Orlando, FL — PBS announced today new documentaries and programs showcasing Hispanic and Latino culture in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Premieres include new episodes of ALMA’S WAY on PBS KIDS, PBS’s second primetime Spanish-language drama VELVET, new documentaries from AMERICAN MASTERS and VOCES, a musical celebration with NEXT AT THE KENNEDY CENTER and the broadcast of the 37th HISPANIC HERITAGE AWARDS.
“Our content highlights the lived experiences of our audience year-round, and this special collection aims to capture the stories and spirit of Hispanic and Latino communities through a wide variety of topics,” said Sylvia Bugg, Chief Programming Executive and General Manager, General Audience Programming at PBS. “This month, we are proud to premiere VOCES“American Historia: The Untold History of Latinos” with John Leguizamo, PBS’s second primetime Spanish-language drama, VELVET, and serve as the broadcast home for the 37th HISPANIC HERITAGE AWARDS. Our continued goal is to ensure that viewers and families across the country feel represented, celebrated and inspired when engaging with PBS content across platforms.”
“We’re thrilled to see new stories from ALMA’S WAY during Hispanic Heritage Month, and an exciting feature of Sonia Manzano herself as the hero in an episode of XAVIER RIDDLE AND THE SECRET MUSEUM. Viewers can also catch some of the greatest hits from ROSIE’S RULES,” said Adriano Schmid, Vice President of PBS KIDS Content, PBS. “We hope that all children across the country get to explore new cultures and continue to see themselves represented in our characters and unique stories that celebrate and reflect their lived experiences.”
The extensive collection of programs for Hispanic Heritage Month 2024 will be available on WUCF and PBS KIDS (WUCF TV Schedule), PBS.org, the PBS app,and streaming on pbskids.org and the PBS KIDS Video app throughout the duration of Hispanic Heritage Month and beyond. More information can be found on PBS's Hispanic Heritage Month Site.
BROADCAST PREMIERES
PBS KIDS XAVIER RIDDLE AND THE SECRET MUSEUM “I am Sonia Manzano”
Premieres Monday, September 9 at 1:30 p.m. on WUCF & PBS KIDS
This series follows the adventures of Xavier Riddle, his sister Yadina, and their friend Brad. In each episode, the three face a problem and must turn to the Secret Museum to help them solve it, where they travel back in time to meet real-life figures when they were kids. In this special episode featuring Sonia Manzano (beloved by generations as “Maria” on Sesame Street, who broke new ground as one of the first Latino characters on national TV), the trio travels back to learn the important lesson that telling stories can help manage big feelings.
AMERICAN MASTERS and VOCES “Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined”
Premieres Tuesday, September 17, 9 p.m. on WUCF, PBS.org & PBS app
One of America’s most celebrated Latina writers, the Dominican-American poet and novelist Julia Alvarez burst onto the literary scene and blazed a trail for a generation of Latino authors. Her semi-autobiographical novel, How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, was published in 1991, followed by In the Time of the Butterflies (1994), which raised global awareness about life under Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. This new documentary opens a window into her extraordinary journey from her childhood in the Dominican Republic to a life of exile in New York City to a brilliant literary career that shows no sign of slowing down. At 74, she recently published the critically acclaimed novel The Cemetery of Untold Stories.
PBS KIDS ALMA’S WAY
New episodes premiere Monday, September 23 at 7:30 a.m. on WUCF & PBS KIDS
Created by Sonia Manzano, ALMA’S WAY focuses on critical thinking, self-awareness, responsible decision-making, and empathy. The series is aimed at viewers ages 4-6 and follows 6-year-old Alma Rivera, a proud, confident Puerto Rican girl who lives in the Bronx with her family, friends, and community. It showcases Latino cultures through music, food, and language, and the new episodes follow Alma as she visits the American Museum of Natural History, teaches Uncle Nestor how to ride a bike, makes a care package for Granny Isa, and more. All episodes are available in both English and Spanish.
