Yearly Archives: 2018

Join Leslie Mueller in America’s largest art museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Learn about this amazing 2 million sq. ft. museum that houses 5,000 years of world history, perched atop 5th avenue in New York City. Explore the centerpiece of the Egyptian Art Collection, the Temple of Dendur and get a peek at how this important piece of Egyptian history was carefully cleaned by museum curators. Then learn about the mystery that surrounds the most powerful female in ancient Egypt, Pharoh Hatshepsut.

Airs on WXXI March 20, 2018 at 1:00 am (1/2 hour long)
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Tells the little-known story of Augusta Chiwy, a black nurse, and her heroic service at a U.S. military aid station during the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge. Her remarkable story of bravery went untold for over 60 years, until historian and author Martin King tracked her down and wrote a book celebrating her heroism. August Chiwy passed away on August 23, 2015 in Belgium at the age of 94. Her life story was celebrated in the New York Times feature series “The Lives They Lived.” Using archival footage and photos, black and white sketches, and interviews with author Martin King, historian Michael Collins, and others, the documentary pieces together the remarkable true story of this previously unsung hero, whose compassion and unwavering courage helped save countless of American soldiers.

Airs on WXXI-TV March 19, 2018 at 1:00 am (1 hour long)
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The National Center for Jewish Film is an independent, non-profit film archive, distributor and exhibitor. The Center, housed at Brandeis University, owns the world’s largest collection of Jewish-content film. Its unique collection includes silent, vaudeville and Yiddish films, newsreels, institutional films, and home movies; the earliest dating back to 1903. The Center’s priority is the rescue of rare and endangered film materials and it has restored hundreds of films that document the diversity and vibrancy of Jewish culture. The dynamic films selected for the NATIONAL CENTER FOR JEWISH FILM SHOWCASE are representative of the breadth and depth of the collection’s holdings.

• #1 – Raise the Roof – Rivaling the greatest wooden architecture in history, the synagogues of 18th-century Poland-the last of which were destroyed by the Nazis-inspired artists Rick and Laura Brown to embark on a 10-year pursuit to reconstruct the elaborate roof and painted ceiling of the Gwo Y dziec synagogue. Aided by a team of 300 artisans and students, the show-stopping building was realized and beautifully photographed film chronicles this ambitious project, they had done more than reconstruct a lost synagogue; they recovered a lost world. “How often do you get a chancel to reach deep into history and bring something back?” – Rick Brown. Raise the Roof has enjoyed a wildly successful film festival run, screening at more than 150 film festivals and winning six Best Documentary Awards. The “Raise the Roof” project has received wide press coverage, including in The New York Times, New Republic, The Boston Globe, CNN, Tablet, Forbes. Airs on WXXI on March 19, 2018 at 9:00 pm (Hour and a half long program)
• #2 – Carvalho’s Journey – A real-life 19th century American western adventure story about Solomon Nunes Carvalho, an observant Sephardic Jew born in 1815 in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1853, traveling with John Fremont’s 5th Westward Expedition through Kansas, Colorado, Utah and California, Carvalho became one of the first photographers to document the sweeping vistas and treacherous terrain of the far American West. Living alongside mountain men, Native Americans, and Mormons, Carvalho overcame enormous odds to produce beautiful art: daguerreotypes that became the lens through which the world experienced the West. The film interweaves stunning HD digital and 16mm film landscape cinematography, rare 19th century photographs, Carvalho’s surviving artwork and daguerreotypes, and interviews with scholars and artists, including modern day daguerreotypist Robert Shlaer who recreates Carvalho’s original daguerreotypes on location. The documentary is narrated by award winning actor Michael Stuhlbarg (Boardwalk Empire, Steve Jobs) with original music by Jamie Saft (composer, Murderball). Airs on WXXI on March 20, 2018 at 8:00 pm (Hour and a half long program)
• #3 – 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. A fearless trailblazer who defied tradition to become the eyes and conscience of the world, she was the first journalist to enter the Soviet Arctic in 1935, traveled to Alaska as a member of the Roosevelt administration in 1942, escorted Holocaust refugees to America in 1944, covered the Nuremberg trials in 1946, and documented the Palestine-bound Haganah ship Exodus in 1947. Her relationships with world leaders, including Eleanor Roosevelt, President Harry Truman, and Israel’s Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, gave her unique access and insight into modern history.

  Airs on WXXI-TV on March 20, 2018 at 9:30 pm (Hour and a half long program)
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Trace the history of women pioneers in the U.S. Space program. Some, like aviators Wally Funk and Jerrie Cobb, passed the same grueling tests as male astronauts, only to be dismissed by NASA, the military and even Lyndon Johnson, as a distraction. It wasn’t until 1995 that Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot a spacecraft. The program includes interviews with Collins, as well as Sally Ride’s classmates, Shannon Lucid, Rhea Seddon and Kathryn Sullivan, and features Mae Jemison, the first woman of color astronaut, and Peggy Whitson, the first female commander of the International Space Station. The hour ends with the next generation of women engineers, mathematicians and astronauts-the new group of pioneers, like Marleen Martinez and Dava Newman, who continue to make small but significant steps forward.

Airs on WXXI March 19, 2018 at 3:00 am (1 hour long)
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With permission from Queen Elizabeth, this program covers a year in Buckingham Palace Garden, exploring the history and the natural history of this remarkable hidden royal treasure in the heart of London.

Airs on WXXI-TV March 18, 2018 at 7:00 pm (1 hour long)
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1916 is a landmark documentary giving a comprehensive overview of the Easter Rising, looking at the enormous impact it had both here and around the world and the crucial role played by Irish America in the lead up to the rebellion, narrated by actor Liam Neeson. Told in a series of three episodes, each episode is one hour long.

Episode One Awakening Crucial in setting up the context for our dramatic story for the events of Easter week.

Episode Two Insurrection The story of the Easter Rising rebellion. The separatist Irish Republican Brotherhood infiltrated the Irish Volunteer Movement and attempted to secure help from Germany. Also: what the British intelligence service knew beforehand.

Episode Three When Myth and History Rhyme An examination of the aftermath and response to the Easter Rising in Ireland and abroad. Although it failed, the rebellion changed the course of Irish history by creating the conditions for a national revolution.

Airs on WXXI-TV March 18, 2018 at 8:00 pm (3 hour long episodes back to back)
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