POV opens its 30th season with three feature films and two shorts on a single topic: the Syrian war and global refugee crisis. The special showcase will follow events nationwide commemorating World Refugee Day on June 20, 2017.
On June 26, 2017, POV's season premieres with Dalya's Other Country, followed by two short films, From Damascus to Chicago and 4.1 Miles. On July 3, 2017, POV presents The War Show, and on July 10, 2017, the special series concludes with Last Men in Aleppo.
Dalya's Other Country
PBS Premiere: June 26, 2017
Filmmaker: Julia Meltzer
Dalya's Other Country tells the nuanced story of members of a family displaced by the Syrian conflict who are remaking themselves after the parents separate. Effervescent teen Dalya goes to Catholic high school and her mother, Rudayna, enrolls in college as they both walk the line between their Muslim values and the new world in which they find themselves. A co-presentation with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).
4.1 Miles
PBS Premiere: June 26, 2017
Filmmaker: Daphne Matziaraki
In the Oscar®-nominated short film 4.1 Miles, Daphne Matziaraki follows a day in the life of Kyriakos Papadopoulos, a captain in the Greek coast guard who is caught in the middle of the refugee crisis in which Europe is embroiled. Despite limited resources, the captain and his crew attempt to save thousands of migrants from drowning in the Aegean Sea. Nominated, 2017 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject.
From Damascus to Chicago
PBS Premiere: June 26, 2017
Filmmakers: Colleen Cassingham, Alex Lederman
In the documentary short From Damascus to Chicago, two young Syrian siblings recently resettled in Chicago enroll in a dance class, while the film follows their family's experiences in navigating a new city and country.
The War Show
PBS Premiere: July 3, 2017
Filmmakers: Obaidah Zytoon, Andreas Dalsgaard, Alaa Hassan
Radio host Obaidah Zytoon captures the fate of Syria through the intimate lens of a small circle of friends and journalists. Beginning with peaceful Arab Spring protests in 2011, The War Show offers a four-year, ground-level look at how the country spiraled into bloody civil war. Official Selection of the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.
Last Men in Aleppo
PBS Premiere: July 10, 2017
Filmmaker: Feras Fayyad
After five years of war in Syria, the remaining citizens of Aleppo are getting ready for a siege. Through the eyes of volunteer rescue workers called the White Helmets, Last Men in Aleppo allows viewers to experience the daily life, death, and struggle in the streets, where they are fighting for sanity in a city where war has become the norm. Winner, 2017 Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Documentary.