VOCES “American Historia: The Untold History of Latinos”
Premieres Friday, September 27, 9 p.m. on WUCF, PBS.org & PBS app
Actor and playwright John Leguizamo’s work preparing for his 2018 Broadway show, “Latin History for Morons,” produced an obsession with reading and researching the history of the Americas. His passion for uncovering the full scope of American history, coupled with his nature as a curious student of the world, resulted in “American Historia.” In this three-part series, Leguizamo travels throughout Mexico and the U.S. to shed light on both the known and lesser-known Latino stories.
37TH HISPANIC HERITAGE AWARDS
Premieres Friday, September 27, 10 p.m. on WUCF, PBS.org & PBS app
Celebrate the recipients of the 37TH HISPANIC HERITAGE AWARDS. The evening commemorating Hispanic Heritage Month includes performances and appearances by some of the country's most celebrated Hispanic artists and visionaries, including Designer Carolina Herrera, Beautyblender Creator Rea Ann Silva, and NBA Legend Carmelo Anthony.
VOCES “Mambo Legends: The Music Never Ends”
Premieres Friday, October 4, 10 p.m. on WUCF, PBS.org & PBS app
The Mambo Legends Orchestra is committed to keeping the sounds of the great Afro Cuban bandleaders Machito, Tito Puente, and Tito Rodriguez alive for future generations. Comprised of several former members of these legendary orchestras, The Mambo Legends provide a link to the golden era of music in New York in the early 1940s, when the Machito Orchestra fused the big-band sound of popular music with the rhythms of Africa, Cuba, and Puerto Rico to create an enduring musical genre beloved around the world.
VELVET
Premieres Thursday, October 10, 9 p.m. on WUCF, PBS.org & PBS app
In late 1950s Madrid, the golden age of haute couture, there was one place everyone would like to shop at least once in their lifetime: the Galerías Velvet. The series follows the love story of Alberto Márquez (Miguel Ángel Silvestre, “Sense 8”), heir of Galerías Velvet, one of the most prestigious fashion houses in Spain, and Ana Ribera (Paula Echevarría, “Gran Reserva”), who works as a seamstress there. In Spanish with English subtitles.
NEXT AT THE KENNEDY CENTER “Snarky Puppy: The Family We Make”
Premieres Friday, October 11, 10 p.m. on WUCF, PBS.org & PBS app
Snarky Puppy, the acclaimed Grammy Award-winning band, brings their genre breaking sound to a sold-out show at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall. When one of the main guest artists, Afro-Peruvian icon Susana Baca, falls ill the band quickly come up with a new plan to transform the concert into a loving tribute to her music and influence. Joined on stage by stars from several Spanish-speaking countries – Silvana Estrada (Mexico), Gaby Moreno (Guatemala), Silvia Pérez Cruz (Spain), and Fuensanta (Mexico) – they perform a special “Family Dinner”-style concert playing their own songs along with Susana’s.
VOCES LATINO VOTE 2024
Premieres Tuesday, October 22, 10 p.m. on WUCF, PBS.org & PBS app
This new documentary explores the range of issues that matter most to the politically diverse Latino community in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin and Arizona, as well as in California and Florida, two states with large Latino populations. The film also examines the influence of Latino evangelical pastors in shaping community perspectives and the role that Spanish-language media will play in the 2024 election.
VOCES “Our Texas, Our Vote”
Premieres Monday, October 28, 10 p.m. on WUCF, PBS.org & PBS app
On the eve of the upcoming presidential election, acclaimed filmmaker Hector Galán takes viewers inside the largest Latino voter registration mobilization in Texas history, led by a new generation on the frontlines of a growing swing state that neither political party can ignore.
STREAMING AND DIGITAL PROGRAMMING
Additional titles from PBS and PBS KIDS are currently available to stream across digital platforms including via PBS Passport.For more information on PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website. Additionally, streaming titles from PBS Digital Studios can be found on their “Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month on PBS” playlist.
STREAMING PREMIERES
THE DROUGHT (SEQUÍA)
Premieres Friday, September 6 with WUCF Passport
A tight-knit community on both sides of the Spanish-Portuguese border face more than water scarcity when an unprecedented drought reveals macabre evidence of a decades-old crime. In Spanish with English subtitles.
