AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange

Indie Films Series / 1 Season

AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange, is back this year with a fresh mix of features, documentaries, narratives, and short films presenting contemporary stories from across the globe. Co-produced by Black Public Media and WORLD Channel, the series reflects the spirit, ingenuity and resilience found among people of the African diaspora.

Get Cascade PBS Passport to watch

Neptune Frost and Tsutsue | Trailer

30s / TV-PG

In Neptune Frost, Neptune and Matalusa challenge the authoritarian regime in this Afrofuturist romantic musical. And Tsutsue follows two boys coping with the death of their brother in a Ghanaian town situated by an oceanside landfill.

AfroPoP | Season 17 | Preview

1m 24s / TV-PG

AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange, is back this year with a fresh mix of features, documentaries, narratives, and short films presenting contemporary stories from across the globe. Co-produced by Black Public Media and WORLD Channel, the series reflects the spirit, ingenuity and resilience found among people of the African diaspora.

Tongo Saa | Trailer

30s / TV-PG

Tongo Saa is set in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the government's plans to build a large hydroelectric power plant leaves many residents in darkness and insecurity. The uneven distribution of electricity causes many locals to navigate life after sunset using torches and other means to provide their own infrastructure and security amid constant violence.

Mother Suriname and The Changing Same | Trailer

30s / TV-PG

Mother Suriname is an evocative portrayal of Suriname's history woven through one woman’s reflections on her life. And in The Changing Same, poet L. Lamar Wilson runs a marathon to lift a town’s veil of racial terror in Marianna, Florida.

Freedom Hill | Race and Land, Underprivileged vs. Prosperous

1m 2s / TV-PG

In North Carolina, Princeville and Tarboro are neighbors separated by the Tar River. The former lies on low ground while the latter sits on high ground which is why Princeville is subject to flooding. Kofi Boone, a Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at NC State University, talks history and racialized topography in the South.

Beyond the Lens: Freedom Hill | Resita Cox

17m 23s / TV-PG

Filmmaker Resita Cox and DeVante Hudson of The Chisholm Legacy Project speak with Tina McDuffie, host of Local, USA, about FREEDOM HILL and the story of the historic Black town. Cox shares her own story to the making of film including an education of Princeville and environmental racism while Hudson provides a perspective of organizing, planning and obtaining resources within communities.

Freedom Hill | Environmental Racism

53s / TV-PG

In cities and town across America, communities of color and people living in poorer neighborhoods have been the target of environmental racism. The unfair decisions and practices by local, state and federal governments, companies and organizations undermine the health and well-being of people as in the case of the historic Black town of Princeville, North Carolina.

Freedom Hill | Trailer

1m / TV-PG

Princeville, NC sits atop wet, swampy land along the river. In the 1800s, the land was deemed uninhabitable by white people. After the Civil War, this indifference left it available for freed enslaved Africans. Once called ‘Freedom Hill,’ it was gradually established as an all Black town. But the town has been inundated with flooding...and with each flood, a little more of the small town erodes.

Freedom Hill | Preview

30s / TV-PG

Princeville, NC sits atop wet, swampy land along the river. In the 1800s, the land was deemed uninhabitable by white people. After the Civil War, this indifference left it available for freed enslaved Africans. Once called ‘Freedom Hill,’ it was gradually established as an all Black town. But the town has been inundated with flooding...and with each flood, a little more of the small town erodes.

Supa Modo | Superheroes

59s / TV-PG

Jo's family and community, and friends and caregivers at the hospital, watch the finished film that she starred in, paying tribute to her and her dream of becoming a superhero. With hesitation, her mother and sister are able to witness the happiness, laughter and brightness that Jo is able to bring to everyone around them.

Supa Modo | Sisters

59s / TV-PG

When Mwix's younger sister, Jo, returns home from the local hospital to live out her last days, she puts a plan together involving the community. Unbeknownst to Jo, who believes in superheroes, she joins in a game of football using her superpowers while her loving older sister looks on.

Commuted | A Commutation, A Second Chance

59s / TV-PG

Kenneth Polite, Jr., the former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, reads from the letter written by him supporting the commutation of Danielle Metz who was sentenced to three life sentences plus 20 years. Former President Barack Obama granted her clemency in 2016 and Metz has proven why she deserved this second chance ever since leaving prison.

Commuted | Danielle Metz

18s / TV-PG

Danielle Metz, who received three life sentences plus 20 years as a first time nonviolent offender, talks about her separation from her family - a young son and daughter, and her dream of returning home to them.

Commuted | Free Her

53s / TV-PG

Danielle Metz, once incarcerated and now with her sentence commuted, speaks at a Free Her campaign about her own story. Metz also calls for clemency of incarcerated women like herself who are deserving of commutation by the president.

Commuted | A Daughter Without Her Mother

47s / TV-PG

Gleneisha opens up about her childhood without her mother, Danielle Metz, who was incarcerated with three life sentences when she was a young child. She also shares how faith plays an important part of her life in getting through the most difficult moments.

Commuted | Preview

30s / TV-PG

In 1993, Danielle Metz was labeled a drug kingpin and sentenced to triple life in California, many miles away from New Orleans and her two children. Metz's sentence was commuted 23 years later. Now back home, she is stepping into a different reality. The film traces Metz's journey in confronting the wounds of incarceration, and to finding purpose, love and unification with her two grown children.

Commuted | Trailer

1m / TV-PG

In 1993, Danielle Metz was labeled a drug kingpin and sentenced to triple life in California, many miles away from New Orleans and her two children. Metz's sentence was commuted 23 years later. Now back home, she is stepping into a different reality. The film traces Metz's journey in confronting the wounds of incarceration, and to finding purpose, love and unification with her two grown children.

Beyond the Lens: Commuted | Nailah Jefferson, Darcy McKinnon and Danielle Metz

4m 13s / TV-PG

Filmmakers Nailah Jefferson (director), Darcy McKinnon (producer) and Danielle Metz (co-producer) talk about COMMUTED and their experience making the documentary. While Jefferson and McKinnon discuss the cruelty of the criminal justice system, Metz shares her intimate journey as a Black woman who was once incarcerated and is now advocating for others like herself.

Kati Kati | Where Am I? In Kati Kati.

59s / TV-PG

Where am I? Kaleche finds herself in unfamiliar territory after waking up in the wild. And she isn't the only person out there as she meets a group living together in Kati Kati.

Supported by