The Best Episodes of POV Season 36

Filmmaker Jon-Sesrie Goff returns to the coastal South Carolina land that his family purchased after emancipation. His desire to explore his Gullah/Geechee roots leads to a poetic investigation of Black inheritance, trauma, and generational wisdom, amidst the tensions that have shaped American history. In the wake of recent Southern violence, After Sherman is a reclamation of Black life and space.

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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.

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In Liquor Store Dreams, two Korean American children of liquor store owners reconcile their own dreams with those of their immigrant parents. Along the way, they confront the complex legacies of LA's racial landscape, including the 1991 murder of Latasha Harlins and the 1992 uprisings sparked by the police beating of Rodney King, while engaged in current struggles for social and economic justice.

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In the shadow of war by the frontlines in Eastern Ukraine, a safe haven provides refuge for children who have been temporarily separated from their parents. A House Made of Splinters chronicles three displaced kids who, despite the perils surrounding them, find moments of joy, friendship, and childhood wonder, with the aid of dedicated social workers who work tirelessly to protect them from harm.

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A woman's battle with late-stage Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) leaves her paralyzed and pushes her family to the breaking point.

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A 13-year-old Hmong girl is caught between tradition and modernity in rural northwest Vietnam.

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A timely depiction of a newsroom in crisis, While We Watched follows tormented journalist Ravish Kumar for two years as he battles a barrage of fake news, falling ratings and the resulting cutbacks. Are there viewers for fact-based analyses anymore? Will his show survive or become a swan song of reason – drowning out in sensationalism, misinformation, and ratings-driven editorial decisions?

Director: Vinay Shukla

Writer: Amaan Shaikh, Abhinav Tyagi, Vinay Shukla

An undocumented family decides to return home after 20 years of living in the U.S.

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Uýra shares ancestral knowledge with Indigenous youth in the Amazon.

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Black Muslim mother Movita Johnson-Harrell transforms from a victim of violent trauma to a fierce advocate against gun violence in Black communities.

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At 14, Aurora Mardiganian survives the Armenian Genocide and escapes to New York, finding fame in "Auction of Souls."

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Nursing home residents use poetry and art to describe the danger and imprisonment they feel during COVID-19's lockdown.

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A film blending humour and sadness focuses on a mother and daughter confronting the reality of wisdom "gone wild" in the shadows of dementia.

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A series of vignettes provide insight into Chinese tourists who travel to the U.S. to give birth in order to obtain citizenship for their babies.

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At MIT, a Ghanaian alum follows four African students striving to become agents of positive change for their home countries.

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A blind, undocumented immigrant faces uncertainty to obtain his college degree.

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