PATI’S MEXICAN TABLE (Season 13)
Premieres Friday, September 13 with WUCF Passport
Chef, author, and award-winning host Pati Jinich invites viewers to explore the northern state of Chihuahua in season 13 of Pati's Mexican Table. While there, she explores a variety of local attractions and delicacies while soaking in the region’s traditional flavors. Back home, Pati shows viewers how to combine all these ingredients and incorporate them into their own recipes.
NOW STREAMING: PBS KIDS
PBS KIDS ROSIE’S RULES
All 40 season one episodes streaming in September on PBS KIDS
Rosie Fuentes is an inquisitive and hilarious 5-year-old Mexican-American girl living in suburban Texas who is just beginning to learn about the world beyond her family walls. In this series for ages kids 3-6, Rosie’s endless curiosity sets the stage for her ongoing pursuits to learn more about her family, her community, and beyond. As Rosie figures things out, the answers become “Rosie’s Rules.” Some of Rosie’s astute discoveries include, “Don’t try to mail your cat to Mexico” and “Sometimes flopping helps you get your feelings out.” ROSIE’S RULES will also be featured in a Hispanic Heritage playlist on the pbskids.org and the PBS KIDS Video app starting Tuesday, September 13. All episodes are available in English and Spanish.
NOW STREAMING: PBS Digital Studios
SOUND FIELD “Why this Mexican Genre is Growing as Fast as K-Pop"
Linda Diaz sits with the Latin Grammy-nominated Yahritza Y Su Esencia, a band poised to take the Sierreño genre to new heights with their fresh perspective and unique sound. In Watsonville, CA, Linda interviews the rising stars of Revolucion, uncovering the roots and evolution of Sierreño music from its origins in Mexican regional music like banda, corridos and mariachi.
NOW STREAMING: Independent Films and Documentaries
POV “Bulls and Saints”
After 20 years living in the United States, an undocumented family decides to return home. Little do they know it will be the most difficult journey of their lives and reawaken an intense desire for a place to belong. Set between the rodeo arenas of North Carolina and the spellbinding Mexican town they yearn for, Bulls and Saints is a love story about reverse migration, rebellion, and redemption.
BECOMING FRIDA KAHLO
Explore the life of celebrated artist Frida Kahlo in a three-part docuseries. See the major personal and political events of her life, including her stormy and devoted relationship with artist Diego Rivera, whom she married not once but twice.
POV “Uyra - The Rising Forest”
While traveling through the Amazon, Uýra shares ancestral knowledge with Indigenous youth to promote the significance of identity and place, threatened by Brazil's oppressive political regime. Through dance, poetry, and stunning characterization, Uýra boldly confronts historical racism, transphobia, and environmental destruction, while emphasizing the interdependence of humans and the environment.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE “Roberto Clemente”
Born in Puerto Rico, Clemente was an exceptional baseball player and humanitarian whose career sheds light on larger issues of immigration, civil rights and cultural change. He would die in a tragic plane crash in 1972.
AMERICAN MASTERS “A Song for Cesar"
Trace the life and legacy of labor activist Cesar Chavez. Through interviews with Maya Angelou, Joan Baez, Carlos Santana and more, see how music and the arts were instrumental to the success of the social movement Chavez helped found, which mobilized thousands of farmworkers across the U.S.
AMERICAN MASTERS “José Clemente Orozco: Man of Fire"
The life of Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949), a life filled with drama, adversity and triumph, is one of the great stories of the modern era. Despite poverty, childhood rheumatic fever that damaged his heart and an explosion in his youth that cost him his left hand, Orozco persisted in his wish to become an artist.
INDEPENDENT LENS “El Equipo”
Legendary U.S. anthropologist Dr. Clyde Snow sets out to train a new group of Latin American students in the use of forensic anthropology. Their goal: to investigate disappearances in Argentina during the “dirty war.” The group expands its horizons, traveling to El Salvador, Bolivia and Mexico, doggedly working behind the scenes to establish the facts for the families of the victims.
