime that defined an era.

Birth Of A Movement

Episode: 18x07 | Airdate: Feb 6, 2017 (90 min)

Learn how Griffith's 1915 The Birth of a Nation sparked a dialogue on racism that continues today.

Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America

Episode: 18x08 | Airdate: Feb 13, 2017 (90 min)

Meet an African American musician out to challenge racism by befriending members of the KKK.

Tower

Episode: 18x09 | Airdate: Feb 14, 2017 (90 min)

Explore the deadly 1966 mass shooting at the University of Texas through interviews with survivors.

The Bad Kids

Episode: 18x10 | Airdate: Mar 20, 2017 (90 min)

Visit a remote Mojave Desert high school where educators help at-risk students build better futures.

Ovarian Psycos

Episode: 18x11 | Airdate: Mar 27, 2017 (90 min)

Join the East LA bike crew Ovarian Psycos and explore the impact of their unique brand of feminism.

Newtown

Episode: 18x12 | Airdate: Apr 3, 2017 (90 min)

Explore the aftermath and resilience of a community devastated by the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook.

Seed: The Untold Story

Episode: 18x13 | Airdate: Apr 17, 2017

Follow passionate seed keepers determined to protect humanity's 12,000-year-old food legacy.

The Last Laugh

Episode: 18x14 | Airdate: Apr 24, 2017 (90 min)

Hear Jewish comics discuss whether any topic - even the Holocaust - should be off-limits in comedy.

National Bird

Episode: 18x15 | Airdate: May 1, 2017 (90 min)

Investigate the U.S. drone war with two women and a former NSA analyst who become whistleblowers.

The Prison In Twelve Landscapes

Episode: 18x16 | Airdate: May 8, 2017

Explore how the tentacles of America's criminal justice system reach far beyond the prison walls.

Forever Pure

Episode: 18x17 | Airdate: May 15, 2017 (90 min)

Two Muslim soccer players picked up by Israel's Beitar Jerusalem F.C. are subjected to racist attacks by their own fans.

They Call Us Monsters

Episode: 18x18 | Airdate: May 22, 2017 (90 min)

Step behind the walls of the facility where Los Angeles houses its most violent juvenile criminals.

Farmer Veteran

Episode: 18x19 | Airdate: May 29, 2017

An Army combat veteran manages his PTSD and becomes a farmer in North Carolina following his deployments in Iraq.

Real Boy

Episode: 18x20 | Airdate: Jun 19, 2017 (90 min)

Meet Bennett, a transgender teen on a journey to find his voice as a musician, a son and a man.

Season 19

Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary

Episode: 19x01 | Airdate: Nov 6, 2017 (90 min)

Explore the life of jazz great John Coltrane; Denzel Washington speaks the words of Coltrane.

Shadow World

Episode: 19x02 | Airdate: Nov 20, 2017 (90 min)

Explore the billion-dollar global arms trade through those who perpetrate and investigate it.

Supergirl

Episode: 19x03 | Airdate: Dec 18, 2017 (90 min)

Meet Naomi, an Orthodox Jewish girl with a surprising talent: breaking world powerlifting records.

The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin

Episode: 19x04 | Airdate: Jan 1, 2018 (90 min)

Unrest

Episode: 19x05 | Airdate: Jan 8, 2018 (90 min)

Follow filmmaker Jennifer Brea's struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in this intimate film.

I Am Not Your Negro

Episode: 19x06 | Airdate: Jan 15, 2018 (90 min)

Explore James Baldwin's unfinished book about race in America in this Oscar-nominated documentary.

The Force

Episode: 19x07 | Airdate: Jan 22, 2018 (90 min)

Go deep inside the long-troubled Oakland Police Department as it struggles with demands for reform.

I Am Another You

Episode: 19x08 | Airdate: Jan 29, 2018 (90 min)

Join Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang and a charming young drifter as they explore freedom and America.

Winnie

Episode: 19x09 | Airdate: Feb 5, 2018 (90 min)

Explore the life of Winnie Mandela and her struggle to bring down apartheid.

Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story Of Black Colleges And Universities

Episode: 19x10 | Airdate: Feb 19, 2018 (90 min)

The rich history of America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) began before the end of slavery, flourished in the 20th century, and profoundly influenced the course of the nation for over 150 years — yet remains largely unknown. With Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities, the latest documentary from Stanley Nelson (Black Panthers, Freedom Riders) and Marco Williams, the powerful story of the rise, influence, and evolution of HBCUs comes to life.

A haven for Black intellectuals, artists, and revolutionaries — and a path of promise toward the American dream — HBCUs have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field while remaining unapologetically Black for more than 150 years. These institutions have nurtured some of the most influential Americans of our time, from Booker T. Washington to Martin Luther King, Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois to Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison to Oprah Winfrey, Alice Walker to Spike Lee to Common. A key driver of Black social, political, and economic progress, HBCUs were also a place of unprecedented freedom for African American students and a refuge from the rampant racism raging outside the campus walls. Tell Them We Are Rising captures this important history to tell the dynamic story of Americans who refused to be denied a higher education and — in their resistance — created a set of institutions that would influence and shape the landscape of the country for centuries to come.

Rat Film

Episode: 19x11 | Airdate: Feb 26, 2018 (90 min)

Trace Baltimore's history through a film that uses rats to chronicle oppression in poor communities.

Dolores

Episode: 19x12 | Airdate: Mar 27, 2018 (90 min)

Meet the indomitable Dolores Huerta, who has tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice.

When God Sleeps

Episode: 19x13 | Airdate: Apr 2, 2018 (90 min)

Explore the journey of Iranian musician Shahin Najafi after clerics issue a fatwa for his death.

The Art Of The Shine

Episode: 19x14 | Airdate: Apr 9, 2018 (90 min)

Meet the unforgettable people who are turning the job of shoe shiner into an art form.

What Lies Upstream

Episode: 19x15 | Airdate: Apr 16, 2018 (90 min)

Travel to West Virginia to uncover the truth behind a massive chemical spill.

Look & See: Wendell Berry's Kentucky

Episode: 19x16 | Airdate: Apr 23, 2018 (90 min)

Look & See: Wendell Berry's Kentuckyis a portrait of the changing landscapes and shifting values of rural America through the voice of writer, farmer, and activist Wendell Berry. Centered in his native Henry County, Kentucky,Look & Seeis an elegy to a lost way of life that was once the bedrock of America–the culture of agriculture.

True Conviction

Episode: 19x17 | Airdate: Apr 30, 2018 (90 min)

There's a new detective agency in Dallas, run by three exonerated men who all spent decades in prison. Their mission: to free other innocent people still behind bars.

After serving a combined 60 years in prison for crimes they did not commit, three recently exonerated Texans — Christopher Scott, Johnnie Lindsey and Steven Phillips — join forces to form the unlikeliest of investigative teams, on a mission to help wrongfully convicted prisoners obtain freedom like they did. Scott, a dad and grandfather, formed House of Renewed Hope to help fight for the gift of "a second chance at life." In True Conviction, brotherly bonds are formed out of shared hardships — lengthy prison sentences in a state that executes more inmates than any other.

No Man's Land

Episode: 19x18 | Airdate: May 7, 2018 (90 min)

Go inside the 2016 standoff at Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

ACORN and the Firestorm

Episode: 19x19 | Airdate: May 14, 2018 (90 min)

Explore the charged battle to take down ACORN, a controversial national community-organizing group.

Served Like a Girl

Episode: 19x20 | Airdate: May 28, 2018 (90 min)

Join five women rebuilding their lives with humor and heart in the Ms. Veteran America Competition.

Season 20

Wildland

Episode: 20x01 | Airdate: Oct 29, 2018 (90 min)

Meet a wildland firefighting crew whose members struggle with fear, loyalty, love and defeat.

Dawnland

Episode: 20x02 | Airdate: Nov 5, 2018 (90 min)

Reveals the untold story and devastating impacts of Indigenous child removal in the U.S.

The Cleaners

Episode: 20x03 | Airdate: Nov 12, 2018 (90 min)

Explore the shadow industry of "content moderators" and learn who controls what we see online.

The Judge

Episode: 20x04 | Airdate: Nov 19, 2018 (90 min)

Meet the first woman judge to be appointed to the Middle East's Shari'a courts.

Man on Fire

Episode: 20x05 | Airdate: Dec 17, 2018 (90 min)

Meet the white preacher who set himself on fire to bring awareness to the racism in his Texas town.

