Fri, 3/20
8pm Truly CA: Political Animals
The first openly gay legislators in California were in fact four women: Carole Migden, Christine Kehoe, Jackie Goldberg, and Sheila Kuehl. These pioneers paved the way and made brave steps to ensure lasting civil rights for their community, yet their stories have not been told. This emotionally-charged film follows these four groundbreaking women who took it upon themselves to move from protesting in the streets during the 70's and 80's into the corridors of power in the 90's to fight for the causes most personal to them and their communities.
9pm Alice Waters: American Masters
Discover Alice Waters, who, with her cafe Chez Panisse, became a major force behind the way Americans eat and think about food, launching the explosion of local farmers' markets and the edible schoolyard.
10pm A Fine Line: A Woman’s Place Is in the Kitchen (NEW)
A Fine Line explores why less than 7% of head chefs and restaurant owners are women when traditionally women have always held the central role in the kitchen. Hearing candid insights from world renowned chefs, including Lidia Bastianich, Dominique Crenn, Barbara Lynch and more.
Sat, 3/28
8pm Saturday Night Movie: Legally Blonde
Elle Woods, a fashionable sorority queen is dumped by her boyfriend. She decides to follow him to law school, while she is there she figures out that there is more to her than just looks.
10pm Saturday Night Movie: The Handmaid’s Tale
In a dystopian polluted right-wing religious tyranny, a young woman is put in sexual slavery on account of her now rare fertility.
Mon, 3/30
10pm Independent Lens: One Child Nation
China's one-child policy forever changed the lives of mothers and children. Inspired by the birth of her first child, filmmaker Nanfu Wang returns to China to speak with her mother and brother, and explore the ripple effect of this social experiment.
Tues, 3/31
11pm Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in School (NEW)
PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, a documentary film by Monique W. Morris, Ed.D. and Women in the Room Productions encourages a robust conversation about how to reduce the criminalization of Black girls in our nation's learning environments.
KQED PLUS
Mon, 3/2
10am Julia Child: Best Bites
Celebrate the first lady of cooking with Martha Stewart, Jacques Pepin, Vivian Howard, Marcus Samuelsson, Jose Andres, Eric Ripert, Rick Bayless and more. Chefs and celebrities share personal insights as they screen Julia's most-beloved episodes.
11pm Closing The Gap: 50 Years Seeking Equal Pay
Half a century after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, women in both high-paying, high-growth STEM careers and those in part-time, low-wage jobs still only make, on average, 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. In that time span, the current wage gap improved at a rate of less than half a cent per year; if it continues at that pace, the wage gap will not close completely until 2053. CLOSING THE GAP offers advice for overcoming wage secrecy policies in the workplace and researching fair salaries for jobs; considers pathways to improved public policies; arms women with the information and skills they need to earn fair pay at all points on the career continuum; and provides tips on achieving a financially secure retirement.
Tues, 3/3
11:30pm Georgia O’Keeffe: A Woman on Paper
The half-hour documentary highlights the artist's career while focusing on the little-known story of O'Keeffe's time spent in Columbia, S.C. as an art instructor at Columbia College. While teaching at the college in the fall of 1915 and the spring of 1916, O'Keeffe found her voice with a series of innovative black and white abstract charcoal drawings that represented a radical break with tradition and led her art-and her career-in a new direction.
Wed, 3/4
7pm Joni Mitchell Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
Joni Mitchell Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 captures the singer performing many of her most celebrated early numbers before a huge audience-as many as 600,000 people.
9:30pm Celtic Woman: Ancient Land
Filmed at the enchanting 19th century Johnstown Castle in Wexford, Ireland, this special features stunning new music from Celtic Woman's latest album Ancient Land, along with a few of their timeless classics.
Thurs, 3/5
10:30pm Marian Anderson: Once in a Hundred Years
Marian Anderson (1897-1993) is considered one of the most important opera performers of the 20th century. Marian Anderson: Once in a Hundred Years traces the arc of Anderson's life and her struggles against racism and poverty.
