Highlights Archive

Whitstable Pearl • WXXI-TV

A small coastal town in England, close-to-home murders, and an engaging crime-solving duo make for the latest mystery series to charm U.S. viewers.

Whitstable Pearl airs Saturdays at 8 p.m., June 14-July 19 on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

Pearl (Kerry Godliman, After Life) is a single mother with a caring nature and a small family restaurant — the perfect draw for locals facing all kinds of problems. Pearl’s lifelong dream of running a private detective agency gets a boost when she discovers the body of her friend and oyster supplier chained to the anchor of his ship.

Adding to the intrigue is the arrival of a new cop in town, DCI Mike McGuire (Howard Charles, The Musketeers), who disapproves of Pearl’s interference. Challenges arise all over Whitstable, including leaky boats, questionable suicide notes, and mysterious piles of cash. As Pearl and Mike hash out a way to work together, they come to an understanding that might lead to more than just a working relationship.

Photo: Kerry Godliman as Pearl. Credit: Provided by APT

American Masters “Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse” • WXXI-TV

Throughout his career as a cartoonist and editor, Art Spiegelman has never shied away from provocative storytelling in his comics.

American Masters “Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse” airs Tuesday, April 15 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

From his early art for the countercultural underground comix movement to his acclaimed graphic novel Maus, Spiegelman’s legacy in the comic arts world continues to grow and has inspired many of today’s beloved cartoonists. Discover Spiegelman’s career and how his life story inspired his groundbreaking work, even in the face of looming censorship.

The film is part of The WNET Group’s Holocaust Days of Remembrance exploring antisemitism through the history and personal stories of the Holocaust, and their impact on Jewish life and culture. Featuring archival footage and stills, illustrations and new interviews with Spiegelman, Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse follows Spiegelman’s early career as co-editor of comic magazines Arcade and Raw before becoming a contributing artist for The New Yorker, as well as the origins and impact of Maus, his autobiographical work that became the first and only graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Photo: Art and his parents, Anja and Vladek. Credit: Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly

Great Performances – Now Hear This “Chopin’s Polish Heart” • WXXI-TV

Follow Scott Yoo and pianist Jan Lisiecki as they explore Chopin’s life, his Polish roots, and his journey to Paris taking a closer look at the composer’s musical evolution and his deep connection to his homeland while living in France.

Great Performances – Now Hear This “Chopin’s Polish Heart” airs Friday, April 11 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

Fleeing Russia’s invasion of Poland, Frédéric Chopin sought safety and inspiration in Paris, where he merged the music of his Polish homeland with ideas from French Romantic-era composers and artists. Host Scott Yoo explores these connections with world-renowned Canadian-Polish pianist Jan Lisiecki, through Chopin’s letters, his original musical manuscripts, and visits to Poland and the homes he shared in France and Mallorca with the writer Aurore Dupin, known by her pen name, George Sand.

The Corridors of Power • WXXI-WORLD

A riveting exploration of how American leaders have made foreign policy decisions when faced with reports of genocide, war crimes and mass atrocities after the fall of the Soviet Union, when America stood as the only global superpower.

The Corridors of Power airs Saturday, April 19 at 12 p.m. on WXXI-WORLD and streaming live on the WXXI app.

Rare archival footage and in-depth interviews with political leaders offer insight into the workings of the White House to understand not only what happened, but why it happened. Major figures from multiple presidential administrations, including Madeleine Albright, Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, Hillary Clinton, James Baker, Paul Wolfowitz, Antony Blinken and many others, provide candid testimony about the anguishing choices they faced as to whether or not the United States should intervene.

The Corridors of Power delves into how these leaders set policy goals and tried — or failed — to achieve them. In Iraq, the White House maintained close ties with Saddam Hussein while he gassed and murdered tens of thousands of Kurds but decisively intervened in Bosnia and Kosovo and saved thousands. Why did the entire world stand by in 1994, as nearly one million people were murdered in Rwanda? How did the US decide to intervene in Libya to remove Qaddafi but watched as Assad used chemical weapons and murdered thousands of innocent civilians in Syria? As the events of each crisis unfold, leaders explain what drove their decision-making process and how that affected the ultimate outcome of events.

