POV Shorts has unveiled the seven acquisition titles that make up the series’ eighth season, which launches on Nov. 18 with Jeff Orlowski-Yang (“The Social Dilemma“) and Sarah Keo’s “Chasing Time.”
Launched in 2018, “POV Shorts” has served as a platform for filmmakers to tell stories focused on relevant contemporary issues and cultural narratives. This season intergenerational care and mentorship, local culture and chosen family, memory, identity, and the power of history are among the many topics being explored.
“I’m incredibly proud of this collection of films, which includes stories pushing creative bounds and highlighting brave individuals who model pathways of impact,” says Opal H. Bennett, POV senior producer and POV shorts executive producer, American Documentary. “Every season, it’s both our honor and our charge at POV to provide our audience with films that make a difference and spark conversation.”
In “Chasing Time,” the team behind the feature doc “Chasing Ice” reunites to unveil visual evidence of climate change and to inspire action toward a sustainable future. The short doc made its world premiere at the 2024 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.
On Nov. 18, in addition to “Chasing Time,” POV Shorts will release Imani Dennison’s “The People Could Fly,” Twiggy Pucci Garçon’s “Mn,” and Marshall Granger’s “Your Opinion, Please.”
For “The People Could Fly,” director Imani Dennison uncovers the history of Black gathering spaces and roller-skating culture in Louisville, Kentucky, from the 1960s to the mid-2000s. “The People Could Fly” is the first release from the Chicken & Egg Pictures POV Shorts co-production fund and the first original produced by American Documentary/POV Shorts to be included in a POV Shorts season. The film, which debuted at the 2024 Blackstar Film Festival, will be followed by Richard O’Connor’s animated short “StoryCorps: Dear Mrs. Doyle.”
In “MnM,” Garcon followed Mermaid and Milan, two emerging runway divas in the drag ballroom community. Granger’s “Your Opinion, Please” assembles a decade (1997 to 2007) of non-prescreened, unedited live call-in comments from Yellowstone Public Radio and juxtaposes them with present-day Montana, revealing a state’s ongoing identity debate over community, cost of living, and the right to free expression.
On Nov. 25 the remaining three short docs from season eight -“In Songs of Black Folk,” “La Orquesta,” and “Classroom 4” – will be released.
A co-presentation with LA Times Short Docs, “In Songs of Black Folk, directed by Haley Watson and Justin Emeka, captures top Black musical talent on a single Pacific Northwest stage, launching a powerful new tradition for Black artists against the backdrop of Juneteenth. “La Orquesta,” a co-production with Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) and co-presented with VOCES, follows a determined teacher-activist in Atlanta and her youth orchestra through one school year to offer a fresh perspective on the immigrant experience. The film, directed by Monica Villavicencio and Stephanie Liu, will be followed by the animated short “StoryCorps: A Mother’s Promise.”
In “Classroom 4,” director Eden Wurmfeld enters a prison classroom where college students and incarcerated learners together study the history of crime and punishment, sparking unexpected conversation and a deeper understanding of justice and humanity.
“Songs of Black Folk,” “Chasing Time,” “The People Could Fly,” and “Classroom 4” have all been qualified for Oscar consideration.
(“La nueva ola de añil” (“The New Indigo Wave”) is also part of the eighth season of POV Shorts ans is currently streaming.)
All seven short docs will be available to stream at POV.org and on the PBS App.