KQED is proud to celebrate Latinx Heritage Month starting September 15 with a special TV programming lineup. Premiere dates are listed below.
KQED 9
Sat, 9/25 6pm Kitchenistas
What started as a 7-week nutrition program seven years ago in National City (CA) for women seeking healthier diets, has become a Latina-led movement to raise the health, wellbeing, and resilience of the community. National City has one of the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in San Diego County and in the state of California, and the program graduates, called "Kitchenistas", are out to change that, one healthy meal at a time.
Fri, 10/1 10:30pm VOCES on PBS: Adios Amor: The Search for Maria Moreno
See how the discovery of lost photographs sparks the search for a hero that history forgot - Maria Moreno, an eloquent migrant mother of 12 who became an outspoken leader for farmworker rights. Her legacy was buried - until now.
Mon, 10/4 10pm POV: Fruits of Labor (NEW)
Ashley, a Mexican American teenager, dreams of graduating high school and going to college. But when ICE raids threaten her family, Ashley is forced to become the breadwinner, working days in strawberry fields and nights at a food processing company.
11:30pm POV Shorts: Cherish
Three stories reflecting the many faces of love through memory, community and family.
Tues, 10/5 9pm American Masters: Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It (NEW)
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.
Sponsored
Fri, 10/8 9pm 34th Hispanic Heritage Awards (NEW)
Celebrate the recipients of the 34th annual Hispanic Heritage Awards. The evening includes performances and appearances by some of the country's most celebrated Hispanic artists and visionaries.
Fri, 10/15 9pm La Frontera with Pati Jinich (NEW)
Acclaimed chef and James Beard Award-winning host Pati Jinich travels from El Paso and Juarez to Big Bend National Park. She discovers the people, places and food -- from burritos to Middle Eastern cuisine -- that make this region unique.
10pm Voces on PBS: Letters to Eloisa (NEW)
A haunting portrait of a writer's life and struggle for artistic freedom, meet Cuba's Jose Lezama Lima, an all but forgotten figure of the Latin American literary boom that included Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Octavio Paz and Mario Vargas Llosa.
PLUS
Sat, 9/18 8:30am Making It in America
“Making it in America” highlights the important contributions being made by immigrant entrepreneurs to the economy of Florida and the United States, across multiple fields - from construction to medicine to tech. The hour-long documentary profiles a range of individuals with different ages, backgrounds and careers. These interviewees, among others featured, all own thriving companies in Florida and are part of a group of immigrant business owners playing an indispensable role in the state's economy and beyond, as well as generating hundreds of thousands of jobs across every industry.
9:30am Afro-Latino Travels with Kim Haas: San Jose
We travel to Costa Rica's capital city, San Jose. In the capital, we meet with one the country's most renowned writers, whose career spans more than 50 years and is responsible for introducing the Afro-Costa Rican experience in Costa Rican literature. We will also meet up with a dancer whose grace, style and elegance will charm viewers as she demonstrates some Afro-Caribbean inspired dance movements.
Sun, 9/19 12pm Great Performances: Gloria Estefan: Sangre Yoruba
Adventure through three of Brazil's most influential cities with the GRAMMY Award-winning singer as she explores the origins of its music through its people and offers an inside look at the creation of her new Brazilian-influenced album.
4pm Latino Americans: Foreigners in Their Own Land
Survey the history and people from 1565-1880, as the first Spanish explorers enter North America, the U.S. expands into territories in the Southwest that had been home to Native Americans and English and Spanish colonies, and as the Mexican-American War strips Mexico of half its territories by 1848.
5pm Latino Americans: Empire of Dreams
See how the American population is reshaped by Latino immigration starting in 1880 and continuing into the 1940s: Cubans, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans begin arriving in the U.S. and start to build communities in South Florida, Los Angeles and New York.
6pm Latino Americans: War and Peace
Trace the World War II years and those that follow, as Latino Americans serve their new country by the hundreds of thousands - yet still face discrimination and a fight for civil rights in the United States.
9pm American Masters: Raul Julia: The World’s a Stage
Discover the life and career of Raul Julia, the charismatic, award-winning actor and humanitarian known for versatile roles on stage and screen, from Shakespearean plays to "The Addams Family." A co-presentation of VOCES and American Masters.
Tues, 9/21 10:32pm Cuba: The Forgotten Revolution
“Cuba: The Forgotten Revolution” tells the virtually unknown story of Cuban revolutionaries Frank Pais and Juan Antonio Echeverria. Working largely independently from each other, these young men - a school teacher and architecture student, respectively - played critical roles in the eventual overthrow of dictator Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar, although their names seldom appear alongside their more famous contemporaries, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.
