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KCET Celebrates Jewish Heritage, Asian Pacific Heritage & LGBT Month with Special Programming

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KCET, public media for Southern and Central California celebrates Jewish Heritage, Asian Pacific Heritage and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Heritage Month with a series of primetime specials beginning Wednesday, May 3, 2011. We take a look at the importance of family, rituals, holidays and the strength of the human spirit. We travel to the magnificent islands of Hawaii and also take an in depth look at Asian religions that have survived the centuries.


And in June, we examine the reaction towards homosexuality from the beginning of the 19th century to the present, the universal movement for fairness and equality, and the immeasurable contributions of LGBT Americans.
Jewish American Heritage Month Programming

Wednesday, May 3, 2011
Teenage Witness: The Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Story -10p.m.

In 1941, the Nazis asserted their power by overrunning tiny villages throughout Eastern Europe. In the middle of the horror and chaos stood 15-year-old Fanya Gottesfeld (Heller). Only through the kindness of a Polish peasant did Fanya survive - hidden beneath a chicken coop with her parents and brother for two-and-a-half years. Based on her acclaimed memoir, Love In A World of Sorrow, TEENAGE WITNESS: THE FANYA GOTTESFELD HELLER STORY presents a raw and emotional look at survival and the tenacity of the human spirit.

Wednesdays
Nazi Hunter 10 p.m.

NAZI HUNTERS chronicles the stories of those individuals who chased some of the most hated and reviled criminals on earth. Prepared to hunt the perpetrators of the World War II atrocities that shocked the world, these pursuers of justice included the likes of Winston Churchill, the British Special Air Services, the strategists who planned the D-Day landings and the Israeli Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad).

Thursday, May 5, 2011
Safeguarding Memory: Commemorating Jewish Mass Graves - 9:30 p.m.

Beneath the earth throughout Poland lie the mass graves of tens of thousands of Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Today a number of elderly Poles who witnessed these brutal murders are openly sharing their memories.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Four Seasons Lodge - 8 p.m.

FOUR SEASONS LODGE follows a group of Holocaust survivors, nearly all Polish Jews, who have spent 25 years summering together at an isolated rural compound in the Catskill Mountains of New York. A counterintuitive film about the Holocaust, FOUR SEASONS LODGE is an uplifting and insightful portrait of people who embrace their dark pasts with striking openness and, at times, black humor.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Gefilte Fish Chronicles - 10 p.m.

With 86-year-old twin sisters Peppy Barer and Rosie Groman narrating, THE GEFILTE FISH CHRONICLES tells the story of how a family embraces the Passover holiday: not only to celebrate a religious event, but to stay spiritually and physically connected through traditional meal preparations. Although this is a tale about one family, it crosses cultural and religious lines, to remind us of how many families develop rituals as they celebrate holidays.

Asian Pacific Heritage Month Programming

Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Someplace With A Mountain - 9 p.m.

A one hour documentary about a very special group of people - the Lapita Navigators. They are the proud forefathers of many cultures in the tropical Pacific. They are losing their homes and crops and their livelihood and culture are dramatically threatened as the islands they live on are flooding day by day. SOMEPLACE WITH MOUNTAIN is the story about what can happen when one person decides to help.

Saturdays, May 7 & 21, 2011
Asian and Abrahamic Religions: A Divine Encounter - 7 p.m.

THE ASIAN AND ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: A DIVINE ENCOUNTER IN AMERICA explores the beliefs, practices and rituals of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. The documentary offers an in-depth look at the differences and surprising similarities among the polytheistic Asian religions and the monotheistic "Abrahamic" faiths of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Tuesday, May 24 at 8 p.m. & Saturday, May28 at 3 p.m.
Japan Relief Special

Monday, May 30, 2011
Hawaii: Roots Of Fire - 10:30 p.m.

After years of painstaking research, startling new discoveries are made. Not only do the scientists determine where the lava is coming from, but they solve other long-standing mysteries about the workings of Hawaii's magnificent volcanoes.

LGBT Heritage Month Programming

Tues, June 7, 2011
Claiming the Title: Gay Olympics on Trial - 10:30 p.m.

In 1982, a San Francisco athletic group tries to hold a "Gay Olympics, " instigating what will ultimately become a battle at the U.S. Supreme Court and a challenge over the place of gays and lesbians in American Society.

Sunday, June 12, 2011
A Place to Live: The Story of Triangle Square - 8 p.m.

What does it mean to be a gay senior citizen trying to survive on limited resources in America? The new American Public Television-distributed special A PLACE TO LIVE: THE STORY OF TRIANGLE SQUARE explores this issue by chronicling the development and construction of Triangle Square Hollywood in Hollywood, California -the country's first affordable housing facility for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) seniors.

Sunday, June 12, 2011
Out & Proud In Chicago - 10:30 p.m.

OUT & PROUD charts the history of Chicago's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community from the 19th century to the present. From coming-out experiences and supporting anti-discrimination laws to founding Chicago's earliest gay-rights organization and defying the federal government's indifference towards people with AIDS.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Georgie Girl - 10 p.m.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Fatherhood Dreams - 9 p.m.

FATHERHOOD DREAMS is a poignant and revealing look at the day-to-day lives of gay dads. Their private journey through fatherhood forces them to deal with much larger issues that affect gay fathers, including the legal aspects of surrogacy (from a Canadian point of view), the complexity of "open adoption," and the controversy over recognition of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) and multi-parent families.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Out In The Silence - 10 p.m.

OUT IN THE SILENCE follows the story of a small American town confronting a firestorm of controversy ignited by a same-sex wedding announcement in the local newspaper. This gripping documentary illustrates the challenges of being an outsider in a conservative rural community and the change that is possible when courageous people break the silence and search from common ground.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Anyone and Everyone - 9 p.m.

ANYONE AND EVERYONE tells the stories of families from Utah to North Carolina and Wyoming to New York, all connected by a common thread -a gay child. This poignant and often heartbreaking documentary by first-time filmmaker Susan Polis Schutz (also the parent of a gay son) depicts families representing a wide range of religions, nationalities and political leanings.

Saturdays, June 4, 11, 25, 2011
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