My Country No More

Episode: 20x06 | Airdate: Jan 7, 2019 (90 min)

See North Dakota's oil boom through the lens of a family fighting to save their way of life.

Rodents Of Unusual Size

Episode: 20x07 | Airdate: Jan 14, 2019 (90 min)

Go deep in the bayous where locals face invasive pests. Man vs. rodent: may the best mammal win.

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World

Episode: 20x08 | Airdate: Jan 21, 2019 (90 min)

Take an electrifying look at the Native American influence in popular music, despite attempts to ban, censor and erase Indian culture.

The King

Episode: 20x09 | Airdate: Jan 28, 2019 (90 min)

Climb into Elvis' 1963 Rolls-Royce for a musical road trip and meditation on modern America.

Black Memorabilia

Episode: 20x10 | Airdate: Feb 4, 2019 (90 min)

Meet the people who reproduce, consume and seek to reclaim black memorabilia.

Hale County This Morning, This Evening

Episode: 20x11 | Airdate: Feb 11, 2019 (90 min)

Visit Hale County, Alabama for an intimate and eye-opening look at life in the South's Black Belt.

People's Republic Of Desire

Episode: 20x12 | Airdate: Feb 25, 2019 (90 min)

For young Chinese raised on social media, virtual relationships are replacing real-life connections.

Tre Maison Dasan

Episode: 20x13 | Airdate: Apr 1, 2019 (90 min)

Meet three of the estimated one in 14 American children growing up with a parent in prison.

The Providers

Episode: 20x14 | Airdate: Apr 8, 2019 (90 min)

Meet the rural doctors trying to care for patients amidst a physician shortage and opioid epidemic.

Charm City

Episode: 20x15 | Airdate: Apr 22, 2019 (90 min)

Get to know the people on the front lines of three years of unparalleled violence in Baltimore.

Out Of State

Episode: 20x16 | Airdate: May 6, 2019 (90 min)

Hear the story of two Native Hawaiian prisoners sent 3,000 miles to a for-profit prison in Arizona.

Harvest Season

Episode: 20x17 | Airdate: May 13, 2019 (90 min)

Meet the unsung people who play a critical role in making some of Napa Valley's greatest wines.

Wrestle

Episode: 20x18 | Airdate: May 20, 2019 (90 min)

Meet the statesman who served as cabinet secretary for Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.

Season 21

Made in Boise

Episode: 21x01 | Airdate: Oct 28, 2019 (90 min)

Go inside the lives of four surrogates and the intended parents whose children they carry.

Decade of Fire

Episode: 21x02 | Airdate: Nov 4, 2019 (90 min)

Discover why the Bronx burned in the 1970s and meet those who chose to resist, remain and rebuild.

The Interpreters

Episode: 21x03 | Airdate: Nov 11, 2019 (90 min)

The Interpreters is a poignant but tense portrayal of a very human and high-stakes side of war's aftermath. It's the story of how Afghan and Iraqi interpreters risked their lives aiding American troops--but then became the people we left behind and are now in danger themselves.

Conscience Point

Episode: 21x04 | Airdate: Nov 18, 2019 (90 min)

ATTLA

Episode: 21x05 | Airdate: Dec 16, 2019 (90 min)

American Nomads

Episode: 21x06 | Airdate: Jan 14, 2020 (90 min)

Accept the Call

Episode: 21x07 | Airdate: Jan 20, 2020 (90 min)

A Somalian father living in the U.S. strives to understand why his son would try to join ISIS.

The First Rainbow Coalition

Episode: 21x08 | Airdate: Jan 27, 2020 (90 min)

Notable community groups in 1960s Chicago bridge race and ethnicity to form a surprising alliance.

Cooked: Survival by Zip Code

Episode: 21x09 | Airdate: Feb 3, 2020 (90 min)

Cooked: Survival by Zip Code tells the story of the tragic 1995 Chicago heatwave, the most traumatic in U.S. history, in which 739 citizens died over the course of just a single week, most of them poor, elderly, and African American. Cooked is a story about life, death, and the politics of crisis in an American city that asks the question: Was this a one-time tragedy, or an appalling trend?