Sun, 3/8
11pm Emma Goldman: American Experience
This program paints a portrait of the young, brilliant Russian emigrant, called "the most dangerous woman in America," and expelled from the United States 34 years after she arrived
Tues, 3/10
11:30pm Anne Morrow Lindbergh: You'll Have The Sky
The film brings one of the 20th century's best-loved writers out from the shadow of her often controversial husband, the pioneering aviator Charles Lindbergh. The film uses Anne's own words to help convey her inner life, which was deeply affected by the challenges of being part of America's most famous couple.
Wed, 3/11
11pm Medicine Woman
Medicine Woman, interweaves the lives of Native American women healers of today with the story of America's first Native doctor, Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865-1915). The one-hour PBS documentary produced by and about women, features historic and contemporary profiles of female healers, starting with Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865-1915) of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska.
Thurs, 3/19
7pm Leah Chase: The Queen of Creole Cuisine
Narrated by journalist Michelle Miller, Leah Chase: The Queen of Creole Cuisine chronicles the humble beginnings of a young girl from Madisonville, Louisiana and how she became one of the top, multi-award-winning chefs in the nation. For more than 70 years, Edgar "Dooky" Chase, Jr. and Leah Chase worked tirelessly together to uplift their family and their community through their faith and their active involvement in social justice. The couple turned a family sandwich shop in Treme to a famous, fine dining restaurant called Dooky Chase, filled with an impressive collection of Leah's African American art by renowned artists like Jacob Lawrence and Elizabeth Catlett.
9pm Hedy Lamarr: American Masters
Discover the story of the most beautiful woman in the world, who was also an ingenious inventor. Her pioneering work helped revolutionize modern communication, including WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth.
Fri, 3/20
10am Women, War & Peace: Wave Goodbye to the Dinosaurs
Discover the story of the Catholic and Protestant women who come together during Northern Ireland's bloody civil war and fight to ensure that human rights, equality and inclusion shape the historic Good Friday Agreement peace deal.
Mon, 3/23
10am Women, War & Peace: The Trials of Spring
Follow three Egyptian women as they put their lives and bodies on the line fighting for justice and freedom. The film tells the story of Egypt's Arab Spring, the human rights abuses that came to define it and the women willing to risk everything.
11:06pm Anne Morgan’s War
From 1917-1924, a team of approximately 350 American women, appalled by news of wartime destruction, left comfortable lives at home to volunteer in the devastated regions of France. ANNE MORGAN'S WAR chronicles how American heiress Anne Morgan poured both her own fortune and the fruits of intense fundraising into rebuilding Picardy, a region in northern France which had been devastated by the Great War.
Thurs, 3/26
7pm Mankiller
Learn about the legacy of Wilma Mankiller, who overcame sexism to emerge as the Cherokee Nation's first woman Principal Chief. Through archival footage and interviews, Mankiller examines the life of one of the country's most important woman leaders.
9pm Holly Near: American Masters
Experience the power of song in the struggle for equality through the story of feminist singer and activist Holly Near, who for the last 40 years has worked on global social justice coalition-building in the women's and lesbian movements.
10pm Elizabeth Murray: American Masters
Take an intimate look at artist Elizabeth Murray, voiced by Meryl Streep. This film chronicles her remarkable journey from an impoverished childhood to artistic maverick, and reconsiders her place in contemporary art history.
Fri, 3/27
10am Women, War & Peace: Naila and the Uprising
Discover the story of a courageous, nonviolent women's movement that formed the heart of the Palestinian struggle for freedom during the 1987 uprising. One woman must make a choice between love, family and freedom. Undaunted, she embraces all three.
Mon, 3/30
10am Women, War & Peace: A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers
Embark on a risky yearlong U.N. peacekeeping mission into earthquake-ravaged Haiti with an all-female Bangladeshi police unit. Leaving their families behind, these police officers shatter stereotypes as they rise in the name of building peace.