Sat, 9/25 8:30am Building the American Dream
Travel to Texas, where immigrant construction workers are seeking justice and equality in an industry rife with exploitation. Across the state, there's an unprecedented building boom, fueled by Latino laborers with little or no rights.
9:30am Afro-Latino Travels with Kim Haas: Limon, Costa Rica
We travel to Limon, Costa Rica, on the Caribbean coast. This sun drenched coastal city is steeped in African Diasporic history including a legacy by Pan Africanist Marcus Garvey. We also learn about the role thousands of Jamaicans, Afro-Costa Ricans and other Caribbean islanders played in the construction of the country's railroad more than a century ago. While on the Caribbean coast, one of the most beloved restauranteurs teaches us how to cook rondon, the Jamaican inspired seafood stew.
Sun, 9/26 4pm Latino Americans: The New Latinos
Review the decades after World War II through the early 1960s, as swelling numbers of immigrants from Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic seek economic opportunities.
5pm Latino Americans: Pride and Prejudice
Witness the creation of the proud "Chicano" identity as labor leaders organize farm workers in California, and as activists push for better education opportunities for Latinos, the inclusion of Latino studies and empowerment in the political process.
6pm Latino Americans: Peril and Promise
Examine the past 30 years, as a second wave of Cubans and hundreds of thousands Salvadorans, Nicaraguans and Guatemalans flee to the U.S., creating a debate over undocumented immigrants that leads to calls for tightened borders, English-only laws and efforts to brand the undocumented as a drain on public resources. Simultaneously, the Latino influence is booming in business, sports, media, politics and entertainment. Latino Americans become the largest and youngest growing sector of the American population.
Tues, 9/28 10:30pm 187
The documentary chronicles Proposition 187, a California ballot measure passed in 1994 that sought to deny public services to undocumented immigrants. While the initiative was meant to keep the "immigrant threat" at bay, it mobilized non-immigrants and immigrants in Latino communities as well as their allies across the state.
Fri, 10/1 12pm Wonders of Mexico: Forests of the Maya
In Mexico's far south lies an unusual peninsula: The Yucatan. Swathed in a forest stretching 50000 square miles and once ruled by the mighty Maya Civilization. But it's also place full of secrets which hold the key to how animals and people survive the long and difficult times.
3pm Major League Cuban Baseball
"Major League Cuban Baseball" traces the experiences of Cubans at the most accomplished levels of America's national pastime – baseball – and explores their deep cultural and emotional connection to the game
Tues, 10/5 4pm Los Hermanos/The Brothers (NEW)
Virtuoso Afro-Cuban-born brothers—violinist Ilmar and pianist Aldo—live on opposite sides of a geopolitical chasm a half-century wide. Tracking their parallel lives in New York and Havana, their poignant reunion, and their momentous first performances together, Los Hermanos/The Brothers offers a nuanced, often startling view of estranged nations through the lens of music and family.
5:30pm Reel South: Santuario
After 25 years of living in the United States, Guatemalan grandmother Juana Ortega is threatened with deportation and soon takes sanctuary in a small North Carolina church. As time passes, and state lawmakers continue to ignore the family's pleas for a stay on her deportation, Juana's spirits slowly sink. And yet, Juana is patient that in God's house, God will answer her prayers.
11pm Latino Experience: Episode One
A little boy tries to help his sickly grandfather. Women grapple with life on the border. Latinx letterpress printers combine art with social practice. A sentimentalist works to fulfill her bucket list. LGBTQ dance couples blaze a trail.
Fri, 10/8 12pm Wonders of Mexico: Mountain Worlds
Travel south along Mexico's mountain spine, explore the tropical forests of the Maya and journey across the deserts of Northern Mexico to discover its amazing wildlife and culture.
3pm Eliades Ochoa: Live at Casa De La Trova (NEW)
The concert film – “Eliades Ochoa: Live at Casa De La Trova” taped live in the famous music venue La Casa de La Trova in Santiago de Cuba - showcases the musicianship of Eliades Ochoa and his group, Cuarteto Patria. The program invites viewers inside the cherished music venue for an intimate and celebratory musical experience, including performances of songs made famous by The Buena Vista Social Club.
Tues, 10/12 11pm Latino Experience: Episode Two
A young girl makes an image-altering decision. A Guatemalan truck driver and pastor copes with the pandemic. A mystical mechanic helps a boy fix his mother's car. A pregnant MBA student's due date and exam date conflict, forcing her to make a choice.
Wed, 10/13 2pm In The Americas with David Yetman: Tlaloc's Revenge: Mexico City's Hydrological Heritage
Five hundred years ago the basin where Mexico City lies was plagued with an excess of water. With fundamental alterations in social attitudes toward water, one of the world's largest and greatest cities comes to grips with falling water tables, exhausted springs, and sinking earth. Somehow the city endures.
