LA DOLCE VITA: THE MUSIC OF ITALIAN CINEMA

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 @ 7:00PM & 12:00AM

La Dolce Vita: The Music of Italian Cinema will air on Great Performances tonight on 26.1.

Featuring Josh Groban, Renée Fleming and Joshua Bell, Great Performances partners with the New York Philharmonic and music director Alan Gilbert for a concert of memorable movie themes with music from Amarcord, Cinema Paradiso, Il Postino, and more.

Dawning in the dark aftermath of World War II, the fertile mid-century decades of Italian cinema delighted international movie audiences with an eclectic mix of movie classics from groundbreaking directors including Frederico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, Sergio Leone and many more. A major component of Italian cinema’s enduring popularity continues to be a lush selection of sweeping film scores by composers like Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone.

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WATER

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25 @ 8:00PM

Both humans and wildlife depend on water for survival. This episode explores how a misuse of water can lead to unparalleled destruction; however, sharing our water with wildlife does not only benefit the wild, it may also be a crucial step in our own survival.

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THE LAST ORANGUTAN EDEN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

Ecologist Chris Morgan travels to the jungles of Northern Sumatra to document the work being done to save its population of wild orangutans. Asia’s most intelligent ape once roamed across the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java, but today, fewer than 7,000 Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild. The film cites rapid deforestation — clearing the land for vast palm oil plantations — as the chief reason for the species’ declining population.

 
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BEST OF GENEALOGY ROADSHOW

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 @ 11:00PM

Part detective story, part emotional journey, Genealogy Roadshow combines history and science to uncover the fascinating stories of diverse Americans. Each individual’s past links to a larger community history, revealing the rich cultural tapestry of America.

Genealogy Roadshow’s premiere season featured participants from four American cities — Nashville, Detroit, San Francisco and Austin — who want to explore unverified genealogical claims, passed down through family history, that may (or may not) connect them to an event or a historical figure. These cities were chosen as American crossroads of culture, diversity, industry and history, with deep pools of potential participants and stories. After participants are chosen, experts in genealogy, history and DNA use family heirlooms, letters, pictures, historical documents and other clues to hunt down more information.

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LOYAL AMERICANS/THE AMERICAN DREAM

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 @ 6:00PM & 12:00AM

EPISODE THREE: Loyal Americans (1930–1945)

A second generation of Italian Americans begins to enter the labor movement, politics, sports and entertainment. Fiorello LaGuardia beats Tammany Hall, the Irish Political machine in New York, to become Mayor and represent the “little guy.” Joe DiMaggio, the son of a fisherman in San Francisco, becomes a powerhouse, who breaks the record for consecutive hits and becomes an All-American hero.

EPISODE FOUR: The American Dream (1945 to present day)

In postwar America, Italian Americans seem finally to have arrived. They move to the suburbs, attend college and enter the middle-class. Italian American crooners define American cool, with Frank Sinatra leading the pack. But even as he skyrockets to fame, he is haunted by accusations of Mafia ties, an albatross Sinatra cannot escape from. Can Italian Americans ever fit into 1950s America, or will the specter of organized crime always bring them down? Popular media reinforces the negative stereotypes at the same time that Italian Americans are achieving success.

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AMERICAN DENIAL

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23 @ 11:00PM

Follow the story of Swedish researcher Gunnar Myrdal whose landmark 1944 study, An American Dilemma, probed deep into the United States’ racial psyche. The film weaves a narrative that exposes some of the potential underlying causes of racial biases still rooted in America’s systems and institutions today.

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