POV Announces the Acquisition of Let the Little Light Shine, Award-Winning Director Kevin Shaw’s Latest Documentary Feature for Historic 35th Season

Overview

New York, N.Y. – March 9, 2022 – POV, the longest running independent documentary showcase on television, announced today the acquisition of Let the Little Light Shine directed and produced by Kevin Shaw, and produced by Rachel Dickson, executive producers Steve James, Sally Jo Fifer, and Leslie Fields Cruz. Let the Little Light Shine premiered March 4-6th at the 2022 True/False Film Festival. Shaw's film will be broadcast on PBS as part of POV's forthcoming historic 35th season.

Let the Little Light Shine follows African American parents-turned-organizers, alongside students and staff as they advocate to keep their top-ranked school, The National Teachers Academy (NTA), open when it is threatened to be transformed into a high school favoring the needs of the community’s wealthier residents. The school has served as a safe haven for children and a community bedrock in The South Loop, Chicago’s fastest growing neighborhood. The film also posits the point-of-view of residents in favor of changing NTA into a high school that is sorely needed for its neighborhood. Shaw carefully considers race and other factors at play – class, which is intertwined with race, gentrification, power, privilege, and politics – as they collide to create discord amongst a community that wanted the same thing – the best possible education for their children.

“Let the Little Light Shine is an artfully crafted portrait of a community in action, united by a common cause, fighting for a school that works in a system that doesn’t. You’ll be inspired," said Chris White, POV's executive producer.

Director/producer Kevin Shaw said, “This story is not unique to Chicago; it is reflective of our American experience, one where Black and Brown communities still must fight for not only a seat at the table, but in this instance, an equitable place to learn. I believe public media and POV are the perfect partners to bring our film to the widest possible audience, as we search for answers to overcome one of our country’s most intractable problems.”

"Kevin Shaw’s Let the Little Light Shine shines a great deal of light on what’s going on in Chicago’s public school system. This is the story of a predominantly Black grammar school that’s doing everything right by its students, but has to fight for its life against the forces of bureaucracy and gentrification. Kevin’s film is not polemic. It is an incisive, thoughtful, and moving story of race and education that we’ve not seen before," said executive producer, Steve James.

The Let the Little Light Shine deal was negotiated by Chris White and Erika Dilday for American Documentary | POV and Kevin Shaw, Rachel Dickson, Jeffrey Becker (Swanson Martin and Bell) for the filmmaking team.

In addition to its screenings at the True/False Fest, Let the Little Light Shine was featured March 5th as part of the second annual "Show Me T/F," an extended community screening and conversation program. The film was also screened at SXSW:EDU on March 8, 2022.

About

About POV

Produced by American Documentary, POV is the longest-running independent documentary showcase on American television. Since 1988, POV has presented films on PBS that capture the full spectrum of the human experience, with a long commitment to centering women and people of color in front of, and behind, the camera. The series is known for introducing generations of viewers to groundbreaking works like Tongues Untied, American Promise and Minding The Gap and innovative filmmakers including Jonathan Demme, Laura Poitras and Nanfu Wang. In 2018, POV Shorts launched as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. All POV programs are broadcast nationally on PBS, POV.org and the PBS Video app.

POV goes “beyond the broadcast” to bring powerful nonfiction storytelling to viewers wherever they are. Free educational resources accompany every film and a community network of thousands of partners nationwide work with POV to spark dialogue around today’s most pressing issues. POV continues to explore the future of documentary through innovative productions with partners such as The New York Times and The National Film Board of Canada and on platforms including Snapchat and Instagram.

POV films and projects have won 45 Emmy Awards, 26 George Foster Peabody Awards, 15 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards and the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award. Learn more at pbs.org/pov and follow @povdocs on social media.

About American Documentary
American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia company dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media outlets. AmDoc is a catalyst for public culture, developing collaborative strategic engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, online and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and community participation.

Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, the Open Society Foundations, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Park Foundation, and Perspective Fund. Additional funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Sage Foundation, Nancy Blachman and David desJardins, Chris and Nancy Plaut, Abby Pucker, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.