In April, Rhode Island PBS is proud to present two documentaries by award-winning Rhode Island filmmaker Tim Gray: A Company of Heroes on April 22 at 10 p.m., and Maggie's War: A True Story of Courage on April 29 at 10 p.m. A Company of Heroes - Easy Company, the 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, widely known as the "Screaming Eagles," remains one of the most revered combat units in U.S. military history. The Army company's legendary exploits in World War II inspired Stephen Ambrose's book, Band of Brothers,and the Emmy®-winning HBO miniseries of the same name.
Following two years of hard training, the soldiers of Easy Company parachuted into Normandy on D-Day and, later, into Holland for Operation Market Garden. They fought their way through Belgium, France and Germany, survived overwhelming odds, liberated concentration camps, and drank a victory toast in April 1945 at Hitler's hideout in the Alps.
In 2009, 20 of the few remaining survivors from Easy Company shared their rarely told stories of sacrifice and courage for Marcus Brotherton's oral-history book project, We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories From the Band of Brothers. In A Company of Heroes, those same veterans — along with the families of three deceased others — recount the horrors and the victories, the bonds they made, the tears and blood they shed, and the friends they lost.
Maggie's War: A True Story of Courage - James Megellas, affectionately known as "Maggie," led H-Company of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment through some of the most horrific battles and deadliest missions of World War II, including the Battle of Anzio, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. Maggie's War chronicles the evolution of a citizen into a fearless platoon leader, and the transformation of a young man into the most highly decorated officer in the history of the famed 82nd Airborne Division.
Seven decades later, cameras follow Megellas, now a retired Lieutenant Colonel, on an emotional return to Europe with a small group of family, friends and 82nd Airborne veterans. Together they visit old battlefields and war memorials and encounter Dutch citizens still grateful for their sacrifice.
Call the Midwife, written by Heidi Thomas and based on the best-selling memoirs of the late Jennifer Worth, returns for a second season. Nonnatus House opens its doors to warmly welcome the audience back into 1950s East End London and continues to follow Poplar’s community of exceptional midwives and nursing nuns.
Season 2 stays true to the show's roots - viewers can expect to see more births, babies and bicycling, plus blossoming romance from an unexpected quarter.
Call the Midwife returns with an encore of the 90-minute Christmas special on April 2 at 9:30 p.m. Season 2 episodes will air on Tuesdays at 10 p.m., starting April 9, with rebroadcast on Wednesday afternoons at 2.
Season 2, Episode 1 - It’s 1958. Returning from a long day of duties, Nurse Jenny Lee finds the Nonnatus House community gathered to wish her a happy birthday, before she, Chummy, Trixie and Cynthia head off to the cinema - a joyous celebration. However, the Jenny's good cheer is short-lived when the next day she’s assigned a new patient, Molly Brignall. Molly’s due date is imminent and Jenny worries about the harm that could come toMolly and her children.
Meanwhile, Trixie and Sister Evangelina find themselves aboard a Swedish cargo ship looking after the captain’s daughter, who is about to have her first baby.
At the unfashionable end of Oxford Street in 1909 London, an American retail tycoon arrives to jettison fusty British tradition and open the biggest and finest department store the world has ever seen: Selfridges.
Three-time Emmy® winner Jeremy Piven (in his first television appearance since his iconic role as Hollywood agent Ari Gold in Entourage) stars as Harry Gordon Selfridge, the flamboyant entrepreneur and showman seeking to provide London's shoppers with the ultimate merchandise and the ultimate thrill.
Emmy® Award-winning writer Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice, Bleak House) conjures the opulence and excitement of Selfridges and the story of its founder, a man of exuberant, outsized, and potentially dangerous, appetite. Behind Selfridges' lavish shop windows, gleaming counters, and majestic doors, appetite intersects with ambition and desire not just for Harry, but for his staff, his family, and the various women drawn to the store and the man. Zoe Tapper (Stage Beauty) is showgirl and temptress Ellen Love; Frances O’Connor (Madame Bovary) as is Harry's loyal wife, Rose; Grégory Fitoussi (Spiral) is the mercurial window designer extraordinaire, Henri LeClair; and Aisling Loftus (Case Histories) is the spunky shop girl Agnes Towler.
