Featured Collection:
Staff Picks: Stories That Stay With Us
Streaming Until August 30th
While the ‘Staff Picks’ shelves of the video rental store maybe have gathered dust and the streaming algorithm seeks to usurp the power of the all knowledgeable video clerk, a few of the POV staff have revisited our film catalogue to share the titles we love, ones we always recommend to friends, or still talk about long after the credits roll.
Our Staff Picks collection is a line up of titles that have stirred us in one way or another kindling deeply felt responses of delight, inspiration and awe in ways that only nonfiction films can inspire. These documentaries reflect the stories that have moved us most and linger in our cinematic memories and we hope they stay with you too.
Selected by the people whose mission it is to bring independent non-fiction storytelling to public media, our Staff Picks collection might just match your summer vibe!
Press play >> and let these films take you to new places, hear timeless stories, see haunting portraits, witness collective power in action or explore how history shapes our present. So pull a few of these off our digital shelf and hang on to them for a while - we don’t charge late fees!
The complete Staff Pickscollection is available now through August 31st onpov.org and the PBS App.
At POV, we're not just sharing films - we're sparking conversations that matter. Tell us what moved you at [email protected]. Your voice helps shape the future of documentary storytelling.
In Hummingbirds, Silvia and Beba tell their own coming-of-age story, transforming their hometown on the Texas-Mexico border into a wonderland of creative expression and activist hijinks. Filmed collaboratively over the final summer of their fleeting youth, their cinematic self-portrait celebrates the power of friendship and joy as tools of survival and resistance Grand Prize, 2023 Berlinale Generation. A Co-Presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB).
"Hummingbirds is the perfect summer bestie film centering Gen Z joy which surprisingly can be had even while navigating difficult paperwork as immigrants living in a US border town." – Asad Muhammad, Vice President of Impact & Engagement Strategy
A hypnotic immersion in the world of Harar, Ethiopia, where khat, a euphoria-inducing plant, holds sway over the rituals and rhythms of everyday life, Faya Dayicaptures moments in the lives of everyone from the harvesters of the crop to people lost in its narcotic haze to a desperate but determined younger generation searching for an escape from political strife.
“Faya Dayi’s exceptionally visual and poetic rendering of a distant community, their livelihood and their dreams commands one's attention. Resistance is simply futile.” – Carmen Vincencio, Supervising Producer, America ReFramed
The Taste of Mangois an enveloping, hypnotic, urgently personal meditation on family, memory, identity, violence, and love. Spanning three generations of women, their narratives, by turns difficult and jubilant, bear witness to the complex, ever-evolving nature of inheritance and the hurt and protection entangled within familial bonds.
“I was moved by Chloe’s artfully crafted and deeply personal film – her intergenerational story unfolds through poetic use of family archive woven in with a candid questioning and reassessment of trauma that allows space for healing and compassion. Her haunting story remains with me to this day!” – Gina Basso, Communication & Station Relations Manager
National Teachers Academy (NTA) is considered a beacon for Black children: a top-ranked, high-performing elementary school in the fastest growing neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. As the neighborhood gentrifies, a wealthy parents’ group seeks to close NTA and replace it with a high school campus. How will NTA's community fight to save their beloved institution? A co-production of POV and ITVS, in association with Black Public Media.
“A story that grows more urgent by the day, Kevin Shaw’s film shows us one Chicago neighborhood’s fight to save their school and protect their future. It’s a powerful playbook for collective action and a testament to the transformative power of community.” – Robert Salyer, Manager of Outreach & Impact
Returning to the coastal South Carolina land that his family purchased after emancipation, filmmaker Jon-Sesrie Goff's desire to explore his Gullah/Geechee roots transforms into a poetic investigation of Black inheritance, trauma, and generational wisdom, amidst the violent tensions that define America's collective history. Produced in association with ITVS, Black Public Media, Hedera Pictures LLC.