11:02pm Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story (NEW)
Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story traces Dorothy Day's journey from a young communist journalist, to a Catholic convert, to the co-founder of The Catholic Worker newspaper and the first "houses of hospitality," which sheltered New York City's homeless during the Great Depression.
KQED WORLD
Sun, 3/1
7pm Independent Lens: Dolores
Meet the indomitable Dolores Huerta, who tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Cesar Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant - and unheralded - feminist activists of the 20th century.
Mon, 3/2
5pm Portraits for the Home Front: The Story of Elizabeth Black
Leaving a promising art career behind, Pittsburgh native Elizabeth Black (1912-1983) joined the American Red Cross at the height of World War II. On special assignment, she sketched hundreds of soldiers, sailors and airmen throughout Europe and sent the treasured portraits to worried families back home.
6pm Finding Elizabeth’s Soldiers
This half-hour sequel explores efforts to find homes for dozens of soldiers' sketches found among Elizabeth's memorabilia. Through detailed searches, detective work and the kindness of volunteer genealogists and other researchers, WQED in Pittsburgh is working to find the soldiers and/or their survivors. From Philadelphia to San Francisco and points in between, the film features encounters with both amazed and appreciative families.
Tues, 3/3
4pm Sister (NEW)
Sister is a one-hour documentary highlighting the work of death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean. It examines the life and influences of Sister Helen and delves into the evolving role of Catholic nuns in America. In 1984, Sister Helen Prejean watched as Patrick Sonnier died, strapped to Gruesome Gertie, Louisiana's electric chair. The execution took place at a few minutes past midnight in Angola Prison in the State's remote backwoods. It was an almost secret ritual, and Prejean realized that the public would never know the reality of capital punishment unless she spoke up. She not only spoke up but also wrote a best-selling book, "Dead Man Walking," that ignited a debate about executions. The book was turned into an Oscar-winning movie, a play, and one of the most performed modern operas.
5pm America ReFramed: For Ahkeem
Through the quiet, intimate account of Daje Shelton's life, For Akheem presents an unvarnished exploration of a complex web of juvenile justice, education, poverty and race in America today.
Wed, 3/4
4pm POV: The War to Be Her
In the Taliban-controlled area of Waziristan in Pakistan, where women's sports are decried as un-Islamic and girls rarely leave their homes, young Maria Toorpakai defies the rules by disguising herself as a boy to compete freely.
Fri, 3/6
4pm Beyond the Powder: The Legacy of the First Women’s Cross-Country Air Race
Beyond the Powder is a documentary film that follows the female pilots of the 2014 Air Race Classic racers as they make their way across the country, while telling the story of the first women's cross-country air race of 1929, also known as the Powder Puff Derby.
5pm Breaking Through the Clouds: The First Women’s National Air Derby
In August of 1929 twenty women pulled on britches, snapped on goggles and climbed into their cockpits to race across the country. It was the first women's national air derby. There was the media darling, the Hollywood starlet, the aviatrix record breakers and the unforgettable foul-mouthed wife of a preacher. Together these women were flying in the face of anyone who believed women belonged on the ground. Breaking Through The Clouds is the documentary that tells their story.
Sat, 3/7
6pm Keeper of the Beat: A Woman’s Journey into the Heart of Drumming
Keeper of the Beat: A Woman's Journey into the Heart of Drumming is an award-winning documentary on the life and music of acclaimed drummer, composer and teacher, Barbara Borden. Filmed on four continents by three-time Emmy winner, David L. Brown, the film tells Borden's inspiring story through performance, interviews, archival material and excerpts of Borden's autobiographical percussion play, "She Dares to Drum."
Sun, 3/8
6pm Reel South: First Lady of the Revolution
Produced and Directed by: Andrea Kalin. Henrietta Boggs, a reluctant Southern belle, finds her way to Central America in the 1940s, in search of freedom and adventure. Instead, she is swept up in political upheaval, when her new husband is elected president of Costa Rica. First Lady of the Revolution portrays a courageous woman who escaped the confines of a sheltered existence to help nurture a young democracy.
7pm Doc World: Las Sandinistas!
