A Town Like Diss

A Place For All: MN Community Art Centers

Explore the boundless nature of creativity in Central Minnesota. From local galleries to hands-on workshops, see how Community Art Centers create a unique environment where everyone is invited to participate, create, and belong. This is the first installment of Lakeland PBS's "Up North Arts"

One Book at a Time

Sarah Kamya is a school counselor in New York City. She began the project Little Diverse Libraries on June 3rd and has already raised over $13,000, supported black owned bookstores, and has distributed 775 books to Little Free Libraries across all 50 states. Sarah is helping educate communities while most importantly amplifying and empowering black voices.

Neirud

Neirud died shrouded in mystery, leaving behind no trace of her past. Confronting family secrets, the filmmaker pieces together the life of her enigmatic aunt, who toured Brazil as a wrestler in an underground all-female circus troupe throughout the 60s and 80s. As she investigates Neirud's controversial ring persona, Gorilla Woman, the filmmaker uncovers a taboo-breaking love story, revealing the surprising nature of Neirud's role in her own family.

Prophet of Ecstasy

THE PROPHET OF ECSTASY explores themes of art, politics and consciousness through the improbable life of Michael Clegg, the former Catholic priest who introduced MDMA to the world - a drug he would later dub ‘Ecstasy’. The documentary will take viewers on a wild ride, from Clegg’s life as an MDMA drug kingpin, to his present-day transformation as an enlightened yogi. It also examines how the destinies of Michael Clegg, chemist Carina Leveriza, and psychedelics advocate Rick Doblin, are inexorably bound with that of the socio-cultural explosion of MDMA through its epic journey of discovery, criminalization, and re-emergence from the shadows.

Harlem Diary: Nine Voices of Resilience

A feature length documentary that tells the story of nine young men and women constructing positive lives as they face the challenges of growing up poor in one of America's most famous African American communities.

The Hat Man: Documented Cases of Pure Evil

Eyewitnesses across the globe describe encountering the same evil entity.

Profile of a Writer: Borges

This documentary examines Borges' extraordinary life and work, using dramatizations of his most memorable stories and rare interview footage with the author at his Buenos Aires home.

Back To Africa

An Austrian director followed five successful African music and dance artists with his camera and followed their lives for a year. The artists, from villages in Ghana, Gambia and Congo, were the subjects of Africa! Africa! touring across Europe, but they have unbreakable roots to their homeland and their families. Schmiderer lovingly portrays his heroes, who tell their stories about themselves, their art and what it means to them to be African with captivating honesty. The interviews are interwoven with dance scenes and colourful vignettes set to authentic music.

Cirque du Bizarre

Welcome to the Cirque Du Bizarre, the fetish circus par excellence! On the program are artistic and erotic top acts: Sexy latex girls from the dollhouse fire devil Strecko, fetish magicians, chain goddess Brandy Wirtz, pony girl trainer Rubber Stacy, the fetish clowns of "Grandios Gnadenlos," Masuimi Max in a spectacular performance, latex sea lions by Mistress Sandra and much much more.

Where the Water Goes

In Tacony Creek Park, home to one of Philadelphia's lesser-known watersheds, Julie Slavet and Malcolm Bundy reflect on their involvement with and love for the park, made bittersweet by the continuous and increasing amount of pollution that flows into its river. Combined wastewater and stormwater sewage outfalls have affected Philadelphia's rivers for years, but as one innovative program mitigates this for the Schuylkill and Delaware, Tacony gets left behind. Scientist Laura Toran educates the audience on green infrastructure and its potential positive impacts, while Slavet and Bundy discuss how they're still waiting—not without hope—for those impacts to reach their community.

Hatching by Cirque du Soleil

A Documentary on the Creation of OVO, by Cirque du Soleil

Turkeys for Xmas

Feathered friends prepare to meet their fate in this seasonal newsreel outing to a Norfolk turkey farm.

People on the Road

A portrait of a traveling circus.

Lucy the Human Chimp

The profound story of Lucy Temerlin, a female chimpanzee raised as human from birth in a domestic environment, and Janis Carter, the woman who took on the seemingly impossible task of giving her a new life in the wild.

Utopías y otras especies

Reykjavik, Reykjavik

A dramatized documentary about the capital of Iceland, Reykjavík. The city is seen through the eyes of a visitor, a Canadian girl of Icelandic descent, who marvels at the many charms and peculiarities of Reykjavík. The film was made on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the city.

Churchill and the Movie Mogul

Winston Churchill understood the power of films, but the true extent of his use of cinema as a propaganda tool is rarely explored. In 1934, one of Britain's most celebrated film producers, Alexander Korda, signed Churchill up as a screenwriter and historical advisor. It was the start of a unique collaboration. Churchill provided script notes for Korda's productions and penned an epic screenplay. When war broke out, their collaboration took on national importance. Korda was sent on a mission to Hollywood to help bring America into the war, with positive results. With access to previously undiscovered documents, this film documentary examines that mission and a friendship that underpinned a unique, creative partnership.

back home

In 1999, 11-year-old Nisha Platzer lost her older brother, Josh, to suicide. Twenty years later, her search for a specialized medical treatment leads her to the door of someone who was once exceptionally close to Josh. And so it is that she finally has the chance to truly know her brother through his chosen family. Captured over five years in which synchronicities continually manifested, Platzer’s documentation of these encounters gently asserts that both grieving and healing are meant to be communal experiences.

A Kingdom of Tea & Strangers

At L'Abri, a short-term "hospitality community" in the English countryside, five strangers spend a summer together exploring their big questions about faith, being human, and finding belonging back home.