WXXI TV

Shares the fascinating story of a top-secret WWII unit that used inflatable tanks, sound effects, and illusions to fool the Germans on the battlefields of Europe.

The Ghost Army airs Monday, May 27 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

War, deception, art and glory come together in the documentary film The Ghost Army, the astonishing true story of American G.I.s — many of whom would later have illustrious careers in art, design and fashion — who tricked the enemy with rubber tanks, sound effects and carefully crafted illusions during WWII. Filmmaker Rick Beyer tells a remarkable story of a top-secret mission that was at once absurd, deadly and amazingly effective.

Tells the story of Eva, who promised her brother, Heinz Geiringer, that she would retrieve his paintings and poetry, hidden under the floorboards of the attic where Heinz and his father were hiding, if he should die in the concentration camps.

Eva’s Promise airs Monday, May 20 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

While on a train to Auschwitz in 1944, 17-year-old Heinz Geiringer told his younger sister Eva that he hid the paintings and poetry created during their time in hiding beneath the attic floorboards in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Heinz made Eva promise that if he should die in the camps, she would retrieve the artwork. Eva’s Promise introduces Heinz and his artistry, as well as his sister’s efforts to find and share his remarkable legacy after the war.

A survivor of the Holocaust and World War II, Eva became the posthumous stepsister of Anne when her mother married Anne’s father Otto Frank. Today, Heinz’s story sits in the shadow of the Diary of Anne Frank, but this film showcases Heinz’s artistry and Eva’s dedication in sharing both his work and their incredible life stories.

Highlights the history, heritage, and present-day plight of Western New York’s agriculturally and architecturally significant Wells barns.

Still Standing: The Barns of J.T. Wells & Sons airs Friday, July 25 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

Still Standing: The Barns of J.T. Wells & Sons creatively explores ways that remaining barns can regain their relevance through adaptive reuse while fostering community engagement in their preservation before these barns disappear from the landscape entirely due to development, decay, and obsolescence.

The film introduces viewers to six Wells Barns and their owners. Nathan Ruekberg, a fifth-generation farmer, and his wife, Hannah own one of the earliest Wells barns, built in 1892. The second barn, formerly known as the Avon Century Barn, is owned by Sandy Howlett and Melissa Stanton, a dynamic mother-daughter business team who have transformed their Wells barn into a wedding venue. The third barn, situated on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology, has been adapted into a rock-climbing gym. The fourth barn is owned by Gillian Conde who transformed it into a one-of-a-kind home that she shares with Jean Dombroski and their menagerie of animals. The final story features two barns that were relocated by their passionate owners Jennifer and Jerry Hall.

Breaking away from post and beam construction, John Talcott Wells, Sr. defied barn-building tradition to create an ingenious truss system – patented trusses (1889) specifically designed to balance outward and inward forces while creating soaring, open interior storage spaces for hay and grain. Historically significant in terms of their agricultural origins and their architectural artistry, Wells barns stand as physical testaments to the ingenuity of the master and family that built them.

Committed to protecting, preserving, and promoting the history of Wheatland, New York, the Wheatland Historical Association under President Kip Finley served as Churchbell Creative, LLC.’s fiscal sponsor, supporting producers with their goal of securing grant funding for the production of their independent television documentary. 

Grant support for this project came from the Lloyd E. Klos Fund at Rochester Area Community Foundation to support historical preservation, education and information. This documentary is also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Churchbell Creative’s co-owners Katie Andres and Jillian Kuchman, two founding members of a grassroots volunteer organization known as the Wells Barn Legacy Team, served as executive producers on the film.

A landmark documentary about some of the last survivors of the Holocaust.

Frontline “The Last Survivors” airs Tuesday, May 7 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

A landmark documentary about some of the last survivors of the Holocaust. Only children at the time, these now elderly survivors reflect on how the trauma of the Holocaust has affected the rest of their lives.

Raising the curtain on the new Great Performances lineup is Hamlet from The Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park starring Tony nominee Ato Blankson-Wood (“Slave Play”) in the title role with direction by Tony winner Kenny Leon.

Great Performances: Hamlet airs Friday, May 10 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

This Shakespearean classic is directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon, featuring Tony Award nominee Ato Blankson-Wood (“Slave Play”) in the title role and Solea Pfeiffer as Ophelia (“Hadestown”). Set in a desolate post-George Floyd world, this contemporary production is a present-day take on the Bard’s tale of family and betrayal.

A riveting documentary that explores how the monumental task of keeping astronauts mentally stable in space is tested to the extreme in anticipation of NASA’s pending Mars mission and its required three-year absence from Earth.

