Celebrate Independence Day with Global Voices

Throughout July, Global Voices will examine the efforts and struggles around the world as people and organizations strive for democracy, independence, and freedom. Global Voices airs Sunday nights at 10PM on the WORLD Channel.

In honor of Independence Day, Global Voices and the WORLD Channel present four international documentaries throughout the month of July that focus on the different, difficult actions people and organizations have taken in the fight for independence.

The month begins with Storm of Emotions (July 3rd at 10 PM), chronicling the Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the efforts to achieve democracy amidst great social and political turmoil. Read more about the Global Voices line up after the jump >>

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Tags: Cuba, fireworks, freedom, gaza, Global Voices, independence, international, Israel, july 4th, PBS, peru, WORLD, world channel

Watch Greener Grass: Cuba, Baseball and the United States on Hulu

If you’re buzzing about Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, you should check out the ITVS documentary, Greener Grass: Cuba, Baseball and the United States, streaming now on Hulu.

The history of Cuban-American relations is brought into focus through the lens of baseball in Greener Grass. The passion for the sport on both sides of the Straits of Florida was evident in 1999, when a historic two-game series pitted the Baltimore Orioles against the Cuban National Team. For the first time in 40 years, a Major League team played in Havana, and the Cuban team traveled to Baltimore. In packed stadiums, cowbells and fans, protesters and conga drums provided a backbeat for the series. But, behind the excitement lay a complex history of competition and cooperation that stretches back to baseball’s origins.

Covering more than a century of baseball history, the documentary illustrates the ways in which the game has served as both a common ground and a test of strength between politically estranged countries. It also reveals how baseball is a microcosm that reflects divergent national identities, as well as the underlying tensions of race, democracy, and opportunity.

Greener Grass: Cuba, Baseball and the United States, by Aaron Woolf, Rudolph Callegari and Nancy Roth, was first broadcast on PBS in 2000, and re-broadcast on the ITVS series Global Voices in 2008. The new season of Global Voices premieres on May 9th (check local listings).

Watch Greener Grass: Cuba, Baseball and the United States on Hulu >>

Tags: baseball, Cuba, Opening Day

Season Finale of Global Voices: REVOLUCION: Five Visions

“… an absorbing documentary…”
- The Virginian-Pilot

REVOLUCION tells the story of five Cuban photographers whose lives and work span more than four decades and whose perspectives on photography are as varied as their opinions about the Cuban Revolution. From revolution-era photographers whose lenses captured the heroic masses to more contemporary photographers who seek to portray individual truths, their stories reveal the power of art to liberate.

REVOLUCION: Five Visions airs Sunday, October 18 at 10:00 PM on Global Voices on PBS WORLD (check local listings).

Tags: art, artists, Cuba, photography

Watch MIRROR DANCE on Global Voices on PBS WORLD

Identical twins Margarita and Ramona de Saá became acclaimed ballerinas with the National Ballet of Cuba. Once inseparable, their relationship disintegrated as one sister left for America while the other embraced the Cuban Revolution. MIRROR DANCE is the story of two women forever linked by birth and dance, but struggling to overcome rifts not only between sisters but also between nations.

Watch a preview below:

MIRROR DANCE airs Sunday, June 7 at 10:00 PM on Global Voices on PBS WORLD (check local listings). A co-presentation with LPB.

Tags: Cuba, dance, twins