A New Year of Documentaries on WORLD in 2025: What to Watch in January (original) (raw)
This January, WORLD is celebrating the new while embracing the moments of our past. The LOCAL, USA film “Road Scholars,” which premieres on January 13, follows young Black men seeking to reframe the narrative around race and tolerance in America with the help of their elders; and two new episodes of STORIES FROM THE STAGE feature stories of legacy, honor and resilience.
Also this month is an encore presentation of “Fannie Lou Hamer’s America” ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, examining civil rights and racial justice through the eyes of one of our history’s most iconic leaders.
Join us to watch inspiring, complex, true stories that inform us of where we’ve been so that we may move forward with progress.
WATCH LIVE
Who I Am Not | POV
January 1 on TV, online & on the PBS app
Sharon-Rose Khumalo, a South African beauty queen, faces an identity crisis after discovering she's intersex. Her path crosses with Dimakatso Sebidi, a masculine-presenting intersex activist, as they both navigate a journey marked by society’s stigma and inner struggles. Intertwining raw reality with poetic beauty, Khumalo’s and Sebidi’s stories capture the heart-wrenching fight for acceptance in a binary world.
The Area | America ReFramed
January 2 on TV, online & on the PBS app
When Deborah Payne was told that her South Side Chicago neighborhood would be demolished to build a freight yard, she vowed to be “the last house standing.” “The Area” is the five-year odyssey of her community, where more than 400 Black American families are being displaced by a multi-billion dollar freight company. As their neighborhood is literally being torn apart, residents maintain friendships and traditions while fighting for the respect they deserve.
Dallas, 2019: Parts 1 through 5 | Independent Lens
January 4 on TV, online & on the PBS app
A cross section of life in Dallas the year before the pandemic hit, as fault lines emerge between those who follow, make, and battle the law. This five-part series follows the harried lives of city workers, community organizers, and diverse citizens as they confront natural and human-made disasters, a struggling school system, and cycles of incarceration. What will the future of Dallas look like?
Minted | Independent Lens
January 8 on TV, online & on the PBS app
An insider’s look at the rise and fall of the NFT (non-fungible token) phenomenon and how technology transformed the traditional art world, for better and worse. Featuring verité footage and candid interviews with groundbreaking artists – like Beeple, Latasha Alcindor, and Loish— at the center of this phenomenon, the film delves into the complex world of the $40 billion NFT digital art market.
The Place That Makes Us | America ReFramed
January 9 on TV, online & on the PBS app
A quintessential post-industrial American city is seen through the efforts of a new generation. An inspiring portrait of the people of Youngstown, Ohio who have chosen not to abandon their hometown, but to stay, rebuild and make a life for themselves, “The Place That Makes Us” is a powerful testament of the resilience and dedication it takes to change a community.
WHY SLAVERY? I Was a Yazidi Slave | Doc World
January 11 on TV, online, the PBS app & YouTube
In 2014, Islamic State fighters invaded Yazidi settlements in Iraq. Men were massacred while young women were kidnapped to be enslaved, tortured, and systematically raped. Two Yazidi women tell their story of escape to Germany with the assistance of a renowned trauma expert. Their journeys to recovery ask how a survivor of unthinkable sexual violence can find justice and a path to rehabilitation.
Finding Your Roots
New Season on Sundays starting January 12 on TV | Available now on the PBS app
For more than a decade, renowned Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has helped to expand America’s sense of itself, stimulating a national conversation about identity with humor, wisdom, and compassion. Professor Gates has explored the ancestry of dozens of influential people from diverse backgrounds, taking millions of viewers deep into the past to reveal the connections that bind us all.
NEW Road Scholars | Local, USA
January 13 on TV, online, the PBS app & YouTube
In 2009, twelve at-risk Black teenage boys set out to interview Black men from all walks of life. The kids hoped that what they learned might keep them from the streets. Today, they are young men coming of age in an America trying to turn back the clock on tolerance and race. When they reunite with the older generation, can the wisdom of the past help keep them from becoming yet another statistic.
Without Arrows | Independent Lens
January 15 on TV, online & on the PBS app
After 13 years living in Philadelphia, Delwin Fiddler Jr., a champion grass dancer, embraces indigenous culture by returning to his ancestral home on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. Leaving his big city life behind, Delwin aims to protect his centuries-old Lakota heritage and heal from family tragedy, through his passion for dance.
