REEL SOUTH

Series / 7 Seasons

REEL SOUTH is a PBS documentary series that showcases authentic stories which unearth the spirit of the South today. The series explores layers of Southern life across themes of social justice, cultural experience, environmental challenges, and more. REEL SOUTH aims to leverage our region’s rich storytelling tradition as a catalyst for positive change — in the American South and beyond.

8m 6s

8 Days at Ware | Official Trailer

45s

Suicides at a juvenile detention center in Louisiana raise troubling questions about the facility and the agencies tasked with overseeing it. Thirteen-year-old Solan Peterson had only been at Ware Youth Center for eight days when he took his life while in isolation. ‘8 Days at Ware’ examines Solan’s last days – exposing the system that failed him and a legacy of abuse going back decades.

Love Without Parole | Official Trailer

45s

In a notorious Alabama prison, Michael falls deeply in love and matrimony follows. But when serving a life sentence, without parole, keeping his relationship alive proves too difficult. When Michael is miraculously released after 36 years, can he find a way to rehabilitate his marriage, too?

Tenneessee folklorist produces the sounds of the South

2m 43s

Sounds of the south can be heard when this Tennessee folklorist plays the banjo and discusses what he calls the “simplistic joy” that the instrument is capable of producing.

Writer Latria Graham Reads an Emotional Farewell

2m 38s

“A Dream Uprooted” is an article written by Latria Graham about the struggle of losing her family farm. Here, she tells the story and reflects on this loss and her connection to the land she will no longer call hers.

Stay Here Awhile | Official Preview

30s

A Tennessee folklorist, a fifth-generation Carolina farmer, a Mississippi river guide, and a former professional football player journey through loss and healing in this poetic ode to the power of landscape. A film shot during the COVID-19 Pandemic, ‘Stay Here Awhile’ invites us to linger in the space we find at the end of things.

Stay Prayed Up | Official Trailer

30s

The only thing mightier than Lena Mae Perry’s electrifying voice is her faith. She’s spent the last 50 years sharing and honing both as the steadfast frontwoman of The Branchettes, a legendary North Carolina gospel group that has packed churches and lifted weary hearts throughout the South.

MISS CHELOVE: From Java to the Streets of D.C.

48s

Indonesian-American artist Cita Sadeli, a.k.a. MISS CHELOVE, begins work on a mural in a soon-to-open Indonesian coffeehouse in Washington, D.C. As she paints, Cita talks about her life in the DMV area, her cultural heritage, the influence of punk and hip-hop on her life, and how she came to fall in love with graffiti in the 1980’s when there were few women drawn to the art at the time.

Madame Pipi | Preview

50s

Madame Pipi follows the lives of Haitian bathroom attendants working in Miami’s hottest nightclubs. Often invisible, underpaid, and underappreciated, their stories showcase a custodial world built on the backs of women of color, in a city known for debauchery, diversity, and exceptionalism.

Florida Woman | Preview

52s

When the media gets wind of Mary Thorn’s alligator story, she’s characterized as just another crazy “Florida Man.” Florida Woman peels back the curtain on the media’s portrayal of a nurturing woman –– an ex-pro wrestler turned animal lover, who challenges the state in order to save her pet alligator. Mary and her gator Rambo reveal the humanity and complexity behind the viral headlines.

Quaranteened | Preview

43s

Quaranteened follows the lives of four sisters from a blended family in Durham, North Carolina, as they cope with the anxiety of their disrupted lives and stolen dreams with humor, self-reflection, and just enough mayhem to pass the time. Filmed by their filmmaker dad as the days begin to blur one into the other, these girls languish, suspended in time, like so many of us still.

Bury Me at Taylor Hollow | Preview

56s

After spending 15 years working in the conventional funeral industry, a passionate mortician is paving uncharted territory to help create the first natural burial ground of its kind in Tennessee. Bury Me at Taylor Hollow recounts his personal journey from mortuary traditionalist to global-thinking environmentalist, as he seeks a better place for his community to lay to rest.

Little Satchmo | The Secret Child Now Having a Secret Child

1m 6s

Looking back on her teenage years, Sharon, the secret daughter of Louis Armstrong understands her place amid staggering statistics of children raised in single-parent homes.

Little Satchmo | Preview

30s

Little Satchmo is an intimate exploration of the iconic Louis Armstrong's life and legacy through his relationship with the daughter that the public never knew existed. Based on a revealing memoir written by Armstrong's silent daughter, the film seeks to correct a historical narrative relying on caricature for too long.

Season 7 | Preview

1m 9s

Season 7 is a study in survival and belief. With a formidable cast of unforgettable women (and one enlightened mortician), six new films offer audiences a look past the specter of our present. Difficult jobs, anxious families, and hardened communities shape their stories, but with an assured vision for a future of their own making, these Southerners offer a powerful argument for perseverance.

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