Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home.
As the impeachment trial of President Trump gets underway, and as the US launches into another rough-and-tumble presidential election year, FRONTLINE presents America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump, a two-part, four-hour documentary series investigating America's increasingly bitter, divided and toxic politics. Michael Kirk directs.
Following Martin Luther King Jr. Day, explore the history of the American Civil Rights Movement through the definitive series Eyes on the Prize, which takes you from 1954 through 1985 from the perspectives of the footsoldiers whose bold actions propelled the movement, brought American face to face with the democratic ideals they professed to cherish, and embodied a struggle that continues to this day. Executive-produced by the late Henry Hampton, Eyes on the Prize streams on Kanopy.
AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange returns this week on WORLD Channel for its 12th season, exploring stories of modern life in the African Diaspora with a slate of documentaries journeying through Brazil, Nigeria, Turkey, South Africa, the US, Liberia and beyond. The season opens with Joel Zito Araújo's My Friend Fela, an exploration of music, liberation and the enduring ties of the Pan-African family. New episodes of AfroPoP will debut every Monday through February 17. Executive-produced by Black Public Media (BPM), the series is co-presented by distributor American Public Television (APT), which will release it to public television stations nationwide on February 6.
Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez, a Netflix series directed by Geno McDermott, traces the rise and fall of football star Aaron Hernandez, whose spectacular prowess from high school through the pros belied a deeply troubled life, punctuated by an abusive upbringing, a growing attraction to gang culture, and a violent drive fueled by drugs, alcohol and the dark side of the game he loved. And his life came crashing down with two murder trials, a conviction and his suicide.
Now streaming on Mubi is The Image Book, Jean-Luc Godard’s essay film comprised of classic film clips and old newsreels, often distressed and distorted beyond recognition. The Image Book interrogates our relationship with film, culture and global politics.