Independent Lens “Space: The Longest Goodbye airs Sunday, May 12 at 2:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

Space: The Longest Goodbye follows NASA’s real-life attempts to prepare astronauts for a journey to Mars. NASA’s goal to send astronauts to Mars would require a three-year absence from Earth, during which communication in real time would be impossible due to the immense distance. We meet the psychologists whose job is to keep astronauts mentally stable in outer space, as they are caught between their dream of reaching new frontiers and their basic human need to stay connected to home.

Photo: Cady and son speaking while she’s on the space station. • Credit: ITVS

 A new three-part miniseries starring Suranne Jones (Gentleman Jack), Eve Best (House of the Dragon), and Stockard Channing (The West Wing).

MaryLand on Masterpiece airs Sundays, May 5-19 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

MaryLand is a story about two sisters, about what binds them together and what has driven them apart. Becca (Jones) and Rosaline (Best) find themselves thrown together by the sudden death of their mother, Mary. They come to find out that she was living an entirely secret life on the Isle of Man, far from her home with her husband, Becca and Rosaline’s father.

As the sisters travel through the early days of grief and discover their mother’s secrets, they meet their mother’s quirky friend Cathy (Channing) who seems to know more about their mother than they do. Becca and Rosaline find themselves asking fundamental questions about their identities and the relationships with the men in their lives. Mary’s death offers them a chance to not only reframe their relationship but fundamentally reshape who they are. At its heart, MaryLand is a love story of two sisters.

Click here to watch the trailer.

In this 2018 documentary, WXXI offers a unique opportunity to see first-hand Wendell Castle at work.

Wendall Castle: A Portrait airs Sunday, May 5 at 3 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

In Wendall Castle: A Portrait, WXXI’s production crew follows him through the creation of his “Dizzy” chair – from his original drawings to the finished work of art. Through Castle’s own words and interviews with family, friends, you’ll learn about his early years as an artist, his creative process, and the vision for his work.

Filmed over the course of a year by WXXI-TV’s production team, Wendell Castle: A Portrait captures the life of the master furniture artist, designer, sculptor, and educator.

Through Castle’s own words and interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, viewers will learn about his early years as an artist, his creative process, and the vision for his work.

The hour-long documentary also providesaunique opportunity to see first-hand Castle at work, as WXXI’s production crew follows him through the creation of his “Dizzy” chair – from his original drawings to the finished work of art. It was one of the last chairs Castle created before passing away on January 20, 2018 at the age of 85.

Castle was born in Kansas and received a BFA from the University of Kansas in Industrial Design and an MFA in sculpture, graduating in 1961. He then moved to Rochester in 1962 to teach at the School of American Craftsmen at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he was on staff as an “Artist in Residence” at the time of his death. An artist for more than 60 years, he is often credited as the father of American Studio Furniture and Art Furniture Movements. More than 100 of his works are installed in museums worldwide, including the Memorial Art Gallery.

The film visits Castle in his Scottsville home and studio, and looks at his masterpieces in wood, including his stack lamination method, his Technicolor gel-coated fiberglass pieces, and the Steinway 500,000^th piano he was commissioned to create. Castle’s wife Nancy Jurs, well known as a potter who trained at Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Craftsmen, shares how they met, how he landed his teaching job at RIT, and details about his work and technique. Castle’s daughter Alison and step son Bryon Jurs also give insight into Castle’s medium and process.

The designer, sculptor, and educator continually pushed the boundaries of inventiveness, imagination and sustained innovation. “He defined an entire world of creativity,” explains Jonathan P. Binstock, PhD, Director of the Memorial Art Gallery, in the film. Others featured in the film include:

• Josh Owen, Designer, Professor and Chair of Industrial Design, Rochester Institute of Technology
• Rick Hirsch, Professor Emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology
• Peter Kenney, Craftsman, Wendell Castle Studio
• Marvin Pallischeck, Former Studio Director, Wendell Castle Studio
• Marc Benda, Co-Owner, Friedman Benda
• Loic Le Gaillard, Co-Founder, Carpenters Workshop Gallery
• Grant Holcomb, Director Emeritus, Memorial Art Gallery
• Evan Snyderman, Co-Founder, Creative Director, R & Company
• Daniel Herberger, Studio Director, Wendell Castle Studio
• Carole Hochman, Director, Friedman Benda
• Bridget Sheehan, Craftsman and 3D Modeler, Wendell Castle Studio

Funding for Wendell Castle:  A Portrait is generously provided by Nocon and Associates, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, Incorporated. And, by the Sands Family Foundation. Additional support provided by Waldron Rise Foundation, Lilliputian Foundation, Louise Epstein, Tom and Ebets Judson, Martin Messinger, Mimi and Sam Tilton, Alan Cameros, Reenie and Stan Feingold, Jane Ellen Parker and Fran Cosentino, and Essie Germanow