2:30pm In The Americas with David Yetman: Medellin: A Colombian Transformation
Three decades ago Colombia's city of Medellín was a symbol for violence and narco-trafficking. Massive government intervention and an indomitable will have transformed the city into what some call "The Paris of the Americas." The city's arts and urban restoration are an inspiration to large cities worldwide.
Fri, 10/15 12pm Wonders of Mexico: Burning North
A journey across Northern Mexico reveals a desert rich in life. From prairie dogs fighting snakes, bats hunting scorpions and tiny owls living in giant cacti, its animals have found clever ways to survive against the odds.
3pm Weekend in Havana
Join Geoffrey Baer as he travels to Havana, where dancers, musicians, architects and writers invite him into their lives to experience the color, culture and history of a beautiful and seductive city only recently re-opened to Americans.
WORLD
Fri 9/17 4pm VOCES on PBS: Porvenir, Texas
Discover the true story behind the 1918 massacre of 15 Mexican men in this tiny border town. The film asks what led to the events of that fateful night and reveals the tensions that still remain along the border a century later.
Sat 9/18 3:30pm POV: Voices of the Sea
Follow a 30-something Cuban mother of four longing for a better life. The tension between wife and husband - one desperate to leave, the other content to stay - builds into a family drama after her brother and the couple's neighbors escape.
Sun 9/19 6:30pm Beyond the Canvas: Modern Mexico
Hear from some of Mexico's most prominent figures as they highlight their country's emergence as a global arts center and share updates on how some of Mexico's creative innovators are surviving amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
7pm Doc World: Siqueiros: Walls of Passion
A profile of Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros, one of the great artists of the 20th century. According to many critics, Siqueiros stands second only to Pablo Picasso in his influence on 20th century painting. As one of the primary advocates of modern public art, Siqueiros was one the first muralists to paint on the exterior of buildings to bring the art closer to the people.
Mon 9/20 5pm VOCES on PBS: The Pushouts
Meet Victor Rios, a high school dropout and former gang member-turned-award-winning professor, author and expert on the school to prison pipeline, who works with young people who have been "pushed out" of school for reasons beyond their control.
Tues 9/21 4pm Home Truth
In 1999, Colorado mother Jessica Gonzales experienced every parent's worst nightmare when her three young daughters were killed after being abducted by their father in violation of a restraining order. Devastated, Jessica filed a lawsuit against the police, claiming they did not adequately enforce her restraining order despite her repeated calls for help that night. Determined to make sure her daughters did not die in vain, Jessica pursued her case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and an international human rights tribunal, seeking to strengthen legal rights for domestic violence victims. Meanwhile, her relationship with her one-surviving child, her son Jessie, suffered, as he struggled with the tragedy in his own way.
5pm America ReFramed: Councilwoman
Carmen Castillo is a first-term city councilwoman who maintains her full-time job as a hotel housekeeper. She advocates for the working families in her community, many of whom work multiple jobs to stay afloat.
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 quinceañera, a complex and colorful rite of passage, showcasing the creative spirit of Latinx communities and their struggles to retain their roots and traditions.
Wed 9/22 4pm POV: The Infiltrators
A true story of two young immigrants who get purposefully arrested by Border Patrol, and put in a shadowy for-profit detention center. The film follows Marco and Viri, members of a group of radical Dreamers who are on a mission to stop deportations. And the best place to stop deportations, they believe, is in detention.
5:30 POV: Landfall
Through shard-like glimpses of everyday life in post-Hurricane María Puerto Rico, Landfall is a cautionary tale for our times. Set against the backdrop of protests that toppled the governor in 2019, the film offers a prismatic portrait of collective trauma and resistance as Puerto Ricans navigate dismantled social services and newcomers eager to profit.
Fri 9/24 5:30 POV: Stateless
An electoral campaign uncovers the complex history and politics of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Follow families of those affected by the 2013 legislation stripping citizenship from Dominicans of Haitian descent.
Sun 9/26 6pm Latino Experience: Episode Three
An artist longs to paint a hillside community green. A single mother and veteran takes a new job that triggers her PTSD. A woman's deceased parents return to help her during the pandemic. A family grapples with politics during a holiday dinner.
7pm Doc World: Border South
Over the course of five years, Raúl O. Paz-Pastrana filmed the migrant routes from southern Mexico to the U.S. Mexico Border, assembling a vivid portrait of the thousands of immigrants who disappear along the trail. The film reveals the immigrants’ resilience, ingenuity, and humor as it exposes a global migration system that renders human beings invisible in life as well as death.
Mon 9/27 4pm POV: America
Diego lives away from his family, where he scrubs wax in a surf shop by day and stilt-walks the malecon by night. He returns home after his grandmother, America, falls from her bed, leading to his father's arrest for elder neglect.
