True Stories: Life in the USA is a groundbreaking documentary series hosted by Danny Glover that shares the stories of American people and places with international audiences. Made by independent filmmakers, these films show the richness and complexity of life in the United States.

Learn about the films broadcast on Season Two of True Stories: Life in the USA.

AMERICAN ALOHA For Hawaiians, the hula is not just a dance but a way of life. While most Americans know only the stereotype of grass skirts, the hula is a living tradition that tells of the history and spirituality of Hawai’i through music, language and dance. Following three kumu hula, or master hula teachers in California, the film celebrates the perpetuation of a culture as it evolves on distant shores.

DOWNSIDE UP How does a dying working class town end up betting its future on art? With 80% of its downtown buildings closed, North Adams, Massachusetts united blue-collar locals with art world luminaries to transform economic failure into America's largest center for contemporary art, MASS MoCA. A film by North Adams native Nancy Kelly, DOWNSIDE UP is about the tentative, dangerous notion of hope in a city widely viewed as hopeless.

FAMILY UNDERTAKING By looking at the complex psychological, legal and financial issues that surround the funeral service industry, this documentary probes America's collective attitudes toward life's only inevitability. Home funeral advocates believe that the standard mortuary setting can have a detrimental emotional impact on the family and that close contact with the body, even for children, can help with the grieving process.

FIRST PERSON PLURAL FIRST PERSON PLURAL chronicles Deanne Borshay Liem's experiences as a South Korean child adopted by a white American family. A first-time journey to Korea with her adoptive American mother and father reveals a deeply personal story about mistaken identity, and uncovers broader issues about the loss of culture resulting from assimilation and American attitudes toward immigrants and minorities.

IN MY CORNER For 30 years, Luis Camacho has run a South Bronx community boxing gym where young men learn the skills they need to win, both in the ring and in life. In a neighborhood better known for short lives, the Bronxchester Boxing Club is a proving ground and a sanctuary, a home away from home, where trainers become surrogate fathers who teach jabs and right crosses, as well as discipline, self-esteem and respect. Intimate and explosive, IN MY CORNER explores how caring, committed adults can rebuild the lives of kids on the edge.

IN THE LIGHT OF REVERENCE Devils Tower. The Four Corners. Mount Shasta. All places of extraordinary beauty—and impassioned controversy—as Indians and non-Indians struggle to co-exist with very different ideas about how the land should be used. For Native Americans, the land is sacred and akin to the world’s greatest cathedrals. For others, the land should be used for industry and recreation. Narrated by Peter Coyote and Tantoo Cardinal (Metis), IN THE LIGHT OF REVERENCE is a beautifully rendered account of the struggles of the Lakota in the Black Hills, the Hopi in Arizona and the Wintu in California to protect their sacred sites.

KISS MY WHEELS When the Zia Hot Shots, a diverse crew of adolescent wheelchair basketball players, roll out on the court, they are not considered “different.” KISS MY WHEELS explores the talents that thrive in unlikely arenas and the spirit that drives these young athletes in the intensity of national competition.

LARRY V. LOCKNEY When a small West Texas town begins mandatory drug testing for grades 6 through 12, Larry Tannahil says, “No, not my son.” Standing alone by his moral decision that costs him job and home, the third-generation cotton farmer asks the ACLU to help fight for his son’s Fourth Amendment rights—pitting one man against his neighbors in a historic legal case study on the Bill of Rights.

LOS ANGELES NOW Once an empty, bucolic space, Los Angeles is now a disorienting megalopolis. And once the whitest city in America, Los Angeles is now the most multicultural city in the world. What is the future of this rapidly changing city? LOS ANGELES NOW looks beyond Baywatch and Blade Runner to create a fresh, candid portrait of America’s second-largest city.

MAID IN AMERICA As three of the thousands of Latina immigrants working as nannies and housekeepers in Los Angeles, Judith, Telma and Eva have all left family and friends behind to come to America. MAID IN AMERICA reveals the challenges these women face as they pursue the American Dream, their significant roles in American households and the globalization of motherhood.

ON A ROLL: Family, Disability and the American Dream Greg Smith and his family bare all in this unflinching portrait of a 65-pound African-American man striving for the American Dream. Fueled by discrimination, Smith created On A Roll talk radio from his wheelchair in 1992. The father of three travels the globe, but finds his own nation's capital inaccessible--a minor challenge compared to living independently and having safe intimate relationships.

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN: Transracial Adoption in America OUTSIDE LOOKING IN brings personal insight and a critical lens to transracial adoption, looking at three families facing the challenges of adopting children across racial lines. The film supplies a voice to those directly affected by adoption policies and explores larger topics facing our society: race, family and identity.

THE SPLIT HORN: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America The sweeping story of a Hmong shaman and his family living in Appleton, Wisconsin, the split horn documents the 17-year journey of Paja Thao and his family. From the mountains of Laos to the heartland of America, this documentary shows a shamanıs struggles to maintain his ancient traditions as his children embrace American culture.

SUMMERSTOCK From auditions in New York to stressful rehearsals, love affairs and opening night, the Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, Kentucky, cranks into another hectic season. Every year, aspiring actors arrive on the wings of a dream. But after 300 plays, 1,000 actors and 50 years of spirited leadership, shrinking budgets and shifting audience interests threaten the plucky summerstock theaterıs survival.

TAKING THE HEAT: The First Women Firefighters of New York City They faced death threats on the job‹from some of the men they worked with. With the story of Lt. Brenda Berkman of the Fire Department of New York at its core, TAKING THE HEAT explores the history of women firefighters in America and the price these women paid to serve their communities.

TROOP 1500 At the Gatesville Prison in Texas, a unique Girl Scout troop unites daughters with mothers who have been convicted of serious crimes. Facing steep sentences from the courts and tough questions from their children, the mothersı struggle to rebuild relationships as their daughters make their way through childhood with a mother behind bars.

Learn about the films featured in True Stories Season One >>