Mr. Selfridge airs on MasterpieceFridays, April 12 through May 31, 2013 at 9 p.m., with each episode repeated the following Monday at 1 p.m., on Rhode Island PBS.
Episode 1: Upstart American Harry Selfridge moves heaven and earth to build his visionary department store in London. But opening day is just the start of his retail revolution.
Episode 2: Selfridge skirts scandal by putting cosmetics at the front of the store. Meanwhile, his private life gets complicated as Ellen Love, Lady Mae, and his wife, Rose, make waves.
Episode 3: Ellen’s future as the Spirit of Selfridge's is on the line. Renowned ballerina Anna Pavlova causes a sensation at the store. And Rose makes a revelation to her doting portrait painter, Roddy.
Episode 4: Spunky shop girl Agnes Towler returns to work. But all is not well, as Harry and Rose face a moment of truth, Ellen confronts Harry, and alcohol, pills, and driving under the influence take their toll. Episode 5: Mr. Grove takes over in Harry’s absence, but faces irate temperance marchers and other challenges. How would Harry handle it? Agnes gets to know Henri, the window dresser.
Episode 6: Two dead relatives show up at a store séance prompted by Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle. Agnes gets moved to fashion and develops a closer relationship to Henri.
Episode 7: F. W. Woolworth tries to undercut his old friend and competitor, Harry, who gives the discount king a run for his money. The temperature rises with Agnes and Henri.
Episode 8: Tragedy strikes on the day polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton comes to the store. An even greater celebrity plans a visit, and Harry and Rose attend a shocking play.
On Thursday nights in April, from 8 - 10 p.m., Rhode Island PBS presents two documentaries each week about natural resources. The documentary pairs encore on Saturdays at noon and at half after midnight (12:30 a.m.)
April 4
Water Pressures: A Documentary
Water is a central element of life, yet one in eight people worldwide — 1.2 billion — lack access to safe drinking water. In the coming years, the water scarcity in some drought-stricken regions will turn into a global crisis. Hosted by actor-producer Adrian Grenier (HBO's Entourage), Water Pressures sheds light on this critical, complex issue by documenting the partnership between villagers in water-distressed Rajasthan, India and students and faculty at Northwestern University, situated on the shores of Lake Michigan. Students in a Northwestern environmental policy class see a model of conservation and community cooperation firsthand on a 10-day trip to India, where a leading nonprofit organizations illustrates the power of pairing traditional wisdom with simple teamwork to solve the water crisis in the Thar Desert. They also meet with political leaders, corporate executives and water experts to create their own local partnerships and try to make a difference in their own communities.
Energy at the Movies
From the gushing geysers of Giant, to the plutonium-powered time machine of Back to the Future, Hollywood has entertained us with unforgettable, often iconic images of energy. Whether intentional or not, films frequently serve as a snapshot of society, capturing sentiments of each time period. Many films have themes that memorialize collective optimism, fears, and observations about energy. Using film clips as a historical road map, Energy At The Movies is an entertaining lecture that enlightens audiences about the ways films influence how we think about energy, and in turn, how we influence energy policy.
April 11 Small Farm Rising
Right now, in our back yards, a new generation of farmers are redefining agriculture in America. Small, modern, sustainable and rooted in the community, these local farms are in the forefront of a movement growing across the nation. A family-owned and operated farm produces award-winning goat milk cheeses; a farm powered solely by horses provides members with a full diet year-round; and two youthful entrepreneurs run an organic vegetable farm. Small Farm Rising invites you to explore the sustainable practices, creative business models and deep connections to the communities of these three small farms in the shadow of the Adirondack Mountains. Experience one full growing season through the eyes of first-generation farmers as they enrich and enliven their rural environments.
Horizon: Death of the Oceans?
