In May, we honor and celebrate the history, heritage and culture of our Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian communities. Our featured programs shine a light on AAPI filmmakers and experiences, in North Carolina, the South and across the country.
Explore more below to find new shows premiering in May and selections from our streaming catalog, available online and on the free PBS App.
After living in Asia for over a decade and longing for a taste of home, Jessica opens a Tennessee-style diner out of her home in Jeju, South Korea. But after appearing on one of the country’s most popular television programs, she and her husband Dongseop must adjust to the shock of newfound TV fame, the crowds of curious new customers it brings, and the growing uncertainty of a global pandemic.
Premieres Thursday, 5/4, 9 PM on PBS NC & streaming now on the PBS App.
A Korean American filmmaker from Alabama explores the complexities of international adoption through the stories of her birth mother and another adoptee in New York. The Space Between You and Me is an effort to reclaim a stolen identity while searching for belonging between the worlds of the Jewish South, the Korean American diaspora, and a fraught legacy of Korean adoption programs.
Premieres Thursday, 5/4, 9 PM on PBS NC & streaming now on the PBS App.
See the world through the eyes of Nam June Paik, the father of video art and coiner of the term “electronic superhighway.” Born in Japan-occupied Korea, Paik went on to become a pillar of the American avant-garde and transformed modern image-making with his sculptures, films and performances. Experience his creative evolution, as Academy Award nominee Steven Yeun reads from Paik's own writings.
Premieres Tuesday, 5/16, 9 PM on PBS NC & the PBS App.
Co-founded by Filipina American and queer teenagers, Fanny is the first all women band to release an album with a major record label (Warner/Reprise, 1970). Revered by David Bowie, meet the most groundbreaking rock group you've never heard of ... yet.
Premieres Monday, 5/22, 10 PM, on PBS NC & the PBS App.
Hmong immigrants Chue and Tou Lee of Lee’s One Fortune Farm in Morganton, NC, grow Asian produce and heirloom rice from the mountains of Laos. The Lees arrived in Marion, NC, in the 1980s after fleeing the Vietnam War via a perilous trek through the jungle. Since then, they’ve worked to share their cultural heritage and commitment to sustainable farming with their community in western NC.
Meet Michael Lee, founder and chef of the popular M Restaurants in Durham that feature innovative Japanese and Korean cuisine.
Meet Paula de Pano, the owner of Rocks + Acid Wine Shop in Chapel Hill and learn her fascinating story.
Sentenced to life for a 1973 San Francisco murder, Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee was set free after a pan-Asian solidarity movement, which included Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Americans, helped to overturn his conviction. After 10 years of fighting for his life inside California state prisons, Lee found himself in a new fight to rise to the expectations of the people who believed in him.
Free Chol Soo Lee is streaming now online & on the PBS App.
Mr. Tornado is the remarkable story of Ted Fujita, whose groundbreaking work in research and applied science saved thousands of lives and helped Americans prepare for and respond to dangerous weather phenomena.
Mr. Tornado is streaming now online & on the PBS App.
Passport is a PBS North Carolina member benefit that gives eligible supporters extended access to an on-demand library of quality public television programming online.
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America’s oldest living Chinese American artist and one of the last remaining artists from the golden age of Disney animation. The quiet beauty of his Eastern-influenced paintings had a pioneering impact on American art and popular culture.
Watch Tyrus online & on the PBS App only with PBS NC Passport.
Narrated by Jason Momoa, discover the inspiring story and considerable impact of five-time Olympic medalist Duke Kahanamoku. He shattered swimming records and globalized surfing while overcoming racism in a lifetime of personal challenges.
Watch Waterman – Duke: Ambassador of Aloha online & on the PBS App only with PBS NC Passport.
The story of the author whose first novel, “The Joy Luck Club,” was published to great commercial and critical success. With the blockbuster film adaption that followed as well as additional best-selling novels, librettos, short stories and memoirs, Tan firmly established herself as one of the most prominent and respected American literary voices working today.
Watch Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir online & on the PBS App only with PBS NC Passport.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. retraces the ancestral journeys of David Chang and Raúl Esparza, whose families fled their homelands, leading them to find lost parts of themselves along the way.
Watch "Children of Exile" online & on the PBS App only with PBS NC Passport.
These documentaries celebrate the light and love in our diverse AAPI communities. We also recognize the need to face ugly truths about events of racism, xenophobia and violence targeted towards AAPI communities. When we are honest about the past, we can begin to heal from the wounds of hate and in doing so, make a better future together.
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