Leftover Women

Episode: 21x10 | Airdate: Feb 10, 2020 (90 min)

Blind Love

Episode: 21x11 | Airdate: Feb 14, 2020 (90 min)

We Believe In Dinosaurs

Episode: 21x12 | Airdate: Feb 17, 2020 (90 min)

Witness Creationism and science collide aboard an enormous Noah's Ark in rural Kentucky.

Always in Season

Episode: 21x13 | Airdate: Feb 24, 2020 (90 min)

Always in Season follows the tragedy of African American teenager Lennon Lacy, who in August 2014, was found hanging from a swing set in North Carolina. His death was ruled a suicide, but Lennon's mother and family believe he was lynched. The film chronicles her quest to learn the truth and takes a closer look at the lingering impact of more than a century of lynching African Americans.

One Child Nation

Episode: 21x14 | Airdate: Mar 30, 2020 (90 min)

Explore the untold history and rippling impact of China's former one-child policy.

Bedlam

Episode: 21x15 | Airdate: Apr 13, 2020 (90 min)

A psychiatrist visits ERs, jails and homeless camps to tell poignant stories behind mental illness.

The Hottest August

Episode: 21x16 | Airdate: Apr 20, 2020 (90 min)

Brett Story's critically acclaimed documentary The Hottest August raises the specter of climate change without ever mentioning it, spotlighting ordinary New Yorkers as they share their anxieties about what the future holds while bracing for what could be one of the hottest months on record.

Jim Allison: Breakthrough

Episode: 21x17 | Airdate: Apr 27, 2020 (90 min)

The story of one warmhearted, stubborn man's visionary quest to find a cure for cancer, Jim Allison: Breakthrough is an homage to an unconventional superhero — a pioneering, harmonica-playing scientist from a small town in Texas who triumphed over a doubtful medical establishment to save innumerable lives around the world and win the Nobel Prize.

Rewind

Episode: 21x18 | Airdate: May 11, 2020 (90 min)

Eating Up Easter

Episode: 21x19 | Airdate: May 25, 2020 (90 min)

See how Easter Island provides a climate change and globalization wake-up call for the world.

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project

Episode: 21x20 | Airdate: Jun 15, 2020 (90 min)

Look inside the life of a radical activist who videotaped everything on television for 30 years.

Pipe Dreams

Episode: 21x21 | Airdate: Jun 22, 2020 (90 min)

Follow four ultra-talented young people playing in the Canadian International Organ Competition.

Specials

The New Americans: Episode One

Episode: S05 Special | Airdate: Mar 29, 2004 (136 min)

The New Americans follows four years in the lives of a diverse group of contemporary immigrants and refugees as they journey to start new lives in America. The detailed portraits--woven together in the seven-hour miniseries-- present a kaleidoscopic picture of immigrant life and a personal view of the new America. We follow an Indian couple to Silicon Valley through the dot-com boom and bust. A Mexican meatpacker struggles to reunite his family in rural Kansas. Two families of Nigerian refugees (including the sister of slain Ogoni activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa) escape government persecution. Two Los Angeles Dodgers prospects follow their big dreams of escaping the barrios of the Dominican Republic. A Palestinian woman who marries into a new life in Chicago only to discover in the wake of September 11, she cannot leave behind the pain of her homeland's conflict.

The New Americans: Episode Two

Episode: S05 Special | Airdate: Mar 30, 2004 (136 min)

The New Americans: Episode Three

Episode: S05 Special | Airdate: Mar 31, 2004 (136 min)

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Episode: S14 Special | Airdate: Oct 1, 2012 (224 min)

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide was filmed in 10 countries and follows Kristof, WuDunn, and celebrity activists America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on a journey to tell the stories of inspiring, courageous individuals. Across the globe oppression is being confronted, and real meaningful solutions are being fashioned through health care, education, and economic empowerment for women and girls. The linked problems of sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality — which needlessly claim one woman every 90 seconds — present to us the single most vital opportunity of our time: the opportunity to make a change. All over the world women are seizing this opportunity.

After the Storm

Episode: S16 Special | Airdate: Apr 27, 2015

After the Storm, an immersive interactive documentary essay, tells the story of what happens after the storm passes, after the media leaves town, and after the adrenaline subsides. Written as a letter to future disaster survivors, the film is not so much about the how and why of the tornado but the question all of us face after living through something traumatic: how do we make sense of it all?