Las Sandinistas! uncovers the disappearing stories of women who shattered barriers to lead combat and social reform during Nicaragua's 1979 Sandinista Revolution, as these same women continue to lead the struggle for justice today against their current government's suppression of women's rights and democracy.
Mon, 3/9
12am Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare (NEW)
The first woman appointed to a U.S. Presidential cabinet, Frances Perkins created the social safety net that continues to shape the lives of Americans today. Summoned: Francis Perkins and The General Welfare tells the story of Perkins' life through rare archival recordings of her voice, and interviews with Nancy Pelosi, George Mitchell, David Brooks, Lawrence O'Donnell and Amy Klobuchar.
6pm Penny: Champion of the Marginalized
Penny is a multi-dimensional portrait of Penny Cooper, a celebrated criminal defense attorney, art collector, supporter of female artists, and protector of the underdog. Cooper's life brims with stories mirroring the profound changes in our country from the 1940s to the present. In this revealing documentary, Cooper proves herself quite the raconteur with seemingly unlimited anecdotes.
Tues, 3/10
4pm AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange: Mama Colonel
Set in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the program follows Honorine Munyole, known as Mama Colonel, as she leads a special police force charged with addressing violence against children and women in a country struggling to heal the wounds of war.
5pm America Reframed: Town Hall
This episode casts an unflinching eye at Katy and John, two Tea Party activists from the battleground state of Pennsylvania who believe America's salvation lies in a return to true conservative values. In Katy, we see a political novice rocketed to media stardom after a sensational confrontation at a town hall meeting with her senator. A young stay-at-home mom turned Tea Party spokesperson, she is gifted a new identity, steeled by the voices of conservative media.
6:30pm Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" explores the treatment of women in the legal industry from the late 1940's through today. Specifically, it follows the story of Missouri Attorney Grace Day who was the lone woman in her law school class in 1948 and endured torment from her professors and peers.
Wed, 3/11
4pm POV: The Apology
Meet three of the 200,000 former "comfort women" kidnapped and forced into military sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Seventy years after their imprisonment, they give their first-hand accounts of the truth
Fri, 3/13
4pm Annie Oakley: American Experience
Meet the Ohio sharpshooter who won fame and fortune in a man's world for never missing a shot. Born into poverty, the self-taught Oakley picked up a gun at age 15 not to become a superstar, but to save her family from destitution.
5pm Louisa May Alcott: American Masters
Examine the literary double life of this celebrated author, who wrote scandalous works under a pseudonym. Elizabeth Marvel and Jane Alexander star.
6:30pm Orchard House: Home of Little Women
The Home of Little Women: Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House is a captivating new documentary that transports viewers to a 350-year-old home in Concord, Massachusetts with literary and historical significance unlike any other.
Sat, 3/14
5pm Women Outward Bound
Women Outward Bound profiles the first group of young women to participate in an Outward Bound survival school course in 1965, and chronicles their experiences in the wild. It also captures how one month in the woods taught them they could do more than they ever thought possible.
6pm It’s All in the Game: The Leta Andrews Story
Narrated by NBA Basketkball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, It's All in the Game profiles Leta Andrews, the all-time winningest high school basketball coach in U.S. history. During her career, Leta posted 1, 416 wins and received numerous honors and awards. Leta entered the coaching profession in the 1960s, in an era before Title IX became law in 1972.
Sun, 3/15
6pm Reel South: Ingrid
A successful fashion designer who gave up her big-city career, Ingrid Gipson discovered a reclusive life of solitude and unhindered creativity in Arkansas' rural Ouachita Mountains. As if through poetry, she opens up her world again to those of us willing to listen.
7pm Doc World: Daze of Justice
Daze of Justice is the intimate story of trailblazing Cambodian-American women who break decades of silence, abandoning the security of their American homes on a journey back to resurrect the memory of their loved ones before the UN Special Tribunal prosecuting the Khmer Rouge.
