When a young, irreverent priest arrives at Saint Patrick Parish in Lawrence, Massachusetts, he discovers the unexpected––boiling ethnic tensions in a changing working-class community. Filmed over four years, the film follows the diverse personal stories of Father Paul O’Brien and his unruly flock as they struggle to hold onto faith in the face of desperate circumstances.

Scenes From a Parish premieres tonight, December 29, at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).

Check out this companion piece to CASH & MARRY, which airs at 9:00 PM tonight, November 30, on The Documentary Channel. In this clip, hear from the film’s director Atanas Georgiev and the film subjects about the struggles immigrants face when seeking permanent residence.

CASH & MARRY premieres tonight at 9:00 PM on The Documentary Channel (check local broadcast schedule)

This seven-part series, airing on Sundays through August 16, looks at the search for the “American dream” through the eyes of recent immigrants and refugees during their first tumultuous years in America. From Nigeria, India, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, each family has come with different hopes: to achieve athletic glory or high-tech riches, to escape poverty and persecution or to simply provide for their families.

Watch a preview:

Like what you saw? Download all the episodes on iTunes >>

P.O.V. recently interviewed filmmakers lmudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar to find out what happened to the film’s subjects—Lupe, Maura and Maria. MADE IN L.A. has gone on to screen around the world including festivals in Spain, Israel, Brazil and Korea. The film was also screened on Capitol Hill for a select group of Members of Congress involved in immigration reform and policy.

Visit the P.O.V. Web site for an update >>

This seven-part series, airing on Sundays through August 16, looks at the search for the “American dream” through the eyes of recent immigrants and refugees during their first tumultuous years in America. From Nigeria, India, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, each family has come with different hopes: to achieve athletic glory or high-tech riches, to escape poverty and persecution or to simply provide for their families.

Watch a preview:

Like what you saw? Download all the episodes on iTunes >>

This seven-part series, airing on Sundays through August 16, looks at the search for the “American dream” through the eyes of recent immigrants and refugees during their first tumultuous years in America. From Nigeria, India, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, each family has come with different hopes: to achieve athletic glory or high-tech riches, to escape poverty and persecution or to simply provide for their families.

Watch a preview:

Like what you saw? Download all the episodes on iTunes >>

This seven-part series, airing on Sundays through August 16, looks at the search for the “American dream” through the eyes of recent immigrants and refugees during their first tumultuous years in America. From Nigeria, India, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, each family has come with different hopes: to achieve athletic glory or high-tech riches, to escape poverty and persecution or to simply provide for their families.

Watch a preview:

Like what you saw? Download all the episodes on iTunes >>

THE NEW AMERICANS, airing Sundays through August 16 at 10:00 PM on Global Voices on PBS WORLD (check local listings), explores what the “American dream” looks like through the eyes of today’s immigrants and refugees.

Get the conversation started and download a companion party guide. Designed for small groups who are interested in watching the series in segments (either as a part of the Global Voices broadcast, DVD or iTunes), the guide provides activities and discussion topics related to issues of immigration, culture, citizenship and identity.

Download the free guide [PDF] >>

The acclaimed miniseries THE NEW AMERICANS airs July 5-August 16 in one-hour weekly installments at 10:00 PM on Global Voices on PBS WORLD (check local listings).

This seven-part series looks at the search for the “American dream” through the eyes of recent immigrants and refugees during their first tumultuous years in America. From Nigeria, India, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, each family has come with different hopes: to achieve athletic glory or high-tech riches, to escape poverty and persecution or to simply provide for their families.

Watch a preview:

Like watching films online? Get THE NEW AMERICANS on iTunes >>

This summer, Global Voices on PBS WORLD presents an encore of Kartemquin Films’ THE NEW AMERICANS. The seven-hour, critically acclaimed documentary miniseries follows four years in the lives of a diverse group of immigrants and refugees as they journey from around the globe to start new lives in America. From heart-wrenching farewells to initial impressions of the United States, from debunked myths to realized dreams, the series captures the modern immigrant experience.

Presented in one-hour weekly installments from July 5 to August 16, the broadcast will feature updates on what the individuals profiled have been doing since the series first aired. Optional Spanish audio narration will be available. THE NEW AMERICANS can also be found on iTunes.

Gordon Quinn, executive producer of THE NEW AMERICANS and creative director and founding member of Kartemquin Films, has been making documentaries for more than 40 years. His first film, Home For Life (1966), was called “an extraordinarily moving documentary” by film critic Roger Ebert and set the direction for Quinn’s filmmaking career—creating cinéma vérité works that investigate and critique society by documenting the unfolding lives of real people.

Quinn became interested in the topic of immigration after finishing Hoop Dreams in 1994 and spending several years doing outreach in support of its public television broadcast.

“Telling the stories of immigrant families in the United States is as important now as it was five years ago when we first released this film,” Quinn said. “As news of our rebroadcast goes to press, leaders of immigrant, labor and faith organizations from around the country will be gathering over Fourth of July weekend to build more momentum for the passage of just and humane immigration reform. As the immigration policy debate heats up again, it is important for Americans to learn more about why immigrant families leave their own countries, understand the hopes and dreams they hold for new lives and why they fight so hard to stay in America.”

The film follows an Indian couple to the Silicon Valley and through the dot-com boom and bust; a Mexican meatpacker struggling to reunite his family in rural Kansas; two Nigerian families trying to escape government persecution (including the sister of slain Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa); two Los Angeles Dodgers prospects trying to escape the barrios of the Dominican Republic in pursuit of a major league career; and a Palestinian woman who marries into a new life in Chicago only to discover that in the wake of 9/11, she is unable to leave behind the pain of her homeland’s conflict.

“We wanted to give the audience a sense of what people are leaving behind and the connections people are able to continue nurturing through the Internet,” Quinn explained.

“There is a lot of ethnic programming beginning to air on the digital channel and we’re thrilled that Global Voices is offering the broadcast in Spanish. We are glad the series will reach a larger audience of immigrants,” Quinn added.

The series was executive-produced by Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Stevie) and Gordon Quinn, with Gita Saedi serving as series producer. The five stories were directed by award-winning filmmakers Renee Tajima-Pena, Indu Krishnan, Steve James, Jerry Blumenthal and Gordon Quinn, and Susana Aikin and Carlos Aparicio.

THE NEW AMERICANS received funding support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS as well as other organizations.

Watch THE NEW AMERICANS on Global Voices >>

Download the series on iTunes >>

Buy THE NEW AMERICANS DVD from Kartemquin Films >>