Documentary Channel Celebrates the American Worker

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- This September, Documentary Channel (DOC) celebrates the American worker with "The Work Series," a remarkable cycle of documentary films by renowned filmmaker Daniel Kraus, featured every Sunday night throughout the month.  Launching Sunday, September 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, the series follows four vibrant and unforgettable characters as they walk through the daily routines of their VERY different professions -- a rural sheriff solving a murder, an avant-garde musician performing in smoky cafes, a brilliant yet foul-mouthed professor of religion and a southern preacher ecstatic in his faith. With its raw and memorable character studies, "The Work Series" shares unique insight into the spectacular and the mundane, the amusing and the redemptive, to provide a remarkable documentary film experience that is entertaining, eye-opening, and empowering.

PREMIERE SCHEDULE

• "Sheriff" on Sunday, September 4 (8 p.m. ET/PT)
• "Musician" on Sunday, September 11 (8 p.m. ET/PT)
• "Professor" on Sunday, September 18 (8 p.m. ET/PT)
• "Preacher" on Sunday, September 25 (8 p.m. ET/PT)

FILM SYNOPSES

"Sheriff" (September 4, 8 p.m. ET/PT) -- Part of "The Work Series."  Sheriff Ronald E. Hewett oversees the rural Southern Community of Brunswick County, North Carolina.  Heading up what used to be a backwards, back-woods department, Hewett strives to maintain order and civility in a region fraught with murder, robbery, and the occasional theft of ceramic lawn ornaments.  To accomplish this impossible task, Hewett uses the only tools at his disposal -- God, guns and the hundreds of blood relatives that populate his jurisdiction.

"Musician" (September 11, 8 p.m. ET/PT) -- Part of "The Work Series."  Common sense says you can't make a living in America playing avant-garde improvisational jazz -- but Chicago-based musician Ken Vandermark does it anyway.  The recipient of a 1999 MacArthur genius grant, this passionate artist still spends most of his life in smoky clubs and low-budget recording studios, hoping people will plunk down hard-earned cash to hear his wholly non-commercial music.

"Professor" (September 18, 8 p.m. ET/PT) -- Part of "The Work Series."  For nearly four decades, Rabbi Jay Holstein has been one of the University of Iowa's most popular professors.  With a foul mouth, a raunchy sense of humor, and a piercing brilliance, Holstein uses massive 500-student lectures to turn inside-out the most fundamental assumptions on topics as divergent as sex, suicide, and the Holocaust.

"Preacher" (September 25, 8 p.m. ET/PT) -- Part of "The Work Series."  For over 30 years, self-taught preacher Bishop William Nowell has presided over a small, working class, predominantly African American congregation in Virginia. A wayward adolescence led Nowell to the Lord, and his ecstatic faith is evident in every sermon, but Nowell's role in the community is deeper than that of a religious leader as his church works tirelessly to provide financial advice, emotional support, food for the needy, and rollicking, blues-infused gospel music -- never more powerful than when performed inside the confines of the local jail.

Documentary Channel is primarily available through satellite television services DISH Network (Channel 197) and DIRECTV (Channel 267).  

About Documentary Channel®:  Documentary Channel (DOC) is the USA's first 24-hour television network exclusively devoted to documentary films and the independent documentary filmmaker, providing viewers with round-the-clock opportunities to see fascinating, eclectic and award-winning documentary films of all lengths and genres.  For more information on DOC, visit the network website at www.documentarychannel.com, in addition to www.facebook.com/DocumentaryChannel or www.twitter.com/doc_channel.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Ashley Sandberg
Triple 7 Public Relations, LLC
347.735.6480 | [email protected]

SOURCE Documentary Channel