Now that it’s mid-April, we’re finally beginning to get a taste of spring here in New York. And that means that summer — and POV’s 21st season — are just around the corner.

Today we’re taking a sneak peek at Election Day, which will have its broadcast premiere on Tuesday, July 1 at 10 PM (but check your local listings). Filmmaker Katy Chevigny wants you to forget the pie charts, color-coded maps and hyperventilating pundits. What’s the street-level experience of voters in today’s America? In a triumph of documentary storytelling, Election Day combines 11 stories — shot simultaneously on November 2, 2004, from dawn until long past midnight — into one. Factory workers, ex-felons, harried moms, Native American activists and diligent poll watchers, from South Dakota to Florida, take the process of democracy into their own hands. The result is an entertaining, inspiring and sometimes unsettling story of citizens determined to vote on one fateful day.

For more previews of 2008 POV films, check out our TV Schedule.

Published by

Catherine Jhee was formerly a producer with POV Interactive.