Women's History Month
Celebrate the accomplishments and vital contributions of women in history with documentaries and stories that center women's experiences in history. Everyone can enjoy and learn something new from this collection of stories by women and about women.
Now Streaming
The Vote
One hundred years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, The Vote tells the dramatic culmination story of the hard-fought campaign waged by American women for the right to vote, a transformative cultural and political movement that resulted in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
Poetry in Paint: Bea Mandelman in Taos
One of Taos’ great artistic stories comes to life in this special one-hour portrait of painter Bea Mandelman. Richly illustrated with a lifelong collection of artworks and personal photographs, the artist’s voice rings out through her private journals and a candid, 1995 radio interview - providing rare insight into her thoughts on painting and process.
The Codebreaker
Based on the book The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies, The Codebreaker reveals the fascinating story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the groundbreaking cryptanalyst whose painstaking work to decode thousands of messages for the U.S. government.
Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands
Discover an international singer who captivated royalty in Europe and defied the conscience of 1939 America. Watch rare archival footage and hear audio recordings exploring her life and career from the Metropolitan Opera to the State Department.
Awakening in Taos: The Mabel Dodge Luhan Story
Mabel Dodge Luhan was a trailblazing feminist 100 years ahead of her time. She was a champion for Women and Native American rights. In 1917 she moved from Greenwich Village to Taos, New Mexico. There she married Tony Lujan, a Tiwa Indian from Taos Pueblo.
Great Performances “The Magic of Spirituals"
Glimpse behind the curtain at opera legends Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman’s famed concert at Carnegie Hall on March 18, 1990, featuring performance clips and new interviews with opera star Angel Blue, Met Opera General Manager Peter Gelb and more.
Fannie Lou Hamer: Stand Up
Civil rights legend Fannie Lou Hamer is remembered by those who worked side by side with her in the struggle for voting rights. An African-American sharecropper from the Mississippi Delta, Hamer’s difficulty registering to vote in 1962 led to her career as an outspoken activist, congressional candidate, and fierce fighter for the rights of all.
Mae West: Dirty Blonde
Dive into the life and career of groundbreaking writer, performer and subversive star Mae West. Over a career spanning eight decades, she broke boundaries and possessed creative and economic powers unheard of for a female entertainer in the 1930s.
Vel Phillips: Dream Big Dreams
Wisconsin Public Television tells the story of civil rights leader Vel Phillips. Discover how Vel Phillips achieved an impressive list of "firsts" as part of her legacy, including the first African American judge in Wisconsin and the first woman, and African American, in the nation elected to executive office in state government.
Frontline "A Thousand Cuts"
For Sama
In a time of conflict and darkness in her home in Aleppo, Syria, one young woman kept her camera rolling — while falling in love, getting married, having a baby and saying goodbye as her city crumbled. The award-winning documentary unfolds as a love letter from filmmaker and young mother Waad al-Kateab to her daughter — Sama.
Mama Gloria
Represent
Represent follows three women running for office in the heart of the Midwest leading up to the 2018 midterm elections, as they take on entrenched local political networks and fight to reshape politics on their own terms.
Twyla Moves
Twyla Moves explores the life of legendary dancer, director and choreographer Twyla Tharp. Jumping from historical footage to the present day, the film traces her influential career while providing an intimate look at her famously rigorous creative process.
9to5: The Story of a Movement
When Dolly Parton sang “9 to 5,” she was singing about a real movement that started with a group of secretaries in the early 1970s. Their goals were simple—better pay, more advancement opportunities and an end to sexual harassment—but as seen in 9to5: The Story of a Movement, their fight that inspired a hit would change the American workplace forever.
Great Performances "Gloria: A Life"
Experience playwright Emily Mann’s unique interpretation of feminist icon Gloria Steinem’s life, performed by an all-female cast starring Emmy Award winner Christine Lahti and directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus.
Great Performances "Ann"
Enjoy a powerful and revealing look at legendary, larger-than-life Texas governor Ann Richards who enriched the lives of her followers, friends and family in this critically acclaimed play written by and starring Emmy Award-winner Holland Taylor.
Great Performances "The Magic of Callas"
Explore the legacy of superstar Maria Callas in this documentary detailing her 1964 comeback at London’s Royal Opera House in “Tosca,” featuring insights from fans including Rufus Wainwright and opera stars Thomas Hampson and Kristine Opolais.
¡COLORES! "4KINSHIP"
¡COLORES! "Storyteller Kathleen Wall of Jemez Pueblo"
¡COLORES! "Anna Sofaer"
POV Specials
POV "Team Meryland"
In the projects of Watts, Meryland Gonzales, a twelve-year-old female boxer trains to be crowned the 2019 Junior Olympics champion. Meanwhile, her immigrant parents work tirelessly to give their child a shot at achieving her dreams.
