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The Graduates: Undocumented Students

16m 36s / TV-PG
Gustavo Madrigal started school in the U.S. in 5th grade after coming from Mexico with undocumented parents. They set high standards, but his undocumented status presented barriers to attending college. After graduation he worked for a time, then became an activist for the DREAM Act and began attending classes at Freedom University, which offers courses to help students prepare for college.
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The Graduates: Bullying

17m 10s / TV-PG
Juan Bernabe came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic with his mother at age 11. When he was 14, he came out as gay and was subject to bullying by peers. Feeling isolated and afraid to confide in his mother, Juan was on the verge of dropping out. The performing arts program at Lawrence (Mass.) High School kept him in school and helped him gain confidence about his identity.
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The Graduates: Peer Juries

18m / TV-PG
Although a solid student, Stephanie Alvarado was discouraged by her school’s tough reputation. She became involved in Voices of Youth in Chicago Education, which aims to decrease the city’s dropout rate through projects like peer jury, where students help peers who committed a minor infraction. After getting involved, Stephanie’s grades improved and she became more active in her community.
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The Graduates/Los Graduados: Coming This Fall to PBS

30s / TV-PG
This two-part, bilingual documentary explores pressing issues in education today through the eyes of six Latino and Latina adolescents from across the United States, offering first-hand perspectives on the barriers they have to overcome in order to make their dreams come true.
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Los Graduados - Adelantado en Español

29s / TV-PG
This two-part, bilingual documentary explores pressing issues in education today through the eyes of six Latino and Latina adolescents from across the United States, offering first-hand perspectives on the barriers they have to overcome in order to make their dreams come true.
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The Graduates/Los Graduados: Latino Student Stories

30s / TV-PG
Two-part, bilingual documentary explores pressing issues in education today through the eyes of six Latino and Latina adolescents from across the United States, offering first-hand perspectives on the barriers they have to overcome in order to make their dreams come true.
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The Graduates/Los Graduados: A Latina Struggles with Homeles

1m 51s / TV-PG
In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary, The Graduates/Los Graduados, we meet Chastity, a young, Latina student who lives in the Bronx, NY. While in high school, Chastity was actually living with her family in a homeless shelter, which made it difficult for her to focus on succeeding academically.
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Los Graduados: Estudiante elige entre la vida de pandillas o

2m 31s / TV-PG
En este extracto del documental de Independent Lens, The Graduates/Los graduados, conocemos a Eduardo, un joven estudiante latino en San Diego quien describe cómo lo atractivo engañoso de las pandillas y el uso de drogas han impedido la graduación de la mayoría de sus parientes.
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Coming Soon to Independent Lens: The Graduates

3m 11s
Two-part, bilingual documentary explores pressing issues in education today through the eyes of six Latino and Latina adolescents from across the United States, offering first-hand perspectives on the barriers they have to overcome in order to make their dreams come true.
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The Graduates: Teen Parenting

/ TV-PG
Just before her sophomore year of high school, Darlene Bustos became pregnant. She considered dropping out because she felt her priority was being a full-time mother. As her son Alex began attending Head Start, Darlene thought more about his future, and her own. She enrolled in the Union Alternate School program for at-risk students, where she began the work of finishing high school.
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Los Graduados: Una latina sin hogar mientras asiste la prepa

1m 52s / TV-PG
En este extracto del documental de Independent Lens, The Graduates/Los graduados, conocemos a Chastity, una joven estudiante latina que vive en el Bronx, NY. En realidad, mientras en la preparatoria Chastity estaba viviendo con su familia en un refugio para personas sin hogar, que le hacía difícil concentrarse en tener éxito académicamente.
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The Graduates: Homelessness

/ TV-PG
After her family became homeless, Chastity Salas’ sense of responsibility toward her family threatened to interfere with her education. A counselor provided her the support needed to stay in school and apply for college. Chastity began to thrive at school, using writing as an outlet for her feelings. She inspires her younger siblings, who admire her perseverance in making it to college.
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The Waiting Room - Preview

30s / TV-PG
The Waiting Room intimately follows several people who pass through the emergency room of Highland Hospital in East Oakland, CA. Shot over several months and with a poignant mix of humor and drama, the film presents a composite portrait of a public institution struggling to care for a persistent and growing stream of patients living on the fringes of America's health care system.
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Coming to Independent Lens: The Waiting Room

2m 16s / TV-PG
The Waiting Room is a cinema verité portrait of one California city's public safety-net hospital as it struggles to handle patient overload in a swooning economy and a constantly shifting landscape of health care policy. The film will make its television premiere next season on Independent Lens.
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Get Ready for a New Season of Independent Lens

30s
Independent Lens launches its 12th season on PBS with a lineup of 23 remarkable documentaries from both new and established filmmakers. The season opener on Monday, September 30 is Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey, a real life rock and roll fairy tale about Filipino singer Arnel Pineda, who was plucked from YouTube to become the frontman for the iconic American rock band Journey.
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