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Screen Time: Week of June 29

By Tom White


From Rodney Evans' 'Vision Portraits.' Photo: Kjerstin Rossi/Stimulus Pictures

Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home.

Now streaming on WORLD Channel as part of America Reframed, Rodney Evans' Vision Portraits profiles three blind or visually impaired artists who have adjusted their life and art in response to their loss of sight. Evans himself confronts his vision loss due to a rare genetic disease and ponders how it will impact his work, his life and his independence.

Love Me Like You Should: The Brave and Bold Sylvester, directed by Lauren Tabak and streaming on the World of Wonder site, tells the story of the LGBTQ disco superstar behind such hits as "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" and "Do Ya Wanna Funk." 

Premiering in virtual theaters July 1 through Kino Lorber, Denise Ho: Becoming the Song, from Sue Williams, profiles the openly gay Hong Kong singer and human rights activist Denise Ho. Drawing on unprecedented, years-long access, the film explores her remarkable journey from commercial Cantopop superstar to outspoken political activist, an artist who has put her life and career on the line to support the determined struggle of Hong Kong citizens to maintain their identity and freedom.

In 1976, Bill Moyers made a documentary about residents of the Rosedale neighborhood in Queens, New York who wanted to keep their neighborhood White. A clip from this doc of White residents attacking Black children recently went viral on Twitter, spurring New York Times reporters Whitney Hurst, Christiann Triebert, Jonah M. Kessel, and Jeff Bernier to track down those children, 45 years later. Although Rosedale is now a predominantly Black neighborhood, the anger and resentment still linger for those who shared their memories. Watch the video report here.

"Tulsa, Juneteenth & the Path Toward Economic Justice," the June 19th episode of Firelight Media's Beyond Resilience series available to watch on the Firelight Media YouTube page. This episode features moderator Alvin Stark of the Open Society Foundation and panelists Stanley Nelson, Firelight Media; Latosha Brown, Black Voters Matter; and Solana Rice, Liberation in a Generation.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark, a six-part documentary series from Liz Garbus, airs on successive Sundays. Episode 1, which premiered June 28, is available to stream on HBO GO, HBO NOW and HBO MAX. The series, based on the book of the same name, explores writer Michelle McNamara's investigation into the dark world of a violent predator she dubbed the Golden State Killer.  Additional directors on the series include Elizabeth Wolff, Myles Kane and Josh Koury.