POV "Standing Above the Clouds"
Standing Above the Clouds follows Native Hawaiian mother-daughter activists as they stand to protect their sacred mountain Mauna Kea from the building of the world’s largest telescope.
POV: 116 Cameras
As the Holocaust survivor community ages, the USC Shoah Foundation has embarked on an ambitious new project to transform survivors into 3D digital projections. 116 Cameras follows Eva Schloss, a survivor of Auschwitz and stepsister of Anne Frank, through her story as an interactive hologram that will have conversations with generations to come.
POV "Sing Me a Lullaby"
Spanning 14 years and two continents, a daughter searches for her mother's birth parents in Taiwan, unraveling complex tensions between love and sacrifice.
POV "On the Divide"
McAllen, TX is home to the last reproductive health clinic on the Texas/Mexico border. It is the center of the tension between religious protesters who try to stop patients coming inside and the security staff of the clinic who fight to protect it. On The Divide follows three different Latinx members of this community and the unforeseen choices they face for their daily survival.
POV "Chez Jolie Coiffure"
In this captivating documentary filmed in a single tiny room, viewers step inside an underground hair salon with its charismatic proprietor, a Cameroonian immigrant named Sabine. Here, she and her employees style extensions and glue on lashes while watching soaps, dishing romantic advice, sharing rumors about government programs to legalize migrants, and talking about life back home in Cameroon.
POV "Midwives"
Midwives chronicles two women who run a makeshift medical clinic in a region torn apart by violent ethnic divisions. Hla, the owner, is a Buddhist in western Myanmar, where the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, are persecuted and denied basic rights. Nyo Nyo is a Muslim and an apprentice. Encouraged and challenged by Hla, Nyo Nyo is determined to become a steady health care provider for her people.
POV "An Act of Worship"
In An Act of Worship, Muslim-Americans recount the past 30 years of pivotal moments in U.S. history and policy from their own perspective. Weaving together observational footage of activists who came of age after 9/11, community-sourced home videos and evocative recollections from individuals impacted by incidents of Islamophobia, the film opens a window into their world through collective memory.
POV "Love & Stuff"
“How do you live without your mother?” Filmmaker Judith Helfand asks this unbearable question twice: as a daughter caring for her terminally ill mother, and as an “old new mom,” single parenting her much-longed-for adopted baby girl. With footage from 25 years of first-person filmmaking, shiva babka and 63 boxes of dead parents’ “stuff,” the film asks: what do we really need to leave our children?
Streaming with NMPBS Passport
Fannie Lou Hammer’s America: An America Reframed Special
Fannie Lou Hamer's America is a portrait of a civil rights activist and the injustices in America that made her work essential. Through public speeches, personal interviews, and powerful songs of the fearless Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist, Fannie Lou Hamer's America explores and celebrates the lesser-known life of one of the Civil Rights Movement’s greatest leaders.
Dolores
With intimate and unprecedented access, Peter Bratt's Dolores tells the story of Dolores Huerta, among the most important, yet least-known, activists in American history. Co-founder of the first farmworkers union with Cesar Chavez, she tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the 20th century.
NOVA "Picture a Scientist"
Women make up less than a quarter of STEM professionals in the United States, and numbers are even lower for women of color. But a growing group of researchers is exposing longstanding discrimination and making science more inclusive.
Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom
Go beyond the legend and meet the inspiring woman who repeatedly risked her own life and freedom to liberate others from slavery. Born 200 years ago in Maryland, Harriet Tubman was a conductor of the Underground Railroad, a Civil War scout, nurse and spy, and one of the greatest freedom fighters in our nation’s history.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On
Experience the story of the Oscar-winning Indigenous artist from her rise to prominence in New York’s Greenwich Village folk music scene through her six-decade groundbreaking career as a singer-songwriter, social activist, educator and artist.
American Masters "Roberta Flack"
Follow music icon Roberta Flack from a piano lounge through her rise to stardom. From “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” to “Killing Me Softly,” Flack’s virtuosity was inseparable from her commitment to civil rights. Detailing her story in her own words, the film features exclusive access to Flack’s archives and interviews with Rev. Jesse Jackson, Peabo Bryson and more.
Independent Lens "Coded Bias"
Coded Bias follows M.I.T. Media Lab computer scientist Joy Buolamwini, along with data scientists, mathematicians, and watchdog groups from all over the world, as they fight to expose the discrimination within facial recognition algorithms now prevalent across all spheres of daily life.
Flannery
Explore the life of Flannery O’Connor whose provocative fiction was unlike anything published before. Featuring never-before-seen archival footage, newly discovered journals and interviews with Mary Karr, Tommy Lee Jones, Hilton Als and more.
