Women's History Month
Celebrate the accomplishments and vital contributions of women in history with documentaries and stories that center women's experiences in history. Everyone can enjoy and learn something new from this collection of stories by women and about women.
Now Streaming
Poetry in Paint: Bea Mandelman in Taos
One of Taos’ great artistic stories comes to life in this special one-hour portrait of painter Bea Mandelman. Richly illustrated with a lifelong collection of artworks and personal photographs, the artist’s voice rings out through her private journals and a candid, 1995 radio interview - providing rare insight into her thoughts on painting and process.
Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands
Discover an international singer who captivated royalty in Europe and defied the conscience of 1939 America. Watch rare archival footage and hear audio recordings exploring her life and career from the Metropolitan Opera to the State Department.
Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy
Introduced and narrated by grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma, "Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy," tells the story Jacqueline du Pré and her enigmatic genius, one of the greatest cellists of all time.
Vel Phillips: Dream Big Dreams
Wisconsin Public Television tells the story of civil rights leader Vel Phillips. Discover how Vel Phillips achieved an impressive list of "firsts" as part of her legacy, including the first African American judge in Wisconsin and the first woman, and African American, in the nation elected to executive office in state government.
Fannie Lou Hamer: Stand Up
Civil rights legend Fannie Lou Hamer is remembered by those who worked side by side with her in the struggle for voting rights. An African-American sharecropper from the Mississippi Delta, Hamer’s difficulty registering to vote in 1962 led to her career as an outspoken activist, congressional candidate, and fierce fighter for the rights of all.
Frontline "A Thousand Cuts"
For Sama
In a time of conflict and darkness in her home in Aleppo, Syria, one young woman kept her camera rolling — while falling in love, getting married, having a baby and saying goodbye as her city crumbled. The award-winning documentary unfolds as a love letter from filmmaker and young mother Waad al-Kateab to her daughter — Sama.
Great Performances "Ann"
Enjoy a powerful and revealing look at legendary, larger-than-life Texas governor Ann Richards who enriched the lives of her followers, friends and family in this critically acclaimed play written by and starring Emmy Award-winner Holland Taylor.
POV "Team Meryland"
In the projects of Watts, Meryland Gonzales, a twelve-year-old female boxer trains to be crowned the 2019 Junior Olympics champion. Meanwhile, her immigrant parents work tirelessly to give their child a shot at achieving her dreams.
Twyla Moves
Twyla Moves explores the life of legendary dancer, director and choreographer Twyla Tharp. Jumping from historical footage to the present day, the film traces her influential career while providing an intimate look at her famously rigorous creative process.
Rogue History "Anne Bonny to Zheng Yi Sao: The Notorious Women of Piracy"
Why is the woman pirate Zheng Yi Sao not as well known as the male pirate Blackbeard? Zheng Yi Sao had a fleet of 1,200 ships at the height of her powers whereas Blackbeard had just four or five. Join us as we explore the incredible and unsung stories of history’s most notorious women pirates.
POV "Standing Above the Clouds"
Standing Above the Clouds follows Native Hawaiian mother-daughter activists as they stand to protect their sacred mountain Mauna Kea from the building of the world’s largest telescope.
¡COLORES! "Anna Sofaer"
¡COLORES! "Storyteller Kathleen Wall of Jemez Pueblo"
¡COLORES! "4KINSHIP"
Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom
Go beyond the legend and meet the inspiring woman who repeatedly risked her own life and freedom to liberate others from slavery. Born 200 years ago in Maryland, Harriet Tubman was a conductor of the Underground Railroad, a Civil War scout, nurse and spy, and one of the greatest freedom fighters in our nation’s history.
Fannie Lou Hammer’s America: An America Reframed Special
Fannie Lou Hamer's America is a portrait of a civil rights activist and the injustices in America that made her work essential. Through public speeches, personal interviews, and powerful songs of the fearless Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist, Fannie Lou Hamer's America explores and celebrates the lesser-known life of one of the Civil Rights Movement’s greatest leaders.
American Masters "Roberta Flack"
Follow music icon Roberta Flack from a piano lounge through her rise to stardom. From “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” to “Killing Me Softly,” Flack’s virtuosity was inseparable from her commitment to civil rights. Detailing her story in her own words, the film features exclusive access to Flack’s archives and interviews with Rev. Jesse Jackson, Peabo Bryson and more.
Great Performances “The Magic of Spirituals"
Glimpse behind the curtain at opera legends Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman’s famed concert at Carnegie Hall on March 18, 1990, featuring performance clips and new interviews with opera star Angel Blue, Met Opera General Manager Peter Gelb and more.
Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming A Space
Meet the influential author and key figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Also a trained anthropologist, Zora Neale Hurston collected folklore throughout the South and Caribbean — reclaiming, honoring and celebrating Black life on its own terms.
American Experience "The Cancer Detectives"
The Cancer Detectives tells the untold story of the first-ever war on cancer and the coalition of people who fought tirelessly to save women from cervical cancer: a Greek immigrant, Dr. George Papanicolaou; his intrepid wife, Mary; Japanese-born artist Hashime Murayama; Dr. Helen Dickens, an African American OBGYN in Philadelphia; and an entirely new class of female scientists.
Caroline Liu
Multimedia artist Caroline Liu explores her creative process and Chinese heritage. Dean Mitchell's contemplative art transforms his journey through poverty and racism into a powerful reflection on humanity and social constructs. Turning her struggles with addiction and adversity into a story of resilience and hope, Deonna Marie believes in second chances.
Nikesha Breeze: Afrofuturism
Through explorations of Afrofuturism and ancestral memory, Nikesha Breeze reclaims lost narratives and honors the souls of the African diaspora.
Abstract Relationships, Mokha Laget
Mokha Laget’s bold geometric abstractions create relationships between color, space, and culture that transcend the boundaries of the canvas. After a life-changing injury, Byron May transitions from graphic design to creating light-reactive stainless-steel paintings. Holly Romano creates luminous, one-of-a-kind prints to capture the spirit of nature.
Streaming with NMPBS Passport
Funny Woman
Sophie Straw is on a high. She’s a TV star; she’s got good friends and her romance with Dennis is full of promise. But trouble is just around the corner. Will Sophie be able to embrace her real life and challenge outdated conventions?
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On
Experience the story of the Oscar-winning Indigenous artist from her rise to prominence in New York’s Greenwich Village folk music scene through her six-decade groundbreaking career as a singer-songwriter, social activist, educator and artist.
La Frontera with Pati Jinich
Savor the sights, sounds and flavors of the U.S.-Mexico border alongside acclaimed chef and James Beard Award-winning host Pati Jinich as she experiences the region’s rich culture, people and cuisine.
Miss Scarlet
Kate Phillips stars in a six-part mystery as the headstrong, first-ever female detective in Victorian London. Stuart Martin plays her childhood friend, professional colleague, and potential love interest, Scotland Yard Detective Inspector William Wellington, a.k.a., The Duke.
Becoming Frida Kahlo
Explore the life of celebrated artist Frida Kahlo in a three-part docuseries. See the major personal and political events of her life, including her stormy and devoted relationship with artist Diego Rivera, whom she married not once but twice.
25 Years with Lidia: A Culinary Jubilee
Beloved chef Lidia Bastianich is celebrating 25 years on public television. With one of the longest running cooking shows on PBS, Lidia is also a life-long restaurateur and bestselling cookbook author. In honor of her silver anniversary, join Lidia’s family and celebrity friends to roll back the years and get an intimate look at the memorable moments of her life, both on and off the screen.
Fanny: The Right to Rock
Co-founded by Filipina American and queer teenagers, Fanny is the first all women band to release an album with a major record label (Warner/Reprise, 1970). Revered by David Bowie, meet the most groundbreaking rock group you've never heard of... yet.
Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir
The story of the author whose first novel, “The Joy Luck Club,” was published to great commercial and critical success. With the blockbuster film adaption that followed as well as additional best-selling novels, librettos, short stories and memoirs, Tan firmly established herself as one of the most prominent and respected American literary voices working today.
Frankie Drake Mysteries
From the wilderness to the world of high society, from an underground cabaret to a candy factory, Frankie Drake and Trudy Clarke investigate murders, kidnappings, heists and poisonings. Morality officer Mary Shaw snoops through police files and hears non-civilian discussions, while Flo Chakowitz lends a hand with autopsy reports, science experiments, and her newly acquired medical skills.
Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar
Travel to the deserts of Iraq for an archaeological dig, where the famous crime writer unravels a series of mysterious murders. Lyndsey Marshal stars as Agatha Christie and Jonah Hauer-King is Max Mallowan, the archaeologist vying for her affection.
Dolores
With intimate and unprecedented access, Peter Bratt's Dolores tells the story of Dolores Huerta, among the most important, yet least-known, activists in American history. Co-founder of the first farmworkers union with Cesar Chavez, she tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the 20th century.
America ReFramed "Jack and Yaya"
From a young age, Yaya and Jack saw each other as they truly were, a girl and a boy, even though most of the world didn’t see them that way. As they grew older, they supported each other as they both came out as transgender. JACK & YAYA follows these two friends for a year and explores their unique, thirty-year relationship.
