In honor of Independence Day in the Dominican Republic, POV is proud to share a film that highlights some of the rich diversity of the Dominican immigrant experience in New York City. My American Girls (POV 2001), by director Aaron Matthews, is now streaming in its entirety on the POV website through April 2, 2009. […]

In 2001, the hate-based attempted murders of two Mexican day laborers catapulted the town of Farmingville, New York into national headlines. Filmmakers Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini spent a year there so they could capture first-hand the stories of residents, day laborers and activists on all sides of the debate, and Farmingville premiered on POV […]

The seven sons of Rosa Peña, a migrant worker and single mother, were raised in the Texas border towns of Hidalgo County, the poorest county in the United States. She worked hard, had two husbands — she chased off the second one with a knife when he beat one of the boys — and instilled […]

For her film Calavera Highway, filmmaker Renee Tajima-Peña turned her camera to her husband Armando and the rest of his family as they deal with the death of their mother, Rosa, and their complicated family history. Her co-filmmaker, Evangeline Griego, collaborated with her, and they filmed Armando and his brother Carlos on a journey across […]

September 15 – October 15 is Hispanic Heritage month! Started in 1968 (as Hispanic Heritage Week), the now month-long observation recognizes the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the United States. September 15th is the anniversary of independence for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Gautemala, Honduras and Nicaragua; Mexico and Chile also celebrate their independence days in […]

Ido Haar is the director of 9 Star Hotel. After the film aired on POV, viewers wrote in with questions for Ido. Read on for his responses. Allen asks: Thanks for the film. I found similarities between the Palestinian men and Mexican migrant workers in America. Is this something you thought about as you were […]

Independent journalist Tom Roston checks in and writes about the world of documentaries in his column, Doc Soup. Today, he muses on the most recent POV film. As I watched 9 Star Hotel, I was overcome by this strange feeling of déjà vu. I was captivated by the slice-of-sad-life story about the young Palestinian men […]

9 Star Hotel is the facetious name that Palestinian construction workers give to the pile of rocks that marks their clandestine nightly abode — a group of cardboard enclosures and tin-covered huts hidden in the brush-covered hills above the Israeli town of Modi’in. It is also the name of this week’s POV film about the […]

Israeli director Ido Haar grew up in a village on the edge of a pine forest halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. When he went home to visit his parents, he often saw men running frantically across the highway. He says “the fear in their eyes haunted me, and I wanted to find out where […]

Kieran Fitzgerald was only 17 years old in 1997 when a team of Marines shot and killed an innocent American citizen on the Texas-Mexico border. The film, narrated by Tommy Lee Jones, recounts the shooting and killing of a young American named Esequiel Hernández in 1997 by U.S. Marines patrolling the border as part of […]

The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández tells a frightening and cautionary tale about the dangers of using military as domestic law enforcement — a role that the military, under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, had been prohibited from taking. In 1997, U.S. Marines patrolling the Texas-Mexican border as part of the U.S. war on drugs […]

On July 22nd, POV will broadcast 9 Star Hotel by Ido Haar, which takes a unique look at the lives of Palestinian workers. Here’s a sneak peek. 9 Star Hotel documents the lives of a group of young Palestinian men working illegally as construction laborers in the Israeli city of Modi’in. Caught between Israeli security […]

We’re preparing for another great season here at POV — and now, we’re less than two months away from the first broadcast of the summer. Today, we’re taking a sneak peek at The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández by Kieran Fitzgerald. In 1997, U.S. Marines patrolling the Texas-Mexico border as part of the War on Drugs […]

From now until New Year’s day, the POV Blog will be posting about great documentaries from the POV archives. Rent one at the local video store or via Netflix to watch with your friends and family during the holiday season. The Sweetest Sound by Alan Berliner (POV 2001) What’s in a name? Alan Berliner — […]