America Reframed Premieres On World Channel January 2015

NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Join journalist and series host Natasha Del Toro for the 3^rd season of AMERICA REFRAMED, WORLD Channel's independent film series co-produced with American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) AMERICA REFRAMED will broadcast Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on WORLD Channel from January 6 to June 30, 2015.

AMERICA REFRAMED films present personal viewpoints and range of voices on the nation's social issues – giving audiences the opportunity to learn from the past, understand the present, and explore new frameworks for America's future. With weekly 60- to 90-minute independent films, followed by provocative conversations led by host/moderator Natasha Del Toro, this weekly series offers an unfiltered look at people rarely given a voice on national television. 

"AmDoc is thrilled to collaborate with WORLD Channel and WGBH on the third season of AMERICA REFRAMED. As co-producers, we share a passion for storytellers committed to helping us gain a deeper and more nuanced understanding of America today," says Simon Kilmurry, Executive Director, American Documentary, Inc.

AMERICA REFRAMED kicks off the new season with the 13 episodes airing from January to March.  For more information and a complete listing of WORLD Channel programming, visit www.WORLDchannel.org

January 6
PURGATORIO by Rodrigo Reyes
Leaving politics aside, Reyes' PURGATORIO looks anew at the U.S./Mexico border and the people caught in its spell. The evocative Dantesque essay film presents the border as a mythical place exploring the vulnerability of the human soul, the violence man creates and the destruction left in its wake.

Following the television broadcast premiere, host Natasha Del Toro will facilitate a conversation with filmmaker, Rodrigo Reyes.

January 13
TRASH DANCE by Andrew Garrison
Allison Orr, a modern dance choreographer, found inspiration in the movement of garbage trucks and the graceful dynamics of the workers who operate them. Orr transforms the initial skepticism and reluctance of her subjects into complete commitment to the dance. Together on a rainy night they perform a stunning spectacle. On an abandoned airport runway, two-dozen sanitation professionals and their trucks awe an audience of thousands.

January 20
AMERICAN HEART by Chris Newberry
In Minnesota, devoted doctors in a primary care clinic meet the health care needs of refugees and immigrants wrestling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as chronic and compounded prognoses. In addition to medication, they treat their patients with spoonsful of hope, cultural competency and compassion.

Following the television broadcast premiere, host Natasha Del Toro will facilitate a conversation with Dr. David Gunther, Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights.

Tuesday, January 27
GAUCHO DEL NORTE by Sofian Khan and Andrés Caballero
Since the 1970's, sheep herders from South America have been brought to work in the American West. In the quiet, bucolic Patagonian countryside in the town of Bahia Murta with 587 inhabitants we meet Eraldo Pacheco, a thoughtful man who has recently arrived at a momentous decision. GAUCHO DEL NORTE follows Eraldo on his journey from Chile to Idaho.

February 3 
OUR MOCKINGBIRD by Sandra Jaffe
According to the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, the desegregation of U.S. public schools peaked in the '80s, but since then, schools have become even more segregated. OUR MOCKINGBIRD highlights the transformational experiences of teens from two extraordinarily different high schools in Birmingham, Alabama -- one all black and one all white -- who collaborate on a production of the play, "To Kill a Mockingbird." The film weaves commentary from an array of notables including U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, journalist Katie Couric and others who reflect on the legacy of Harper Lee's prescient novel and the timeless reflection of her central character, Atticus Fitch, who said: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."  

February 10
THE HILL by Lisa Molomot
Set upon building a new school, the city of New Haven claims eminent domain over the Upper Hill neighborhood. While the city argues the building of the new school corresponds to a need for better school facilities, the residents of the area, mostly struggling low-income African-American families, say the decision corresponds to the city's determination to sanitize the neighborhood in the proximity of the Yale-New Haven Hospital. Together with the help of community leaders and a civil rights lawyer, the unlikely group of neighbors decides to contest the city's claim and take the case to federal court. THE HILL is a fascinating look at the complex issues surrounding urban planning, gentrification and economic renewal.

February 17
SHELL SHOCKED by John Richie
New Orleans, Louisiana is one of the "murder capitals" of the United States. For the last decade, statistics have shown murder rates four to six times higher than the national average. Eighty percent of the victims are black males, mostly in their teenage years. SHELL SHOCKED starts at the surface of New Orleans' teen murder epidemic and delves into the hearts and minds of those whose lives are most deeply impacted -- the youths who live in fear of violence, the parents who grieve a loss they will never fully transcend, and the mentors and officials who are dedicated to touching, and perhaps saving, one life at a time. Topically, the film will lay out the big picture of a city plagued by murder and violence; it will describe, in simplified terms, how children's lives are shaped by family, schools, poverty, and a stressed criminal justice system; and, finally, it will present solutions related to individual, community, and administrative choices. 

Following the television broadcast premiere, host Natasha Del Toro will facilitate a roundtable discussion with an expert on gun violence.   

February 24
A WILL FOR THE WOODS by Amy Browne. Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale and Brian Wilson
Musician, psychiatrist, and folk dancer Clark Wang prepares for his own green burial while battling lymphoma, determined that his last act will be a gift to the planet. Clark has discovered a burgeoning movement that uses burial to conserve and restore natural areas, forgoing contemporary funeral practices that operate at the ecosystem's expense. Boldly facing his mortality, Clark and his partner Jane have become passionate about green burial, compelled by both the environmental benefits and the idea that one can remain within the cycle of life, rather than being cut off from it. The spirited pair have inspired a compassionate local cemeterian, and together they aim to use green burial to save a North Carolina woods from being clear-cut.

