WORLD Launches Bold New Season of DOC WORLD with 8 Global Films
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Boston, MA – April 17, 2025 – Kicking off with a bold lineup of eight new global films from PBS SoCal’s Link Voices collection, Doc World returns May 4 with a brand-new season presented by WORLD. The season launches with timely, high-stakes stories from around the globe. Additional films will roll out throughout the season, expanding the series’ exploration of urgent issues and compelling perspectives from around the world.
“We’re excited to launch this season of Doc World in partnership with PBS SoCal with such a strong slate of films,” said Nina Chaudry, Executive Producer of WORLD. “A film like And Still I Sing, which follows two Afghan women challenging long-standing societal norms in the final months before the Taliban’s return to power, sheds light on the risks women face in the region. While each documentary is rooted in a different place, the films explore themes that will resonate with audiences here in the United States.”
The Doc World spring lineup includes:
And Still I Sing
Premieres Sunday, May 4 at 10/9c on WORLD, YouTube, and the PBS app
Afghan pop star Aryana Sayeed mentors two young women competing on Afghan Star, until their lives are upended when the Taliban returns. As women’s rights collapse, they must escape Kabul and find safety in exile.
Flying Hands
Premieres Sunday, May 11 at 10/9c on WORLD, YouTube and the PBS app. Streams will include versions with Descriptive Video Services.
Flying Hands tells the story of a mother and daughter breaking centuries of silence. In Pakistan’s mountains, Aniqa builds a school for deaf youth, creating a future where they’re no longer hidden, but heard.
Someone Lives Here
Premieres Sunday, May 18 at 10/9c on WORLD, YouTube, and the PBS app
Someone Lives Here follows Toronto carpenter Khaleel Seivwright, who builds tiny shelters for unhoused people during the pandemic. As his work gains global attention, city officials push back, sparking a heated battle over compassion, safety, and the right to shelter.
The Ants & the Grasshopper
Premieres Sunday, May 25 at 10/9c on WORLD, YouTube, and the PBS app
Anita Chitaya is a farmer in Malawi whose village has been damaged by the effects of climate change. To save her home, Anita travels to America to meet farming communities and legislators, exchanging ideas amid a shifting landscape.
Searching for Amani
Premieres Sunday, June 1 at 10/9c on WORLD, YouTube, and the PBS app
A 13-year-old aspiring journalist investigates his father’s murder in a Kenyan conservancy. As drought grips the land, his search for truth reveals a deeper story, one that exposes the human cost of a warming world.
The Making of a Japanese
Premieres Sunday, June 8 at 10/9c on WORLD, YouTube, and the PBS app
From the Oscar-nominated short comes The Making of a Japanese, an intimate look inside a Tokyo public school, where 1st and 6th graders learn discipline and empathy while navigating the fine balance between individualism and community.
Narrow Path to Happiness
Premieres Sunday, June 15 at 10/9c on WORLD, YouTube, and the PBS app
Gergo and Lenard, a young gay couple from a remote Roma village, move to Budapest in hopes of making a musical film about their lives. But when a death in the family who once disowned them draws them back, they have another chance for acceptance.
McCurry: The Pursuit of Color
Premieres Sunday, June 22 at 10/9c on WORLD, YouTube, and the PBS app
A rare, intimate look at photojournalist Steve McCurry, whose powerful and sometimes polarizing images span a 40-year career. Filmed across continents and personal spaces, the film reveals the complexities behind a legendary and driven artist.
“Over the past 10 years, the Link Voices series has provided viewers with a wide range of powerful human stories told through high-quality, award-winning international documentaries,” commented PBS SoCal Sr. Director of Programming Dwayne Bright. “We are proud to partner with WORLD this season in order to give important cultural perspectives to new audiences with the power to bridge divides and facilitate conversation, understanding, and change on critical national and global issues.”
Doc World will broadcast on WORLD through December and will feature select encores from previous seasons. For more information, visit www.WORLDchannel.org/ or follow
@WorldChannel on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Marketing Materials Available for Use in Season 8Press Kit
About WORLD
WORLD shares the best of public media in news, documentaries and programming. WORLD’s original series examine the issues and amplify the voices of those often ignored by mainstream media. The multiplatform channel helps audiences understand conflicts, movements and cultures from around the globe. Its original work has won two Peabody Awards, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, an International Documentary Association Award, a National News and Documentary Emmy Award, two Gracie Awards and many other awards and nominations. WORLD is carried by 203 member stations in markets representing 78.63% of US TV households. Funding for WORLD is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Wyncote Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. WORLD is produced by GBH in partnership with WNET and is distributed by American Public Television (APT).
About Doc World
Since its launch in 2016, DOC WORLD has showcased award-winning international documentaries that unlock untold stories from around the globe. Airing on WORLD, produced by GBH, the series features powerful, unfiltered storytelling that sparks conversation, broadens perspectives, and deepens understanding. From cultural touchstones to urgent global challenges, DOC WORLD reveals the threads of our shared human experience. The series has been recognized with a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for The Accused: Damned or Devoted?, a Silver Anthem Award for WHY SLAVERY?, a Gracie Award for Best Director for Facing the Dragon, and an Emmy Award for Armed with Faith.
About PBS SoCal
PBS SoCal uses the power of public media for good, strengthening the civic fabric of Southern California and providing our community with an essential connection to a wider world. As a local, donor/member-supported non-profit organization, PBS SoCal is available to stream on the PBS app and the PBS Kids App and reaches nearly 19M viewers across 7 Broadcast channels — including 2 primary channels, PBS SoCal and PBS SoCal Plus and 5 digital subchannels. With a commitment to make content available anytime and anywhere for free, PBS SoCal offers programming that reflects the diversity of Southern California and showcases the full schedule of beloved and trusted PBS content spanning Education, News, Environment and Arts & Culture. PBS SoCal also sparks the sharing of ideas at in-person cultural events and community conversations as well as prepares children for kindergarten and beyond by bringing bilingual, hands-on learning experiences to the community for free.
About Link Voices
Since 2015, Link Voices has provided a unique collection of documentaries that show a medley of global perspectives, untold stories and culturally relevant topics. This impactful documentary series is aimed at offering new insights on critical global issues and poignant stories that are expressed by the people closest to the issues. Over the past 10 years, documentaries have addressed LGBTQ rights, homelessness, racism and poverty through the eyes of the people closest to these issues including revolutionary artists, musicians, environmental activists, disabled individuals, powerless communities and more. Link Voices is supported in part by The Wyncote Foundation and Alec Rhodes as well as other generous funders.