“Creative vision. Such care and thought and craft went into the telling of this multilayered story, it’s astounding. Bravo, Jon!” – Chris White, Vice President, Programming & Production Executive Producer, POV, POV Shorts, America ReFramed
An old shepherd and his flock live alongside a high-tech laboratory for animal experimentation. Two worlds that are two sides of the same coin. While the shepherd, afflicted with a bone disease, witnesses his profession disappearing, scientists are busier than ever researching the COVID vaccine. Fauna explores the relationship between humans, animals and science in post-pandemic times.
“30+ years ago, I was a philosophy major in college. I find Fauna fascinating because it brings me back to those larger questions about our existence, and the meaning of life. What is our relationship to nature, science, and our mortality? Lovely film.” – Chris White, Vice President, Programming & Production Executive Producer, POV, POV Shorts, America ReFramed
A lyrical tapestry of a place and people, King Coal meditates on the complex history and future of the coal industry, the communities it has shaped, and the myths it has created. The film reshapes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking and transcends time and place, untangling the pain from the beauty, and illuminating the innately human capacity for imagination and change.
“I love King Coal for its poetic narrative. It's beautiful, cinematic, and offers such a refreshing, humanizing take on coal culture and Appalachia unlike one I’ve seen before.” – Mahboob Alam, Senior Associate, Marketing
Featured Collection:
Becoming Ourselves: Youth on the Edge
Streaming Until August 30th
What does it mean to become yourself at the edge of everything? From the boxing rings of Watts to the rivers of the Amazon, from a Ukrainian children's home to quiet conversations with family, young people are walking the line between who they're expected to be and who they know they are. A determined twelve-year-old boxer trains for the Junior Olympics, an Ashéninka boy faces his fears in an ancient rite of passage, a trans gamer rebuilds her life online, and children and adolescents everywhere wrestle with expressing their deepest truths. These tender stories capture moments of profound transformation as young people navigate the boundaries of tradition and change, fear and courage, what is and what could be. Together, they reveal what's possible when we step to the edge of ourselves and dare to jump.
Residents of Sunset Park, Brooklyn face rising rents, a legacy of environmental racism and the loss of the industrial jobs that once sustained their community. When a global developer purchases a massive industrial complex on the waterfront and lays plans for an “innovation district,” a battle erupts over the future of the neighborhood and of New York City itself.
On a small farm in Norway, the Paynes strive to be wild and free. They are self-sufficient, practice home-schooling, and foster a close family dynamic in harmony with nature. But when tragedy strikes, they must adapt to the demands of modern society. Filmmaker Silje Evensmo Jacobsen captures an intimate portrait of love, life, and growing up.
How would you handle the trauma of losing a loved one? Set in Philadelphia, Murders That Matter documents African American, Muslim mother Movita Johnson-Harrell over five years as she transforms from a victim of violent trauma into a fierce advocate against gun violence in Black communities. Her relentless activism exposes the emotional and psychological toll the killings take on those left behind. Produced in association with ITVS.
The Body Politicis a harbinger of hope in a country plagued by gun violence. In Baltimore, Brandon Scott, an idealistic young leader with an ambitious plan to stop chronic violence in the city, is elected mayor. Throughout his first year in office, we follow him as he fights powerful political forces to save lives in Baltimore and reveal a pathway toward healing for the nation.
As Construction Environmental Officer for St. Helena's troubled airport project, Annina van Neel learns about an unmarked mass burial ground of an estimated 9,000 formerly enslaved Africans. Haunted by this historical injustice, she and African American preservationist Peggy King Jorde fight for their proper memorialization, exposing the UK's colonial past and present.
A Ghanaian MIT alum follows four African students at his alma mater as they strive to become agents of change for their home countries Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Over an intimate, nearly decade-long journey, all must decide how much of America to absorb, how much of Africa to hold on to, and how to reconcile teenage ideals with the truths they discover about the world and themselves. Co-produced with ITVS and co-presented with Black Public Media and Chasing the Dream, a public media initiative from The WNET Group.
Discover our free resources, thoughtfully created by educators, community leaders, and librarians to inspire learning and dialogue. From reading materials to discussion guides, these tools help you create meaningful impact in your community.
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, Perspective Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding comes from 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, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 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.
