KUED Programs

Baffled by his dad's reluctance to change his traditional soul food diet in the face of a health crisis, filmmaker Byron Hurt sets out to learn more about this culinary tradition and it's relevance to black cultural identity. The African American love affair with soul food is deep-rooted, complex, and in some tragic cases, deadly. This film puts this culinary tradition under the microscope to examine both its benefits and consequences. Hurt looks at the socioeconomics of predominantly black neighborhoods, where it can be difficult to find healthy options and wonders if soul food has become an addiction in his community.

Detroit was the birthplace of the middle-class; a great city that came with the guarantee of the American dream. Today, the Motor City is suffering from a bad case of post-industrialism. Hit with the deadly combination of myopic executives, corrupt politicians, severe racial tensions and a lack of innovation, Detroit now stands as a shell of its former self. And according to an increasingly loud chorus in the media, Detroit is "dead." But look a little closer and find that Detroit just may be the ultimate incubator for fresh ideas -- a Petri dish of creativity borne out of frustration and unwillingness to give up. With quintessential American pluck and grit, this city just may rise from the ashes thanks to a dynamic cluster of innovators, entrepreneurs and proud, self-proclaimed "hustlers."

When AIDS came to San Francisco in the early 1980s, the city became a war zone. Friends and family members were struck down in their prime by a mostly mysterious illness for which there was no cure. But the community -- hippies, drag queens, lesbians, moms and dads, doctors and nurses -- came together when the nation's leaders looked the other way and built an unprecedented system of love, care, and compassion. Their tireless fight is a testament to the capacity of people working together to rise to an unthinkable occasion.

Faith, love, marriage, homosexuality and the Episcopal Church collide in the first openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Robinson is a man whose two primary passions are in direct conflict: his love for God and for his partner Mark. Robinson is the first openly gay person to become a bishop in the historic traditions of Christendom. His consecration by the Episcopal Church in 2003, to which he wore a bullet-proof vest, caused an international stir. He becomes the focal point as American churches debate whether or not lesbian and gay people are equal to heterosexuals in the eyes of God, while the United States at large struggles with legal equality for gays and lesbians.

Fred Martinez was one of the youngest hate-crime victims in modern history when he was brutally murdered at 16. This film explores the life and death of a boy, who was also a girl, and the essentially spiritual nature of gender.

Children in the slums of Calcutta are starting a revolution. Called to action by visionary former attorney Amlan Ganguly, the 'Daredevils' have already made radical health and sanitation improvements in one of the city's poorest slums -- awakening a neglected populace to the real possibility of change.

In this program, a group of New York City deaf teens reveal their passions, frustrations and senses of humor as they discover American Sign Language poetry -- eventually stepping into the world of the youth poetry slams with their hearing peers.