The films comprising the upcoming 32nd season of PBS’ “POV” have been revealed. Of 15 features announced, nine are directed or co-directed by women. A 16th film will be added to the schedule later this spring, according to Deadline.
Among the titles set to screen is Nancy Schwartzman’s “Roll Red Roll,” a look behind the sexual assault case that put Steubenville, Ohio in national headlines. Described as a “true crime thriller,” the doc uncovers “the deep seated and social media-fueled ‘boys-will be-boys’ culture at the root of high school sexual assault in America.” When we asked Schwartzman what she’d like people to think about after watching “Roll Red Roll,” she said she wants them to “feel connected, and to have a deeper understanding of how rape happens and what is our collective responsibility to prevent it. I want people to think about their own lives and experiences as younger people or as adults. If they’ve been in similar situations and not done anything, or looked away, and ultimately, how we are all responsible for each other,” she explained.
The lineup includes “On Her Shoulders,” Alexandria Bombach’s portrait of Nadia Murad, who survived genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS. “People may go into this film thinking it’s a biopic of Nadia, but leave feeling it’s about us. There is a numbness in the world right now — an apathy that has met the refugee crisis head-on,” Bombach told us. “Following Nadia through her experience of pleading with the world to care about this vulnerable minority exposes this indifference in a way that is distinct and raw. I’m hoping to add more gray to what is often assumed to be black and white.”
Assia Boundaoui’s “The Feeling of Being Watched” is also set to air. The doc sees Boundaoui, a journalist, returning to the Chicago suburb she grew up in to investigate on behalf of the tight-knit Muslim-American neighborhood — they believe they are under surveillance. “Many of my childhood experiences and the stories I heard seemed paranoid, but I became determined to find out what is real and to get to the truth about why I’ve felt under surveillance my entire life,” the director explained to us. “The harm these terrorism investigations have had on my family and neighborhood is profound — more than a decade of being looked at with suspicion eventually impacts one’s sense of self. I still grapple with how American I actually feel. But somewhere in the gray dissonant border between the hyphens of my Muslim and Americanness, I have discovered that because I stand in between boundaries, I am uniquely positioned to observe.” She added, “I am making this film to challenge notions of how we see things, to disrupt status quos that have been petrified in particular angles, and to shatter conventional ways of seeing Muslims in America and create new ones.”
Check out all of the women-directed and co-directed docs airing on “POV’s” upcoming season and scheduling details below. All programs begin at 10pm except for those noted. List adapted from Deadline.
Roll Red Roll
June 17, 2019
Directed by Nancy Schwartzman
At a pre-season party in small-town Steubenville, Ohio, a now-infamous sexual assault of a teenage girl by members of the beloved high school football team took place. Roll Red Roll is a true-crime thriller that goes behind the headlines to uncover the deep seated and social media-fueled “boys-will be-boys” culture at the root of high school sexual assault in America. Official Selection, 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.
On Her Shoulders
July 22, 2019 at 9 p.m.
Directed by Alexandria Bombach
Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi, survived genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS. Repeating her story to the world, this ordinary girl finds herself thrust onto the international stage as the voice of her people. Away from the podium, she must navigate bureaucracy, fame and people’s good intentions. Official Selection, 2018 Sundance Film Festival, 2018 SXSW Film Festival. Shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature for the 91st Academy Awards.
Inventing Tomorrow
July 29, 2019
Directed by Laura Nix
Passionate teenage innovators from around the globe create cutting-edge solutions to confront the world’s environmental threats—found right in their own backyards—while navigating the doubts and insecurities that mark adolescence. These inspiring teens prepare their projects for the largest convening of high school scientists in the world: the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Official Selection, 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
Farmsteaders
September 2, 2019
Directed by Shaena Mallett
Clear-eyed and intimate, Farmsteaders follows Nick Nolan and his young family on a journey to resurrect his late grandfather’s dairy farm as agriculture moves toward large-scale farming. A study of place and persistence, Farmsteaders points an honest and tender lens at everyday life in rural America, offering an unexpected voice for a forsaken people: those who grow the food that sustains us.
Grit
September 9, 2019
Directed by Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander
A multinational natural gas drilling company is believed to be responsible for the displacement of 60,000 people in an East Java village left submerged by a tsunami of mud. Fed up with the company’s delayed cleanup, Dian, a politically active teenager, galvanizes her neighbors to fight against the corporate powers accused of one of the largest environmental disasters in recent history.
The Silence of Others
September 30, 2019
Directed by Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar
The Silence of Others reveals the epic struggle of victims of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship under General Franco as they continue to seek justice four decades into democracy. Filmed over six years, the film follows the survivors organizing the groundbreaking “Argentine Lawsuit” to fight a state-imposed amnesia of crimes against humanity, where the emotional court battle uncovers a country still divided over its fascist history. Shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature for the 91st Academy Awards. Winner, 2019 Goya Award for Best Documentary Film. A co-production of ITVS. Co-presented by Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB).
The Feeling of Being Watched
October 14, 2019
Directed by Assia Boundaoui
In the Chicago suburb where journalist Assia Boundaoui grew up, most residents in her Muslim immigrant neighborhood believe they are under surveillance. Assia investigates and uncovers FBI documents about “Operation Vulgar Betrayal,” one of the largest pre-9/11 counterterrorism probes conducted on domestic soil, right in Assia’s hometown. Official Selection, 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.
BLOWIN’ UP
October 21, 2019
Directed by Stephanie Wang-Breal
Working within a broken criminal justice system, a team of rebel heroines work to change the way women arrested for prostitution are prosecuted. With intimate camerawork that lingers on details and brings the Queens criminal courtroom to life, BLOWIN’ UPcelebrates acts of steadfast defiance, even as it reveals the hurdles these women must face. Official Selection, 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.
The Rescue List
Early 2020
Directed by Alyssa Fedele and Zachary Fink
In a rehabilitation shelter in Ghana, two children are recovering from enslavement to fishermen. But their story takes an unexpected turn when their rescuer embarks on another mission and asks the children for help. Charting the unfolding drama, The Rescue List tells a moving story of friendship and courage—transcending tropes of victimhood and illustrating what it means to love and survive.