8pm Independent Lens: Ovarian Psycos
Based in the heart of Los Angeles' Eastside, and building upon the legacy of the Chicano/a and civil rights movement, the irreverently named Ovarian Psycos Cycle Brigade are a ferocious and unapologetic group of young women of color, cycling through the barrios and boulevards of the Eastside, committed to collectively confronting racism and violence, and demanding and creating safe spaces for women.
Mon, 3/16
4pm Miriam Beerman: Expressing the Chaos
Miriam Beerman: Expressing the Chaos is the retrospective of a remarkable artist whose personal demons and empathy for human suffering colored a lifetime of her work.
5pm Her Voice Carries
Her Voice Carries shares the stories of five quietly heroic women, told through their own words and the street art of international mural artist Sarah Rutherford. The film chronicles Sarah's unique creative idea: to identify ordinary-yet-extraordinary women whose voices are inspiring and uplifting, and create large-scale murals representing each woman and her experiences.
Wed, 3/18
4pm Jewish Film Showcase: Ahead of Time: The Extraordinary Journey of Ruth Gruber
For seven decades foreign correspondent and photojournalist Ruth Gruber didn't just report the news, she made it. Born in 1911 to Russian Jewish immigrants, Ruth Gruber became the youngest Ph.D. in the world before becoming an international journalist at age 24.
Sat, 3/21
4pm POV: Still Tomorrow
A village woman without a high school diploma has become China's most famous poet. Meet the breakout writer Yu Xihua, a woman with cerebral palsy, poignantly weaving her personal story with that of an ascendant, urbanizing China.
5pm Maya Angelou: American Masters
Journey through the prolific life of the I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings author and activist who inspired generations with lyrical modern African-American thought. Features new interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Common, the Clintons, and others.
Sun, 3/22
6pm Reel South: Alabama Bound
In the months leading up to the Supreme Court decision on marriage equality, gay families in Alabama were busy fighting discriminatory state laws. Alabama Bound chronicles the roller-coaster ride for gay rights in the South, and a resilient community that lives with both frustration and hope in a place where the line between church and state is often blurred.
Mon, 3/23
4pm Ursula K. Le Guin: American Masters
Explore the remarkable life and legacy of late feminist author Ursula K. Le Guin whose groundbreaking work, including "The Left Hand of Darkness," transformed American literature by bringing science fiction into the literary mainstream.
5pm Harper Lee: American Masters
Explore the mysterious life of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of To Kill a Mockingbird. The documentary examines social changes the novel inspired, while interviewees reflect on the book's power, influence and popularity. Harper Lee died February 2016 at the age of 89.
Tues, 3/24
4pm Warrior Women
Warrior Women is the untold story of American Indian Movement activists who fought for civil rights in the '70s, anchored by one of the Red Power Movement's most outspoken Lakota leaders, Madonna Thunder Hawk, and her daughter Marcy Gilbert
5pm America ReFramed: My Louisiana Love
This film traces a young woman's quest to find a place in her Native American community as it reels from decades of environmental degradation. Monique Verdin returns to Southeast Louisiana to reunite with her Houma Indian family. But soon she sees that her people's traditional way of life is threatened by a cycle of man-made environmental crises.
6:30pm Return: Native American Women Reclaim Foodways for Health & Spirit
At its heart, Return: Native American Women Reclaim Foodways for Health & Spirit is a film about empowering people to overcome their current circumstances through eating as their ancestors did - nutritiously and locally. RETURN explores the food sovereignty movement occurring across the country through the stories of women championing the return to traditional food sources. The documentary features the charismatic Roxanne Swentzell from Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, whose Pueblo Food Experience project is transforming lives in her community
Wed, 3/25
4pm Perfect 36: When Women Won the Vote
Perfect 36: When Women Won the Vote chronicles the dramatic vote to ratify this amendment, and the years of debate about women's suffrage that preceded it. On July 17, 1920, Carrie Chapman Catt, President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, arrived to spend a few days in Nashville. She was traveling on the heels of Tennessee Governor A.H. Roberts' announcement of a special session of the state legislature, called at the urging of President Woodrow Wilson. One more state needed to ratify the proposed amendment, and that duty rested solely on the shoulders of Tennessee. Catt's few days dragged into weeks at her headquarters in the Hermitage Hotel, where pro- and anti- suffragists continued to clash in what came to be known as the "War of the Roses."
