POV Shorts, the award-winning nonfiction shorts film series curated by POV, returns today for its 8th season with bold new films from visionary independent filmmakers. This year’s lineup explores themes of cultural identity, climate change, resilience, intergenerational storytelling, music, and belonging.
Episodes 1-3 are available to stream on POV.org and the PBS App today, Tuesday, November 18, 2025, and episodes 4-6 will premiere on Tuesday, November 25, 2025.
"In 2012, we released the film CHASING ICE to show the world visual evidence of our changing climate. Years later, when James shared that he was ending the Extreme Ice Survey and taking down the last timelapse camera in Iceland—the very place where the project first began—we knew it was time for us to follow James back into the field (...) While we watched James confront his mortality, I couldn’t help but reflect on the influence that James has had on me both personally and professionally, as well as the impact his work has had on the world. These reflections inspired what ultimately became CHASING TIME, a piece honoring James’ legacy and highlighting the need for intergenerational collaboration to address climate change." (Jeff Orlowski-Yang)
"When Jeff asked me to co-direct a follow up to Chasing Ice, I was both thrilled and daunted by the responsibility of returning to this incredible story that began 15 years ago. Our primary goal going into the film was to showcase this unprecedented 15-year visual record of the melting glaciers. It’s one thing to be aware of climate change, but it’s another to see the astounding rate of change captured by these time lapses. The footage is a powerful and visceral reminder of how urgently climate action is needed now." (Sarah Keo)
"In The People Could Fly, I wanted to pay homage to Black Southern folktales and paint a portrait of the spaces we use as a refuge in my hometown of Louisville. I was fortunate to have the support of the community while making this film. Everyone is very excited to share a piece of their history with the world, and for me, it is a dream come true." (Imani Dennison)
"MnM is a story about living an unapologetic life; about having the audacity to wake up everyday and show up in the world as your true self. It is a personal film to me, centering the house and ballroom community that I've been a part of for nearly 2 decades. It’s also about my niece and granddaughter, who are both Black, Queer and nonbinary just like me. Gender is and always has been a spectrum, ever-expansive and Divine. Patriarchy has used the binary to oppress anything that threatens its stronghold. Moving beyond the binary will not only dismantle this system of oppression, but afford folks the opportunity to heal. The house and ballroom community has been observed by outsiders for decades. Those stories have often centered our struggles but not our triumphs... our sorrows but not our joy. Our lives are not a monolith, they are multidimensional, multifaceted, and downright beautiful. Directing MnM - my first film - has afforded me the opportunity to tell just one of our many stories." (Twiggy Pucci Garçon)
"Every week for nearly a decade, Yellowstone Public Radio aired “Your Opinion, Please!”, an open call for listeners across Montana to pick up the phone and express their views live on-air, without pre-screening or prompt. The film YOUR OPINION, PLEASE allows voices from across hundreds of episodes to flow in conversation with one another, set against the imagery of present-day Montana—a state deep in identity crisis when it comes to community, cost-of-living, and the right to free expression.
My father worked in public radio for decades, even pre-dating NPR. While working for KEMC in Billings, Montana he came up with "Your Opinion, Please!" It was a risky proposition to regularly open the airwaves to the public with no guard rails or delay that would allow on-the-fly censorship. But it also reflects a stark contrast to how we express ourselves today. By and large, this show existed before the modern internet, and certainly before today’s social media landscape, where opinions exist within bubbles and algorithms drive those with like-minds to the same, isolated corners. The human voice is often removed from the equation, and thus the humanity." (Marshall Granger)
Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Open Society Foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding comes from Nancy Blachman and David desJardins, Bertha Foundation, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Charitable Trust, Park Foundation, Sage Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Chris and Nancy Plaut, Abby Pucker, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.
