April showers bring May flowers — and in our world there’s no better bouquet than a bunch of new POV documentaries to stream. The new set of films will be available to stream starting Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at pov.org/video and on the POV channel wherever the PBS app is available.
For a sneak peek of what’s to come, here’s a bit about the five films:
Cutie and the Boxer (2015) Emmy winner!
The Oscar®-nominated Cutie and the Boxer is a moving account of the chaotic and unconventional 40-year love affair and creative partnership between action painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko, also an artist. Ushio, who punches canvases with paint-laden gloves, is famous in Japan and in Manhattan’s art circles, yet wider recognition has eluded him. Noriko, 21 years his junior, put her artistic ambitions on hold to be a wife and mother — and an assistant to her demanding husband. Now, Noriko’s acclaimed “Cutie” series of drawings, depicting the relationship between the title character and a volatile figure named Bullie, is turning their world upside down.
Streaming May 2 – 31, 2017 | Watch »
Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case (2015)
Ai Weiwei has a serious problem with authority: The Chinese government not only kidnapped and imprisoned the world-renowned artist in a secret location for protesting its repressive policies, but after his release it conducted a show trial on baseless charges of tax evasion and pornography. Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case, a stunning and stirring documentary by Andreas Johnsen, dissects the persecution and shows how the government’s attempts to silence Ai Weiwei have turned him into China’s most powerful artist and an irrepressible voice for free speech and human rights around the globe.
Streaming May 2 – 31, 2017 | Watch »
Of Men and War (2016)
The warriors in Of Men and War have come home, but their minds remain on the battlefield. Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, consumed by anger and traumatic memories long after their return, often resort to drugs or suicide to end their suffering. But at The Pathway Home in California, a first-of-its-kind PTSD treatment center, soldiers resolve to stop the damage. Their therapist helps them forge meaning from their trauma. Over five years, the film follows the men and their families on their grueling paths to recovery as they attempt to make peace with their pasts, their loved ones and themselves.
Streaming May 2 – 31, 2017 | Watch »
What Tomorrow Brings (2016)
What Tomorrow Brings goes inside the very first girls’ school in a small Afghan village. Never before have fathers here allowed their daughters to be educated; now Taliban threats heighten their misgivings. From the school’s beginnings in 2009 to its first graduating class in 2015, the film traces the interconnected stories of students, teachers, village elders, parents and school founder Razia Jan. While the girls learn to read and write, their education goes far beyond the classroom as they discover the differences between the lives they were born into and the lives they dream of leading.
Streaming May 2 – 31, 2017 | Watch »
The Look of Silence (2016)
Joshua Oppenheimer’s Oscar®-nominated The Look of Silence is the incredible story of a man confronting his brother’s killers and demanding they accept responsibility for their crimes. Adi, an optometrist who survived the 1965 Indonesian genocide, takes this unimaginable step in a society where murderers remain in power. To break the spell of submission and terror, he forces them, and us, to reckon with his country’s dark history. A companion piece to Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing, also an Oscar nominee, The Look of Silence has been hailed as a “masterpiece” by The New York Times for bearing witness to the collapse of 50 years of silence.
Streaming May 2 – 7, 2017 | Watch »
Note: POV’s license agreements may limit availability of films outside the United States.
See the full list of what’s streaming at any time at pov.org/video or on the POV channel in your PBS app.
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