March 3
OUT IN THE SILENCE by Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer 
When filmmaker Joe Wilson announces that he is to be wed to another man, a firestorm of controversy ignites his small Pennsylvania hometown. Drawn back by a plea for help from the mother of a gay teen being tormented at school, Wilson's journey dramatically illustrates the universal challenges of being an outsider in a conservative environment and the transformation that is possible when those who have long been constrained by a traditional code of silence summon the courage to break it.

March 10
LOOKS LIKE LAURY, SOUNDS LIKE LAURY by Pamela Hogan
On the first day of shooting the documentary, Laury Sacks the film's subject faces the camera and squarely asks: "What do I hope for?" At the age of 45, Laury, an ebullient actress and the doting mother of two small children, had a reputation as the quickest wit in the room. At the age of 46, she began forgetting words. Soon she could barely speak. For one year, Hogan follows Laury in her long, inexorable descent to frontotemporal dementia, a little-understood disease that strikes people in the prime of life. It is the profoundly personal portrait of a woman who is facing the unthinkable and the impact her progressive disease has on loved ones. 

Following the television broadcast premiere, host Natasha Del Toro will facilitate a roundtable discussion with an expert on early onset Alzheimer's disease.  

March 17
STABLE LIFE by Sara MacPherson
Dionicia Martinez and her teenage son, José Luis, have gambled their futures on the hardscrabble sport of horse racing. While gamblers make long-shot bets in the hopes of winning big, Dionicia, much like 11 million undocumented immigrants in America, stakes her life on finding a way out of poverty. In fact she lives in the stables at a California racetrack and works long hours caring for racehorses while José Luis is turning heads as a hotshot apprentice jockey. Dionicia dreams of bringing her two sons who remain in Mexico to join her in the U.S. But with the racetrack closing and her future uncertain, Dionicia must rethink her family's chances of finding a stable life.

March 24 * To be announced 

March 31
YELLOW FEVER by Sophie Rousmaniere
YELLOW FEVER follows Tina Garnanez, a Navajo veteran returning from duty with the U.S. Army who realizes that her home on the Navajo Reservation has become a battleground in a protracted war over nuclear proliferation. As she seeks to learn about her own family history and its relationship to the uranium mines, we witness her evolution from curious family member to environmental justice activist. While examining the positive and negative externalities of nuclear power and the impact of historical and long-term uranium mining on the Navajo Nation, she arrives at her own conclusions. In an effort to advocate against further contamination of Navajo land, Tina aligns herself with a group of Navajo grandmothers and heads to Washington, D.C. With the elders, she lobbies Congress, and thereby the nation, for the creation of new frameworks for a just and equitable energy policy. 

Following the television broadcast premiere, host Natasha Del Toro will facilitate a roundtable discussion with an expert on environmental issues for Native Americans.

About America ReFramed

America ReFramed is a co-production of the WORLD Channel and American Documentary, Inc. and is hosted by journalist Natasha Del Toro.

Through the lens of independent documentaries, America ReFramed brings to national audiences compelling stories that illuminate the changing contours of an ever-evolving America. The 26-week, social-issue documentary series presents an array of personal voices and experiences through which we learn from our past, understand our present and are challenged to seek new frameworks for America's future.

Season three of America ReFramed curates a diverse selection of films highlighting innovative and artistic approaches to storytelling from emerging to veteran filmmakers alike. Viewers will be immersed in personal stories from the streets of towns big and small to the ex-burbs and country roads that span the spectrum of American life. The documentaries invite audiences to reflect on topics as varied as culture, healthcare, politics, gun violence, religion and more. Hosted by journalist Natasha Del Toro, several episodes will feature a roundtable discussion with special guest commentators and filmmakers.

America ReFramed in its first season won five 2013 CINE Golden Eagle Awards, and recently was nominated for its second national Imagen Award, which honors films featuring Latinos and their culture in television and film.  

Series Credits:
Executive Producers: Chris Hastings, Simon Kilmurry
Series Producer: Carmen Vicencio
Host: Natasha Del Toro

Web and Social Media

America ReFramed can be accessed online via
http://worldchannel.org/programs/america-reframed/ 
and,
https://www.facebook.com/WorldChannel
https://www.facebook.com/AmericaReFramed

@worldchannelPTV
@americareframed
@ndeltoro

America ReFramed Co-Producers

American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia company dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media outlets. AmDoc is a catalyst for public culture, developing collaborative strategic engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, online and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and community participation.

The WORLD Channel delivers the best of public television's nonfiction, news and documentary programing to US audiences through local public television stations and streaming online at worldchannel.org. WORLD reached 35 million unique viewers 18+ last year (55% adults 18-49) and over-indexes in key diversity demographics.* Online, the WORLD Channel expands on broadcast topics and fuels dialogue across social media, providing opportunities for broad and diverse audience interaction. (Source: Nielsen Local Buyer Reach Scorecard 01/13-12/13)

WORLD is programmed by WGBH/Boston, in partnership with American Public Television and WNET/New York, and in association with the American Public Television and National Educational Telecommunications Association. Funding for the WORLD Channel is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Ford Foundation. Additional funding for "America ReFramed" is provided by the MacArthur Foundation. 

Media Contact

Journalists and reviewers may contact Neyda Martinez at 917 656 7846 or via email at [email protected] for interviews and special requests.

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SOURCE WORLD Channel