Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home.
Premiering September 9 on POV, Grit, directed by Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander, tells the story of a natural and manmade catastrophe in East Java, Indonesia: a massive mudflow triggered by a mismanaged series of fracking incidents at the suspected hands of Lapindo, a natural gas multinational company. In the aftermath, nearly 60,000 residents have lost their homes and dozens of structures—mosques, schools and factories—are now submerged in a massive wasteland of cracked mud. Grit follows a group of survivors intent on rebuilding their lives—and seeking justice against Lapindo. Grit is a project of IDA's Fiscal Sponsorship Program.
When the Twin Towers were attacked on September 11, 2001, students had just started their day at Stuyvesant High School, blocks away. Drawing on intimate access to eight student eyewitnesses, In the Shadow of the Towers: Stuyvesant High on 9/11, directed and produced by Amy Schatz, offers a unique perspective on this tragic day and explores the ways in which September 11 shaped these students’ lives and continues to shape our world today. In the Shadow of the Towers premieres September 11 on HBO.
On September 11, 1973, a military coup in Chile deposed the democratically elected government of President Salvador Allende, who was killed in the coup. More than 40 years later, Allende’s granddaughter, Marcia Tambutti Allende, queries members of her family about the deep scars the coup had on them and on the country. Beyond My Grandfather Allende (Allende Mi Abuelo Allende) streams on OVID.TV.
Premiering September 13 on American Masters and Voces, Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage, from director Ben DeJesus, profiles the pioneering Puerto Rican actor who solidified his renown both on Broadway and in Hollywood, and blazed the trail for many Latino actors to follow.
Premiering September 15 on PBS, Country Music, the latest opus from Ken Burns, explores, in eight episodes over 16 hours, the history, roots and character of this vital American art form, one defined as much by its sources as by its deep-seated stories of joy and hardship.