Photo: President Obama in brief with the Generals, Credit: Barack Obama Presidential Library

Great Performances “The Magic of Nureyev” • WXXI-TV

Enjoy the behind the scenes of the 1964 stage premiere of “Swan Lake,” choreographed by Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev.

Great Performances “The Magic of Nureyev” airs Friday, April 11 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

On October 15, 1964, Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev’s “Swan Lake” took the stage at the Vienna State Opera. In his novel interpretation of this iconic ballet favorite, Nureyev revolutionized the role of the male dancer in the ballet with his choreography, seeking to be the prima ballerina’s counterpart. With great British ballerina Margot Fonteyn as his partner, Great Performances: The Magic of Nureyev features extensive excerpts from the production that was captured for posterity two years after its 1964 stage premiere. In new interviews, dancers Michael Birkmeyer and Gisela Cech, who danced alongside Nureyev at the premiere of “Swan Lake,” share personal insights on Nureyev’s peerless virtuosity as well as his mercurial off-stage personality. In addition, contemporary experts look back at Nureyev groundbreaking technique from a modern-day perspective.

Photo: Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn with Vienna State Ballet dancers in “Swan Lake” in 1964. Credit: © UNITEL

VOA presents “Americans With No Address” • The Little Theatre

Join Volunteers of America for a screening of this film that follows a group of homeless people as they struggle to survive on the streets against a harassing gang, an unforgiving community, and the local authorities.

VOA presents “Americans With No Address” on Wednesday, April 30 at 5:30 p.m. at The Little Theatre (240 East Avenue).

The cast and producers of the feature film No Address, a movie about a group of individuals who fall into homelessness, toured America to learn firsthand why there is a growing homelessness crisis in America. The team set out on a cross-country bus tour over a span of three weeks, visiting 20 major cities across 18 states with the mission to understand both the human experience and governmental policies while meeting the advocates who work to offer solutions, revealing some surprising truths. The documentary aims to answer crucial questions: Why is homelessness happening? What are different cities doing about it? What strategies are working, and what are not?

The film will be followed by a panel discussion, moderated by WXXI News’ Evan Dawson, host of “Connections with Evan Dawson.”

Panelists include:

Dr. Junior Dillion, President and CEO, Volunteers of America Upstate New York
Tree Clemonds, Executive Director, Continuum of Care
Dr. Mike Hudson, CEO, Regional Health Reach
Melanie Murphy, Psychiatric NP, Delphi Rise

Purchase your $10 ticket here.

Seeing History: A Conversation about Visual Storytelling • MCC, Warshof Conference Center

Join WXXI News and local “Morning Edition” host Beth Adams as she interviews Lynn Novick, director and producer of “The U.S. and the Holocaust.”

“From 1933 to 1945, the United States admitted 225,000 refugees from Nazi terror – more than any other Sovereign nation took in – but that was just a fraction of the people who were trying to escape. Despite our ultimate victory on the battlefield, our response to Nazism was hindered by our own fears and prejudices, an indictment that points blame at no single group or individual but should give all of us a reason to reflect on our collective responsibility and what we might do differently in the future.”

Details:
Seeing History: A live interview with Lynn Novick director and producer of The U.S. and the Holocaust
Thursday, April 24 at 12 p.m.
MCC, Warshof Conference Center, 3-205 Monroe B

The event is free and open to the public but reservations are required.

Click here to reserve your FREE seat

The U.S. and the Holocaust • WXXI-TV

The U.S. and the Holocaust airs Sunday, April 6- at 1 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

Combining the first-person accounts of Holocaust witnesses and survivors and interviews with leading historians and writers, The U.S. and the Holocaust dispels competing myths that Americans either were ignorant of the unspeakable persecution that Jews and other targeted minorities faced in Europe or that they looked on with callous indifference. The film tackles a range of questions that remain essential to our society today, including how racism influences policies related to immigration and refugees as well as how governments and people respond to the rise of authoritarian states that manipulate history and facts to consolidate power.

The final episode “The Homeless, Tempest-Tossed (1942 — )”: A group of government officials supports rescue operations; the public sees for the first time the scale of the Holocaust as Allies liberate German camps.

Click here to about the Lynn Novik event.