Encompassing the full spectrum of film — from history to drama to animation to shorts to social-issue films — this anthology series allows audiences greater access to powerful and innovative programs united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement and unflinching visions of their independent producers. Maggie Gyllenhaal hosts the new season.
Tuesday, November 2 at 11:00 p.m.
Reel Injun
Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond takes an entertaining, insightful, and often humorous look at the Hollywood Indian, exploring the portrayal of North American Natives through a century of cinema and examining the ways that the myth of “the Injun” has influenced the world’s understanding—and misunderstanding—of Natives. Narrated by Diamond with infectious enthusiasm and good humor, Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian is a loving look at cinema through the eyes of the people who appeared in its very first flickering images and have survived to tell their stories their own way.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010, 11:00 p.m.
The Longoria Affair
Private Felix Longoria died fighting the Japanese during World War II. But when his body was sent home to Three Rivers, Texas, the town’s only funeral parlor refused to allow his family to use their chapel because "the whites wouldn’t like it." The incident created deep divisions in Three Rivers, tensions that last even today — but it also helped launch the Mexican American civil rights movement, elect John Kennedy to the White House, and lead Lyndon Johnson to sign the most important civil rights legislation of the 20th century.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 11:00 p.m.
Lost Sparrow
Some questions are never answered. Some answers are hard to take. Three decades ago, two Crow Indian brothers ran away from home and no one knew why. Their sudden and mysterious deaths sent shockwaves through a tiny upstate New York community. Lost Sparrow is their adoptive brother’s journey to bring Bobby and Tyler home and confront a painful truth that shattered his family.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010, 11:00 p.m.
Deep Down
Beverly May and Terry Ratliff grew up on opposite sides of a mountain ridge in eastern Kentucky, where coal is king. When a mountaintop removal coal mine encroaches on their community, the two find themselves on opposite sides of a debate that divides their community and the world — who controls, consumes, and bene?ts from the planet's dwindling supply of natural resources? In a small town in dire economic straits and high unemployment, the coal company’s offer to buy land and provide jobs can be hard to resist. What can a community do when it must choose between its present and its future?
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