La Frontera with Pati Jinich
Savor the sights, sounds and flavors of the U.S.-Mexico border alongside acclaimed chef and James Beard Award-winning host Pati Jinich as she experiences the region’s rich culture, people and cuisine.
Dolly Parton and Friends: 50 Years At The Opry
A celebration of the country music legend’s 50 years as a member of the Grand Ole Opry, this special captures Dolly Parton delivering some of her biggest hits on one of the most iconic stages in the world. Featuring new interviews with Parton and guest appearances by some of her superstar friends, including Dierks Bentley, Emmylou Harris, Chris Janson, Toby Keith, Lady A, and more.
Loretta Lynn: My Story In My Words
2021 marks the 50th anniversary of “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” the Loretta Lynn song that became a book, a feature film, and an indelible part of popular culture. Like so many other songs written by Lynn, the lyrics told the story of her life and spoke to women who struggled to make ends meet. Lynn’s simple, straightforward song stories gave legitimacy to the joys, heartaches, struggles and triumphs.
Voice of Freedom
On Easter Sunday, 1939, contralto Marian Anderson stepped up to a microphone in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Inscribed on the walls of the monument behind her were the words “all men are created equal.”
A Chef's Life
A Chef's Life is a new half-hour character-driven documentary and cooking series that takes viewers inside the life of Chef Vivian Howard, who, with her husband Ben Knight, left the big city to open a fine dining restaurant in small-town Eastern North Carolina.
Betty White: First Lady of Television
A warm look at the life and career of the beloved television and film legend.
How It Feels To Be Free
A documentary that tells the inspiring story of how six iconic African American women entertainers – Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier – challenged an entertainment industry deeply complicit in perpetuating racist stereotypes, and transformed themselves and their audiences in the process.
Celtic Woman: Postcards from Ireland
As the world looks forward to getting together again, Celtic Woman shares a message of love and hope with fans around the world in the form of musical postcards, written with the songs from their latest album.
Women Outward Bound
The story of the first group of young women to participate in an Outward Bound survival school course in 1965. Learn how one month in the woods taught them they could do more than they ever thought possible. The young women forged a special bond, and at a reunion 47 years later, the group reminisce about the lessons they learned and the memories they made, with some surprising revelations.
Miss Scarlet & the Duke
Kate Phillips stars in a six-part mystery as the headstrong, first-ever female detective in Victorian London. Stuart Martin plays her childhood friend, professional colleague, and potential love interest, Scotland Yard Detective Inspector William Wellington, a.k.a., The Duke.
Kindred Spirits: Artists Hilda Wilkinson Brown and Lilian Thomas Burwell
Lilian Thomas Burwell recounts the life story of her aunt, unsung artist and educator Hilda Wilkinson Brown, and the influence she had on Burwell’s own career as an abstract expressionist artist. Their lives, works of art and sources of inspiration are presented against the backdrop of a segregated society where marginalized Black artists created their own venues to exhibit their work.
Land Girls
Follow the lives, loves, highs, and lows of members of the Women's Land Army working at the Hoxley Estate during World War II. As men fought on the battlefields, women from all walks of life worked the farms that fed the nation, doing their part to keep the home front running.
Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir
The story of the author whose first novel, “The Joy Luck Club,” was published to great commercial and critical success. With the blockbuster film adaption that followed as well as additional best-selling novels, librettos, short stories and memoirs, Tan firmly established herself as one of the most prominent and respected American literary voices working today.
Lidia Celebrates America: Overcoming the Odds
In this hour-long Lidia Celebrates America special, Lidia travels from big cities to small pockets of rural America, both in person and virtually, to share the inspiring stories of a diverse group of resilient Americans who have overcome extraordinary odds in their own lives, found purpose in serving their communities, and turned their loss into inspiring accomplishments.
Frankie Drake Mysteries
From the wilderness to the world of high society, from an underground cabaret to a candy factory, Frankie Drake and Trudy Clarke investigate murders, kidnappings, heists and poisonings. Morality officer Mary Shaw snoops through police files and hears non-civilian discussions, while Flo Chakowitz lends a hand with autopsy reports, science experiments, and her newly acquired medical skills.
Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar
Travel to the deserts of Iraq for an archaeological dig, where the famous crime writer unravels a series of mysterious murders. Lyndsey Marshal stars as Agatha Christie and Jonah Hauer-King is Max Mallowan, the archaeologist vying for her affection.
America ReFramed "Jack and Yaya"
From a young age, Yaya and Jack saw each other as they truly were, a girl and a boy, even though most of the world didn’t see them that way. As they grew older, they supported each other as they both came out as transgender. JACK & YAYA follows these two friends for a year and explores their unique, thirty-year relationship.
