Local, USA

Indie Films Series / 9 Seasons

Culled from public television stations and independent producers from across the country, LOCAL, USA is a half-hour series featuring fascinating stories of diverse people, curated around a single theme.

26m 49s / TV-PG

Linnentown | Trailer

30s / TV-PG

The last living descendants of a once-thriving Black neighborhood in Athens, GA, come together to fight to preserve the memory of Linnentown. Their family homes were razed in a 1960s urban renewal project, and now they, along with civic-minded neighbors, unite to try to reclaim their forgotten history and seek redress.

HBCU Week: Innovation | Preview

30s / TV-PG

HBCU Week: Innovation explores how HBCU programs are changing and saving lives. Howard University is making history with the only Division One swim program at an HBCU while also teaching the Black community to swim. Claflin University's SmartHOME technology connects a person's physical state to actions to help mitigate health risks, hoping to combat healthcare disparities in minority communities.

HBCU Week: Changemakers | Preview

30s / TV-PG

HBCU Week: Changemakers illustrates the power and success of peaceful protests led by students. Witness how Morehouse College's youth leaders exemplify social grace during demonstrations against social injustices in the U.S., and at Morgan State University, the untold story of how this HBCU became one of America's fastest growing universities following the largest student-led protest in Maryland.

Road Scholars | Trailer

1m 15s / TV-PG

In 2009, twelve at-risk Black teenage boys set out to interview Black men from all walks of life. The kids hoped that what they learned might keep them from the streets. Today, they are young men coming of age in an America trying to turn back the clock on tolerance and race. When they reunite with the older generation, can the wisdom of the past help keep them from becoming yet another statistic?

Road Scholars | Preview

30s / TV-PG

In 2009, twelve at-risk Black teenage boys set out to interview Black men from all walks of life. The kids hoped that what they learned might keep them from the streets. Today, they are young men coming of age in an America trying to turn back the clock on tolerance and race. When they reunite with the older generation, can the wisdom of the past help keep them from becoming yet another statistic?

With Peter Bradley | Trailer

1m 15s / TV-PG

When filmmaker Alex Rappoport met Peter Bradley in 2020, the abstract artist hadn't had a major show in over four decades - yet he still painted every day in relative obscurity. The pair recorded Bradley's life story and artistic process, both deeply inspired by modern Jazz music, over the course of changing seasons. In this intimate portrait, Bradley’s is the sole voice and figure on screen.

With Peter Bradley | Preview

30s / TV-PG

When filmmaker Alex Rappoport met Peter Bradley in 2020, the abstract artist hadn't had a major show in over four decades - yet he still painted every day in relative obscurity. The pair recorded Bradley's life story and artistic process, both deeply inspired by modern Jazz music, over the course of changing seasons. In this intimate portrait, Bradley’s is the sole voice and figure on screen.

UNVEILED: Joyce Tenneson and the Heroine's Journey | Trailer

1m 4s / TV-PG

As a groundbreaking female photographer pursues her artistic vision, she struggles to navigate diverging roles as mother and artist. UNVEILED explores Tenneson’s life as she fights to express her voice while suffering the fallout of a 45-year-old secret. In watching the film, audiences must contemplate the compromises that are inevitably made in seeking to live a full creative life.

UNVEILED: Joyce Tenneson and the Heroine's Journey | Preview

30s / TV-PG

As a groundbreaking female photographer pursues her artistic vision, she struggles to navigate diverging roles as mother and artist. UNVEILED explores Tenneson’s life as she fights to express her voice while suffering the fallout of a 45-year-old secret. In watching the film, audiences must contemplate the compromises that are inevitably made in seeking to live a full creative life.

Firelighters: Fire is Medicine | Trailer

1m 21s / TV-PG

For centuries, most landscapes in North America were shaped by fire between lightning strikes and Indigenous burns. Indigenous people had deep knowledge of the art of using fire, and still do today. FIRELIGHTERS follows the work of women leaders from the Yurok and Karuk Tribes who are building resources to share indigenous practices and create policies to take back indigenous burning rights.

Firelighters: Fire is Medicine | Preview

30s / TV-PG

For centuries, most landscapes in North America were shaped by fire between lightning strikes and Indigenous burns. Indigenous people had deep knowledge of the art of using fire, and still do today. FIRELIGHTERS follows the work of women leaders from the Yurok and Karuk Tribes who are building resources to share indigenous practices and create policies to take back indigenous burning rights.

Scha'nexw Elhtal'nexw Salmon People: Preserving a Way of Life | Trailer

1m 12s / TV-PG

Despite wildfire smoke and a depleting fishery, Lummi families fish for sockeye salmon. The film, which explores the deep spiritual and cultural connection between the Lummi and salmon, lifts values of respect, gratitude and sharing as they are passed onto the next generation. Through the Scha'nexw Elhtal'nexw, the Salmon People, we learn that protecting salmon and this lifeway is a full-time job.

Scha'nexw Elhtal'nexw Salmon People: Preserving a Way of Life | Preview

30s / TV-PG

Despite wildfire smoke and a depleting fishery, Lummi families fish for sockeye salmon. The film, which explores the deep spiritual and cultural connection between the Lummi and salmon, lifts values of respect, gratitude and sharing as they are passed onto the next generation. Through the Scha'nexw Elhtal'nexw, the Salmon People, we learn that protecting salmon and this lifeway is a full-time job.

Inundation District | King Tide

59s / TV-PG

High tides are not what they used to be as sea levels continue to rise year after year. In Boston, what are also known as king tides are now flooding the made land that residents and visitors walk on, and live in, in neighborhoods like the Seaport district.

Inundation District | Projecting Sea Level Rise

2m 10s / TV-PG

Dr. Ellen Douglas, an Associate Professor of Hydrology at UMass Boston, explains how climate change and rising sea levels will impact Boston, its coastline and its residents. In reports from over the past 15 years, the projections show exponential rise through the year 2100 and as Douglas says, "we need to be prepared for it."

Inundation District | Boston's Made Land

3m 29s / TV-PG

Did you know that Boston was once a peninsula connected by a thin stretch of land? Historian and author Nancy S. Seasholes walks through the history of the coastal capital from made land by landfill to why the city, especially its Seaport district, is vulnerable to sea levels rising and therefore, flooding.

Inundation District | Trailer

1m 18s / TV-PG

In a time of rising seas, one city spent billions of dollars erecting a new waterfront district - on landfill, at sea level. Unlike other places imperiled by climate change, this community with some of the world’s largest companies was built well after scientists began warning of the threats. The city called its new neighborhood the Innovation District. Others are calling it INUNDATION DISTRICT.

Inundation District | Preview

29s / TV-PG

In a time of rising seas, one city spent billions of dollars erecting a new waterfront district - on landfill, at sea level. Unlike other places imperiled by climate change, this community with some of the world’s largest companies was built well after scientists began warning of the threats. The city called its new neighborhood the Innovation District. Others are calling it INUNDATION DISTRICT.

Silence in Sikeston | Meet the Makers

16m 10s / TV-PG

WORLD's Chris Hastings talks with KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony about SILENCE IN SIKESTON. They discuss how the film and podcast examine racial violence, trauma and silence following the deaths of two Black men in one Missouri community, and exposes how the health of residents were affected. Anthony also opens up about her own family's intersection with police violence.

Silence in Sikeston | Love & Grief for a Young, Black Father

59s / TV-PG

In 2020, Denzel Taylor's life was cut short in a police shooting. His mother, Jean Kelly, shares pieces of his story as a son, father and young, Black man who had much more to give to his loved ones in Chicago and Sikeston.

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