Next month, Monday night will become a captivating time slot with broadcasts of Independent Lens documentaries addressing various dynamic topics in the United States. The following films air throughout this upcoming June on WSBE Rhode Island PBS:
Independent Lens: Try Harder! - June 13 at 9 p.m.
Lowell High School is San Francisco’s top public high school, whose reputation for academic excellence is rivaled only by the skyrocketing stress levels of its students. Graduating members of its student body - which is nearly 70% Asian-American - must navigate the intersections of class, race, and opportunity as they vie for admission to America’s top universities.
Following a year in the life of high school seniors at Lowell, Independent Lens: Try Harder! uses humor and honesty to explore the reality of modern college admissions in the United States. Centering the voices of students, the film chronicles their hopes and fears as they navigate mounting pressure to impress admissions officers as well as stereotypes pertaining to the Asian-American identity and academia.
Independent Lens: When Claude Got Shot - June 20 at 9 p.m.
A visit to his hometown of Milwaukee took a sharp turn when Claude Motley, a father of three and an aspiring lawyer, was shot in the face by 15-year-old Nathan King during a carjacking attempt. Two days later, King himself would suffer catastrophic injuries when an attempt to rob a woman named Victoria Davidson resulted in her firing her gun in self-defense. Over the next five years, these three strangers would have the course of their lives radically altered by their respective experiences with gun violence.
Independent Lens: When Claude Got Shot centers on Motley’s story as he navigates recovery from both his physical and emotional trauma. Through it all, he finds himself torn between punishment for King and the injustice of mass incarceration that disproportionately affects Black men and boys. Additionally, the film tells the stories of King and his family as they grapple with the criminal justice system, and of Davidson as she faces the emotional repercussions of shooting a 15-year-old.
WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; DirecTV 36, Dish Network 36. Rhode Island PBS is now available to subscribers of YouTubeTV. The full schedule is available to live stream for free within the broadcast viewing area at watch.ripbs.org/livestream. An expansive catalog of PBS series, documentaries, and specials is available to Rhode Island PBS members through Rhode Island PBS Passport.