Awakening in Taos: The Mabel Dodge Luhan Story
Mabel Dodge Luhan was a trailblazing feminist 100 years ahead of her time. She was a champion for Women and Native American rights. In 1917 she moved from Greenwich Village to Taos, New Mexico. There she married Tony Lujan, a Tiwa Indian from Taos Pueblo.
The Vote
One hundred years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, The Vote tells the dramatic culmination story of the hard-fought campaign waged by American women for the right to vote, a transformative cultural and political movement that resulted in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
Independent Lens "Sister Úna Lived a Good Death"
Following a cancer diagnosis, Sister Úna—a mischievous, rule-breaking Catholic nun dedicated to social justice—chooses to live as she’s dying. In this touching end-of-life documentary, the self-proclaimed “leader of the misfits” plans her funeral in her last nine months to live.
Women Outward Bound
The story of the first group of young women to participate in an Outward Bound survival school course in 1965. Learn how one month in the woods taught them they could do more than they ever thought possible. The young women forged a special bond, and at a reunion 47 years later, the group reminisce about the lessons they learned and the memories they made, with some surprising revelations.
A Chef's Life
A Chef's Life is a new half-hour character-driven documentary and cooking series that takes viewers inside the life of Chef Vivian Howard, who, with her husband Ben Knight, left the big city to open a fine dining restaurant in small-town Eastern North Carolina.
Land Girls
Follow the lives, loves, highs, and lows of members of the Women's Land Army working at the Hoxley Estate during World War II. As men fought on the battlefields, women from all walks of life worked the farms that fed the nation, doing their part to keep the home front running.
Gods of Tennis
Framed through the world-famous Wimbledon tournament, this series revisits a golden age of tennis during the 1970s and 1980s that changed the sport forever. Contributors include Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Sue Barker, Clare Balding, Sir Trevor McDonald, Bjorn Borg, Pat Cash, John Lloyd, Tracy Austin, Jonathan Ross, Miriam Margolyes, Martina Navratilova, and Pam Shriver.
Secrets of the Dead "Mozart's Sister"
Maria Anna Mozart was a musical prodigy just like her younger brother Wolfgang. Although the children toured Europe together, once Maria Anna came of age, she was left behind while her brother became a star. But controversial new evidence suggests she may have contributed to her brother’s earliest works while a global search for her compositions continues.
In Their Own Words "Princess Diana"
Meet those closest to Princess Diana and follow her story as she grew from a shy, aristocratic schoolgirl into a dynamic force for change. This is a journey from the inside of her life, and the story of a woman who defied expectations and evolved into one of the most impactful icons of our time.
American Experience "Fly with Me"
Fly With Me tells the story of the pioneering women who became flight attendants at a time when single women were unable to order a drink, eat alone in a restaurant, own a credit card or get a prescription for birth control. The job offered unheard-of opportunities for travel and independence. These women were on the frontlines of the battle to assert gender equality and transform the workplace.
Native America "Women Rule"
Native women are leading, innovating, and inspiring in the arts, politics, and protecting the planet. Native America explores the diverse ways they carry forward deep traditions to better their communities, their lands, and the world.
Lucy Worsley's Royal Myths & Secrets
Lucy Worsley travels across Britain and Europe visiting the incredible locations where Royal history was made. In beautiful palaces and castles and on dramatic battlefields she investigates how Royal history is a mixture of facts, exaggeration, manipulation and mythology.
Joni Mitchell: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize
After getting her start in coffee shops Joni Mitchell went on to set a new standard, marrying music and lyrics with such songs as “Both Sides, Now.” While her early material is often categorized as “folk,” she became a household name with music that defies categorization.
Independent Lens "Breaking The News"
Who decides which stories get told? A scrappy group of women and LGBTQ+ journalists buck the white male-dominated status quo, banding together to launch The 19th*, a digital news startup aiming to combat misinformation. A story of an America in flux, and the voices often left out of the narrative, the documentary Breaking the News shows change doesn’t come easy.
Becoming Helen Keller
Revisit the complex life and legacy of the author, advocate and human rights pioneer. Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind, used her celebrity and wit to champion rights for women, people with disabilities and people living in poverty.
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It
Discover how Moreno defied her humble upbringing and racism to become one of a select group of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winners. Explore her 70-year career with new interviews, clips of her iconic roles and scenes of the star on set today.
The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause
The first documentary film that addresses the marginalized or ignored health crisis faced by millions of women as they go through menopause.
POV "Twice Colonized"
Aaju Peter is a renowned Inuit lawyer and activist who defends the human rights of Indigenous peoples. She's a fierce protector of her ancestral lands in the Arctic and works to bring her colonizers to justice. As Aaju launches an inspiring effort to establish an Indigenous forum, she also embarks upon a deeply personal journey to mend her own wounds, including the unexpected passing of her son.