Tues 9/28 4pm Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo
Film uncovers the true story behind legendary Chicano activist Oscar Zeta Acosta, the real-life inspiration for Hunter S. Thompson's "Dr. Gonzo."
5pm America ReFramed: The Unafraid
Banned from attending Georgia’s top five public universities and from paying in-state tuition at other public colleges in the state, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) students like Alejandro, Silvia, and Aldo unite through their activist work with an immigrants’ rights group. A humanizing portrait of undocumented students and their families, we enter their homes and learn of their struggles, as working families like theirs support their sons and daughters in pursuit of their dreams for life, liberty, and happiness.
Wed 9/29 4pm Re-Evolution: The Cuban Dream
Diving into the streets of Havana, we meet change makers in Cuba today. Following their journeys to thrive and survive in a rapidly shifting society, they provide unique perspectives on how their country is shaped by an ongoing culture of revolution, one more nuanced than meets the eye.
4:30pm Re-Evolution: The Embargo
“The Embargo” examines the ongoing impact of the U.S. embargo against Cuba, a longstanding prohibition on economic exchange that is known to Cubans as "el bloqueo." The film interviews people from both countries - including online fashion retailer Idania del Rí o, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, and former U.S. secretary of commerce Carlos Gutierrez - about the impact of "el bloqueo" on people trying to make their livelihood in Cuba today.
5pm Re-Evolution: Salud
This special focuses on Cuba's unique management of health and agricultural resources, and how development in these areas could highlight possible solutions to global challenges. The program follows a Cuban doctor and nurse on home visits to see how Cubans access healthcare, while a focus on biomedical technology in the country reveals how the ongoing U.S. embargo has impacted distribution of medicines that have promise in helping with symptoms of diabetes.
5:30pm Re-Evolution: Suenos
This special shares individual views and perceptions of Cuba - especially American ones - and the many, varied dreams that are held for the country's future. The program begins with an interview of travel guru Rick Steves, who reflects on a recent visit to Cuba with family and how travel can be a political act. Then, it delves more deeply into Cuban youth culture, profiling members of a local dance company who create community, as well as international funk group "Cimafunk." Musicians comment on how the internet has changed the way they live and work, while the founders of Bajanda, an "Uber-like" taxi app, discuss their challenges launching in Cuba.
6pm Cuba: A Lifetime of Passion
With unprecedented access to Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits, “Cuba: A Lifetime of Passion” looks at the present-day reality of the Cuban Revolution and its uncertain post-Castro future, and the conflicts that have engulfed Cuba for the past six decades.
Tues 10/5 5pm America ReFramed: Five Years North (NEW)
“Five Years North” is the story of America's immigration system through the eyes of Luis and Judy. Luis is an undocumented Guatemalan boy who arrives alone in New York City with little support and many responsibilities. Judy is a veteran ICE agent with Cuban American and Puerto Rican roots, who must weigh the human cost of her work against the future her family would face without her paycheck.
6:30pm Becoming Johanna
When Johanna, a 16-year-old transgender Latina, begins her transition and gets kicked out of her home and school, she finds a foster family who loves her and a supportive school principal who helps her graduate and thrive.
Wed 10/6 4pm Independent Lens: Harvest Season
Spend an agricultural year in Napa Valley and meet some of the unsung people who play a critical role in making some of the world's most celebrated wines, yet whose stories have largely gone untold.
Fri 10/8 4pm Ivy League Rumba
“Ivy League Rumba” is a one-hour documentary showcasing today's Latin rhythms, which fuse temporary grooves with the power of traditionally rooted sounds. Filmed at the 2015 Brown University Latin Jazz and Pop Festival in Providence, R.I., the program captures the magical spontaneity of some of Latin music's top performers and explores the Latino influence on mainstream American music and world culture.
Tues 10/12 5pm America ReFramed: We Like It Like That
Created by largely Puerto Rican, Cuban and African American youths living alongside each other in the 1960s, Boogaloo served as an authentic and vibrant cultural expression. "We Like It Like That" explores a pivotal moment in '60s music history when blues, funk and traditional Caribbean rhythms were fused to define a new generation of urban Latinos.
6:30pm Salsa! The Dance Sensation
Dubbed by many the most popular social dance in the world, it is practiced today by people of all ages, ethnicities, and cultures. In South Florida, this Latin-flavored dance, infused with Caribbean and African roots, is performed with distinct passion and artistry. From the nightclubs to the performance halls, from senior centers to salsa schools, the dance that began as a folk tradition has exploded into the mainstream. Today, an array of stories, histories, and traditions are recounted on dance floors across the region. From Casino-style to Colombian, from Puerto Rican to Dominican, the varied styles of the dance help delineate cultural identities, while also creating connections and friendships.