We are one nation with many voices. A chance to listen to stories that do not echo our own is provided every summer when PBS presents its documentary series P.O.V.
This series has received every major broadcast award, including 19 Emmy Awards, 12 George Foster Peabody Awards, 8 duPont-Columbia Awards and three Academy Awards. It was honored with a special Emmy Award for Excellence in Television Documentary Filmmaking.
Excellence continues when P.O.V. starts its 22nd season Tuesday, June 23, with Jennifer Maytorena Taylor's "New Muslim Cool." This 90-minute film tracks former drug dealer Hamza Perez as he works to change his life and his community through music and faith.
This film gives audiences a close look at the relationship between Muslims and "street beats" that started back at the beginning of the hip-hop culture. The film challenges stereotypes and asks us to look critically at the "clash of civilizations" between Islam and the West.
Tuesday, June 30, P.O.V. offers the American broadcast premiere of Olivier Meyrou's "Beyond Hatred," a French documentary that centers on a hate crime and its aftermath.
With far right domestic terrorism on the rise in the United States, this documentary could not be more timely.
In September 2002, three neo-Nazi skinheads, between the ages 16 and 20, were roaming Legrange Park in Rheims, France, looking to beat up anyone they considered "subhuman." They came upon 29-year-old Francois Chenu. When asked if he was gay, he answered without hesitation. He was then savagely beaten and thrown in a nearby creek, where he drowned.
"Beyond Hatred" is narrated by those left to deal with the crime's aftermath — attorneys, those who knew the victim, the father of one of the murderers and Chenu's parents and siblings. This film was awarded Best Documentary at Berlin's International Film Festival (2006).
As the season continues, we learn about guitarist Jason Crigler's personal triumph over tragedy in Eric Daniel Metzgar's "Life. Support. Music."
We visit Oxford's Mulberry Bush School for emotionally disturbed children, where the staff's unusual methods offer hope in Kim Longinotto's "Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go."
We follow three Latina garment factory workers, who wage a battle to bring a major clothing retailer to the negotiating table in Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar's "Made in L.A."
My curiosity is piqued by the one-hour collection of short programs scheduled to air in mid-August. The films will cover a Vegas-like shopping mall in China that now sits entirely empty; the threat America's grey squirrel poses to England's native red squirrel; the latest installment in a trilogy about body image; and the world as seen through the eyes of crane operators.
Summer in Texas is cabin fever time. The weather keeps us in our air-conditioned living rooms watching television. At least P.O.V. gives us something worth watching.
P.O.V., a project of American Documentary Inc., continues on Tuesdays through Sept. 22 on PBS. Check local listings at pbs.org.
P.O.V. Interactive (pbs.org/pov) — an educator's dream — offers special features for every presentation, including interviews with film makers, story updates, and content that encourages viewer activities and dialogue.
Last but not least, there is P.O.V. Blog, where folks who enjoy social-issue documentaries can exchange information, observations and opinions.
We have a long summer ahead of us. Sit back. Relax. Enjoy.