Sat, 3/28
4pm Singular (NEW)
Singular tells the story of Cecile McLorin Salvant, a talented jazz singer with a timeless voice, who developed an inimitable vocal style and earned three Grammy Awards before the age of 30. Interviews with fellow jazz musicians Wynton Marsalis and Bill Charlap, along with Cecile, her mother Lena, her sister Aisha and her bandmates, tell the story of Cecile's success in the insular world of jazz. The program chronicles her childhood as a Haitian-American in Miami, her studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, and her 2010 victory at the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition.
5pm Janis Joplin: American Masters
Observe Janis Joplin's life through intimate letters and rare footage in the first in-depth celebration of the iconic rock singer. Director Amy Berg presents a portrait of a complicated, driven, often beleaguered artist. Chan Marshall narrates.
Sun, 3/29
4pm Amelia Earhart: American Experience
Explore the life of the trailblazing pilot who broke records but then mysteriously disappeared over the Pacific Ocean on a solo flight around the world. An enduring American hero, Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
6pm Reel South:Fiesta Quinceanera
Life for a Latinx immigrant family in the New South can be challenging and sometimes terrifying, but thankfully, there's always a fiesta to take you through the night. Three Latina girls and a seasoned drag artist hose their own quinceanera, a complex and colorful rite of passage, showcasing the creative spirit of Latinx communities and their struggles to retain their roots and traditions.
7pm Doc World: Facing the Dragon
The story of two unconventional Afghan women, Nilofar, a member of parliament and Shakila, a television journalist. As American forces and aid leave Afghanistan, the country's fragile democracy and the recent gains for women hang in the balance, forcing Nilofar and Shakila to choose between motherhood and ambition amidst threats to their lives and families. Sedika tells The story of two unconventional Afghan women struggling to keep their livelihoods in a landscape of insecurity and violence, where conservative values threaten the lives of women every day.
Mon, 3/30
4pm Lorraine Hansberry: American Masters
Explore the life and work of the A Raisin in the Sun playwright and activist who played a significant role in the civil rights movement. LaTanya Richardson Jackson narrates. Anika Noni Rose is the voice of Lorraine Hansberry.
6pm Untold Stories: Mina Miller Edison, the Wizard’s Wife
Mina Miller Edison, while perhaps best-known as Thomas Edison's wife, was a remarkable woman in her own right. Mina's diary entries hint at a side of the prolific inventor not always seen by the public, while her personal - and often candid - letters to friends and family reflect her own struggles and accomplishments. This program explores Mina's direct and lasting impact, specifically on the Edison's winter estate in Fort Myers, Florida and their Glenmont estate in New Jersey.
Tues, 3/31
5pm America ReFramed: Finding Kukan
Filmmaker Robin Lung documents her 7-year journey to uncover the efforts of Li Ling-Ai, the visionary but uncredited producer of Kukan. Lung discovers a damaged film print of Kukan, and pieces together the untold tale of the two renegades behind its making -- Li Ling-Ai and Rey Scott. A landmark film, Kukan showcased China's resistance to Japanese occupation during World War II, and was the first American feature documentary to receive an Academy Award in 1942.
6pm Massacre River: The Woman Without a Country
Massacre River: The Woman Without a Country is told through the eyes of Pikilina, a Dominican-born woman of Haitian descent. Racial and political violence erupt when the country of her birth, the Dominican Republic reverses its birthright citizenship law and she is left stateless, along with over 250,000 others.
PBS KIDS
Mon, 3/16
7pm Xavier Riddle and the Secret Movie: I Am Madam President (NEW)
The series follows the adventures of Xavier, Yadina and Brad as they tackle everyday problems by doing something extraordinary: traveling back in time to learn from real-life inspirational figures like Marie Curie, Harriet Tubman.