From the polar ice caps, to the tropics, David Attenborough reveals how our actions are pushing the world's oceans ever closer to the brink of destruction. The Census of Marine Life is the most comprehensive inventory of the oceans ever undertaken and draws on the work of 2,000 scientists from 90 countries. It will transform how we see the ocean, giving us a better picture of what lives there, our impact and what the future holds. In this film, Horizon reveals the techniques, meets the scientists and explores some of the findings from this massive project.
April 18 Lost Bird Project
The Lost Bird Project is a documentary about the stories of five birds driven to extinction in modern times and sculptor Todd McGrain’s project to memorialize them. The film follows the road-trip that McGrain and his brother-in-law, Andy, take as they search for the locations where the birds were last seen in the wild and negotiate for permission to install McGrain’s large bronze sculptures there. Travelling all the way from the tropical swamps of Florida to Martha’s Vineyard to the rocky coasts of Newfoundland over a period of two years, they scout locations, talk to park rangers, speak at town meetings and battle bureaucracy in their effort to gather support for the project. The film is directed by Deborah Dickson, whose previous films have been nominated three times for Oscars, and is produced by Muffie Meyer, whose previous directing credits include the original Grey Gardens documentary and several Emmy award-winning documentaries.
Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time Green Fire was produced in partnership between the Aldo Leopold Foundation, the Center for Humans and Nature, and the US Forest Service. The film provocatively examines Leopold’s thinking, renewing his idea of a land ethic for a population facing 21st century ecological challenges. Leopold's biographer, conservation biologist Dr. Curt Meine, serves as the film's on-screen guide.
Green Fire describes the formation of Leopold’s idea, exploring how it changed one man and later permeated through all arenas of conservation. The film draws on Leopold’s life and experiences to provide context and validity, then explores the deep impact of his thinking on conservation projects around the world today. Through these examples, the film challenges viewers to contemplate their own relationship with the land community.
April 25
Powering the Planet
Get an eye-opening look at some of the world's most important case studies in smart energy decisions. In Spain and Morocco, large-scale solar farms and individual photovoltaic panels atop tents in the Sahara are beginning to bring the sun's vast potential down to Earth. In Brazil, abundant natural resources (sun, rain and sugar cane) are transformed into efficient, sustainable biofuel. In Samsø, Denmark, and West Texas, citizens have taken sustainability, and economic realities, into their own hands by becoming stakeholders in wind turbines. In China, a full-throttle approach to multiple sustainable energy technologies is giving rise to a "new empire of clean tech." Great nations and small communities alike are finding sustainable solutions that provide for people and protect the Earth. But what about America — are we making the right decisions for our country's energy future?
Farming the Future Farming the Future: Farm Life on Long Island weaves a tapestry of interviews, historical photographs and contemporary footage to tell the story of farm life in America's oldest suburban region.
Just a stone's throw from New York City, Long Island is home to a once-predominant way of life that is vanishing in the shadows of strip malls and suburbia. In 1950, there were almost 3,000 farms on Long Island. Just over fifty years later, there are just over 700. As the oldest mature suburban community in the United States, Long Island has experienced the pressures of development since the 1950's, yet, in the face of growing challenges, Long Island farms are the most productive in New York State, adding $150 million annually to the economy.
Directed by Emmy® Award-Winning Filmmaker Ron Rudaitis, narrated by actor and Long Island native William Baldwin (Backdraft, The Squid and the Whale) and featuring music legend and Farm Aid President Willie Nelson, Farming the Future: Farm Life on Long Island examines the challenges of farming in suburbia, and celebrates the way of life, work ethic, and value system of the family farmer that has endured on Long Island for over three centuries. The documentary highlights challenges that prevent farmers from passing on their traditions to the next generation, and explores solutions that can help farmers remain on the land that has sustained them for generations.
A Company of Heroes - Easy Company, the 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, widely known as the "Screaming Eagles," remains one of the most revered combat units in U.S. military history. The Army company's legendary exploits in World War II inspired Stephen Ambrose's book, Band of Brothers,and the Emmy®-winning HBO miniseries of the same name.
Maggie's War: A True Story of Courage - James Megellas, affectionately known as "Maggie," led H-Company of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment through some of the most horrific battles and deadliest missions of World War II, including the Battle of Anzio, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge.
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