WHY SLAVERY? A Woman Captured | Doc World
January 18 on TV, online, the PBS app & YouTube
For 10 years, Marish has been kept as a housekeeper by Eta, a Hungarian woman. She toils unpaid 7 days a week in exchange for meals, cigarettes and a couch to sleep on. Even money earned from an extra job must be handed over. Over two and a half years, filmmaker Bernadett Tuza-Ritter witnesses first-hand the relentless torrent of abuse – but her presence also inspires Marish to live as a free person.
Legacy of Love | Local, USA
January 20 on TV
Explore the meeting, romance and intellectual relationship between Coretta Scott and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. With historical dramatizations and exclusive interviews, the film shows the surprising differences between their backgrounds. Featuring brief commentaries by Christian, Jewish, Moslem, Asian-American, African-American and Latin-American community leaders.
NEW Legacy | Stories from the Stage
January 20 on TV, online & on the PBS app
Reclaiming what’s lost isn’t just about the past – it’s about rewriting the future. Patt Gilliard Gunn fights to honor her Gullah Geechee heritage by renaming a square in Savannah, GA; George “Chip” Greenidge uncovers his family's hidden history, reshaping his understanding of how the past informs the future; and Yesenia Valentin, driven by love for her son, refuses to let difficult circumstances define their path forward.
The Cost of Inheritance: An America ReFramed Special
January 23 on TV | Available now online & on the PBS app
THE COST OF INHERITANCE, an America ReFramed special, is an hour-long documentary that explores the complex issue of reparations in the United States using a thoughtful approach to history, historical injustices, systemic inequities, and the critical dialogue on racial conciliation. Through personal narratives, community inquiries, and scholarly insights, it aims to inspire understanding of the scope and rationale of the reparations debate.
WHY SLAVERY? Selling Children | Doc World
January 25 on TV, online, the PBS app & YouTube
In India, millions of vulnerable children are bought and sold. Far removed from the issue of child slavery until a family maid suffers a devastating loss, filmmaker Pankaj Johar travels the country to understand and expose the ways in which poverty, illiteracy and corruption conspire to provide a breeding ground for child trafficking in the world's largest democracy.
NEW Getting Away with It | Stories from the Stage
January 27 on TV, online & on the PBS app
Sometimes, life tempts us to test the limits – bending rules, taking risks, or defying expectations. Tim Gillis’s rebellious scheme to outsmart the system leads to a life-altering lesson about honesty; Carol Steinberg, once a lively dancer, reclaims joy and freedom on the dance floor despite the challenges of multiple sclerosis; and Kona Morris discovers her true resilience on a perilous Yukon River journey.
Bring It Home | America ReFramed
January 30 on TV, online & on the PBS app
The story of five families at a crossroads after the closing of the GM Lordstown auto plant, a decision that forced thousands to decide between transferring out-of-state or staying put; if they stay, they risk loss of employment and benefits. As families wrestle these tough choices, they are left wondering why a company recording billions in profits is shuttering factories.
WATCH NOW
Segregation Scholarships | Local, USA
January 6 on TV | Available now online, on YouTube & on the PBS app
The untold story of Black Americans in pursuit of higher education in the North when Southern graduate schools were white-only. The academics, who left during the Great Migration, returned to the Jim Crow South to strengthen their communities and to help end segregation. "Segregation Scholarships" highlights the trailblazers while illustrating the role of education in transforming social conditions.
Be the Change | Stories from the Stage
January 6 on TV | Available now online & on the PBS app
Change isn't only forged by the mighty; the actions of everyday individuals often spark it. Negin champions the cause of women's rights in Iran; Lisa and heroic health aides share the life of a COVID-19 patient; and Mikhala channels the legacy of jazz and Creole into a vibrant retelling of New Orleans' history.
Reckoning and Repair | Stories from the Stage
January 13 on TV | Available now online & on the PBS app
Confronting the past can bring hope, healing, and a path toward justice. Anneliese uncovers her great-grandmother’s account of the Tulsa Race Massacre; Paul reflects on his mother’s resilience following Japanese American internment; and Larry reconnects with his roots by channeling his grandfather's strength.
Fannie Lou Hamer's America: An America ReFramed Special
January 16 on TV, online & on the PBS app | Available now on YouTube
Fannie Lou Hamer's America is a portrait of a civil rights activist and the injustices in America that made her work essential. Through public speeches, personal interviews, and powerful songs of the fearless Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist, Fannie Lou Hamer's America explores and celebrates the lesser-known life of one of the Civil Rights Movement’s greatest leaders.
Discuss and engage with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok and tagging us @worldchannel. Subscribe to our newsletter and YouTube for more features including events and interviews.
Enjoy our content? Consider donating to keep important storytelling like this going, and find more on PBS Passport.