With the pivotal U.S. Presidential election between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney less than three weeks away, CBC-TV’s DOC ZONE and CBC News Network’s THE PASSIONATE EYE will air six groundbreaking documentaries on American politics, society, and the election. From the rising anger and partisanship in America, to insightful biographies of the two candidates, to the increasing influence of the religious right, no other broadcaster is airing such in-depth coverage of a shifting American political landscape.
In addition to the documentaries, Canadians can find the best American political coverage by Canada’s top journalists on CBC News and CBCNews.ca. Tonight, U.S. Presidential Debate coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET on CBC News Network and CBCNews.ca, where the debate streams live, and is hosted by Evan Solomon.
The six documentaries include:
ANGER IN AMERICA (two-parts) airs Oct. 18 & 25 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC-TV
ANGER IN AMERICA Episode 1: The Fire Within Airs Thursday, Oct. 18 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC-TV; Encores on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 11 p.m. ET on CBC News Network
It’s no longer true that in America, hard work and the right values will help you get ahead. The social ladder has never been harder to climb. And looming large, in a few decades, the prospect of an America where white people are a minority. We meet a cast of characters, not quite your everyday brand of middle-class Americans, who tell us how their faith in the American Dream has been shattered, and what they’re doing about it.
ANGER IN AMERICA Episode 2: Fanning the Flames
Airs Thursday, Oct. 25 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC-TV; Encores on Sunday Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. ET on CBC News Network
As the most expensive election campaign in history comes down to the wire in a bitterly-divided America, DOC ZONE looks at the media, the money and the political maneuvering behind the ANGER IN AMERICA.
VIRGIN TALES Airs Saturday, Oct. 20 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, and Sunday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. ET on CBC News Network
There is a second sexual revolution in America and it’s growing in the heart of the Evangelical Christian Community. Young girls are promising to remain virgins in lavish ceremonies led by their fathers. So called “Purity balls” were created by the Wilson family, led by father Randy, a deeply conservative Christian and prominent Republican who works for the politically powerful Family Research Council. Randy and his wife Lisa homeschooled their seven children and raised them to believe men are warriors and women are wives. The Wilsons believe their duties include getting a Republican into the White House and ensuring their daughters remain virgins until marriage to a young man of their choosing. Filmmaker Mirjam von Arx followed the family for two years and produced a fascinating portrait of how the religious right is grooming a young generation of virgins to embody an Evangelically-grounded Utopia in America. Today, one in eight girls in the U.S. vows to remain a virgin until marriage.
THE CHOICE 2012: OBAMA vs ROMNEY
Airs Sunday, Oct. 21 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, Saturday, Oct. 27 at 10 p.m. ET and Sunday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. ET on CBC News Network Who will be the next U.S. president? It’s a race that’s too close to call. Rarely in American politics have voters been offered two presidential candidates more different than Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Just how different is the subject of The Choice 2012: Obama vs Romney, an incisive and intimate profile of the two presidential candidates that investigates how they’ve governed, and the places, people, and decisive moments that made them the men they are.
More than 100 in-depth interviews with friends, family, authors, and journalists contribute to the most ambitious television biographies of the candidates ever created. To get the whole story, veteran producer Michael Kirk takes a fresh, contemporary look at the candidates’ lives and their political histories.
The Kill List
Airs Sunday, Oct. 28 at 8 ET/PT and 11 p.m. ET on CBC News Network
Controlled remotely from the U.S., drones drop bombs from the sky and kill without impunity. There are no controversial prisoners of war or American soldiers coming home in body bags, but there are civilian casualties and a raging debate about the moral and legal use of drones—especially when the targets on “The Kill List” are American citizens.
Unmanned aerial vehicles have become President Barack Obama’s weapon of choice in the ongoing War on Terror. For a war-weary nation, focused on an extremely tight presidential election, drones ensure high-profile targeted assassinations of key al-Qaeda leaders, with no U.S. military casualties. But they’ve also sparked a raging debate, with some accusing this historic President of war crimes. Written, produced and directed by Radio-Canada journalist Marie-Eve Bedard.
INSIDE OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE
Airs Saturday, Nov. 3 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, and Sunday, Nov. 4 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBC News Network
In the days before the presidential election, BBC reporter Andrew Marr looks back at an historic first term through informal and candid interviews with Obama’s own White House staff. It’s a story of idealism confronted by brutal reality, of a country rocked by anger and uncertainty at its changing place in the world and of a man forced to adapt his style and confront his own fallibility.
JUST FOR LAUGHS: AMERICAN DREAM?
Airs Sunday, Nov. 4 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC Television
Looking for a lighter take on the U.S. Presidential election? The comedy experts at Just For Laughs have their fingers on the political pulse of America with the all-new comedy special, The American Dream?, airing Sunday, Nov. 4 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC Television. Hosted by the brilliantly funny Lewis Black (The Daily Show), The American Dream? features a collection of stand-ups, each with their own unique comical take on the state of The States.
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For more than 75 years, CBC has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.
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For further information, or to request interviews, contact:
Corey Black, News and Current Affairs Publicist, CBC
o) 416-205-8710
c) 647-221-4133
corey.black@cbc.ca