In the Shadow of Ebola

Episode: S16 Special | Airdate: Jun 22, 2015 (24 min)

In the Shadow of Ebola is the gripping story of a Liberian family kept apart by the Ebola outbreak in a nation still reeling from the chaos of civil war.

Immigration Battle

Episode: S17 Special | Airdate: Oct 20, 2015

Accident, MD

Episode: S20 Special | Airdate: Jan 28, 2019 (8 min)

A short documentary about America's healthcare crisis as seen in the town of Accident, Maryland during the summer before the 2016 election.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Episode: S20 Special | Airdate: Feb 9, 2019 (90 min)

While I Yet Live

Episode: S20 Special | Airdate: Feb 11, 2019 (14 min)

A short documentary about five acclaimed quilters from Gee's Bend, Alabama as they are quilting and talk about love, religion and their fight for civil rights.

Marcos Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Episode: S20 Special | Airdate: Apr 15, 2019 (120 min)

This documentary examines the US immigration system through the eyes of a couple (a decorated US Marine veteran and her undocumented husband) separated by deportation.

The Seed Saver

Episode: S20 Special | Airdate: May 13, 2019 (30 min)

Kristyn Leach was adopted as a baby from South Korea by an Irish-Catholic family on Long Island. It was her rebellious spirit that led her to farming, and it became a way for her to connect with her identity and community. Kristyn's seeds come from ancient heritage breeds from Asia, and she is one of only a handful of farmers still growing these crops as they face extinction. But the day-to-day challenges of disease and wildlife take their toll as she feels a deep responsibility to the seeds she is trying to save.

Should We Kid or Not?

Episode: S21 Special | Airdate: Nov 15, 2019 (40 min)

Reproductive choice is often a taboo subject, and in this web series, strangers from disparate walks of life tackle and debate hot-button topics like sterilization, adoption, teen pregnancy and discuss the question "Should we have kids?"

Jewel's Hunt

Episode: S21 Special | Airdate: Nov 18, 2019 (30 min)

Sixteen-year-old Jewel Wilson is the next generation in a long line of prolific Inupiat subsistence hunters in Unalakleet, Alaska. Her ability to hunt moose is hindered by two pressing issues – scarce wildlife and the pressures of high school life. Finding sufficient food competes with track practice and homework in Jewel's multilayered world. Along with her father, Jewel turns to the land to feed their family and finds that their village's way of life is endangered by the same environmental shifts that could affect us all. In hunting moose, we see that Jewel is also hunting for answers. How will her village survive if subsistence hunting is threatened? Can she honor the traditions of her Elders while navigating the pressures and anxieties of a modern, connected teenager? Jewel's Hunt proves to be both physical and philosophical in this insightful exploration of what it means to come of age in complicated times in Unalakleet, Alaska.

alter-NATIVE: Kitchen

Episode: S21 Special | Airdate: Nov 19, 2019 (30 min)

Purveyors of America's Indigenous foods are forging a resurgence of native dishes that satisfy a new generation hungering for insight and culinary delight. Meet three talented young Indigenous chefs -- Brian Yazzie, a Navajo/Diné chef originally from Arizona, now based in Minnesota; Kalā Domingo, a Hawaiian culinary student and heir to his dad's catering throne; and Hillel Echo-Hawk, a Pawnee-Athabaskian chef and caterer in Seattle – all preparing foods from their native cultures that sustained their communities for generations. From wild rice bowls and sumac duck confit to poke and imu-cooked kalua pig, to honey Lakota popcorn, see how cooking connects each of these chefs to their own histories, and what they in turn can teach others with mouth-watering delicacies.

The Donut King

Episode: S22 Special | Airdate: May 24, 2021 (90 min)

Underground

Episode: S24 Special | Airdate: Mar 2, 2023 (10 min)

The hustle and bustle of New York City subways provides a veil of anonymity, making invasions of personal space inevitable. There are innocuous interactions, but also violations that cross the line. Vividly shot in New York subways and stations, Underground emboldens the survivors of these incidents to share their stories in hopes of changing the stigma surrounding public violations.

The episode list was truncated because of the large number of episodes. Visit the seasons page to see individual seasons' episode guides.