AMERICAN MASTERS “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It”
Discover how Moreno defied her humble upbringing and racism to become one of a select group of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winners. Explore her 70-year career with new interviews, clips of her iconic roles and scenes of the star on set today.
NOW STREAMING: News and Public Affairs
FRONTLINE “Blackout in Puerto Rico”
FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the humanitarian and economic crisis in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, examining how the federal response, Wall Street and years of neglect have left the island struggling to survive.
NOW STREAMING: Food and Culture
LA FRONTERA WITH PATI JINICH
Savor the sights, sounds and flavors of the U.S.-Mexico border alongside acclaimed chef and James Beard Award-winning host Pati Jinich as she experiences the region’s rich culture, people and cuisine.
NOW STREAMING: Dramas
THE ROOM
Yago Costa, with his uncommon intelligence and subdued personality, was a legendary investigator-- until he committed murder. Now in prison, he aims to tell the world why he did it.
TRUTH (LA VERDAD)
A young woman appears in a coastal city claiming to be a girl who went missing a decade earlier, but her account leaves many questions unanswered.
NEBOA
On the remote island of Neboa, the body of the young woman is found in the "Burato do Demo," a seaside cave surrounded by superstitions and legends. Lieutenant Monica Ortiz is brought in to investigate, but the locals already know who the killer is: Urco, a man with a wolf’s head who comes out of the sea to kill during carnival.
DIGNITY
Chilean prosecutor Leo Ramirez is tasked with arresting a cult leader on charges of child abuse. Established by a Nazi fleeing Germany and long protected by General Pinochet’s regime, “Colonia Dignidad” hides more than Leo is prepared to face.
I KNOW WHO YOU ARE (SÉ QUIÉN ERES)
Juan Elias is a successful lawyer and ethics professor, with lofty aspirations. Then he turns up with no ID, no cell phone--nothing to identify him--with total amnesia.
LA OTRA MIRADA (Seasons 1-2)
Setin 1920s Seville, where Teresa, a woman with a mysterious past, flees to a young girls' academy with a secret goal related to the academy itself. This series portrays the journey of brave women finding their own voice.
BETRAYAL (TRAICION)
What starts off as a regular gathering of the Fuentes family, a legal powerhouse in Spain, ends up shattering its stability. The patriarch reveals two shocking secrets that will affect the entire family--then winds up dead in the pool.
UNDER SUSPICION (Seasons 1-2)
This is a murder mystery full of family secrets, intrigue and obsession, as the police battle to solve a truly dark and puzzling case.
THE TIME IN BETWEEN (EL TIEMPO ENTRE COSTURAS)
Follow the life of a young seamstress who, in the months leading up to the Spanish Civil War, abandons Madrid in order to follow the man she loves to Tangier. But things there do not turn out as she had planned, and she is forced to take charge of her life.
MALAKA
Inspector Blanca Gamez returns home to Malaga after 15 years away. Commissioner Esteban Sarabia, an old friend of her father’s, partners Blanca with Dario, a loose cannon.
THE ACCIDENT
An airplane crash becomes the catalyst for a family’s upheaval, a drug kingpin’s escalation, and a town’s reckoning.
About WUCF TV
WUCF TV is the sole-service PBS member station for the nearly 4 million Central Floridians across nine counties. WUCF is Central Florida’s storyteller, encouraging curiosity and learning through compelling content and community engagement. WUCF produces award-winning local content like “Florida Road Trip,” which explores Florida through history, people and culture. WUCF also serves Florida’s youngest citizens, offering hours of PBS Kids content on-air, online and in the classroom, leading the state in usage for PBS LearningMedia. Throughout its ten-year history, WUCF has engaged with over 1.5 million people across Central Florida at in- person events, and over 30 million people online through virtual events and streaming content. The station is community-supported public broadcasting from the University of Central Florida. Learn more at http://wucf.org/
About PBS
PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 36 million adults on linear primetime television, more than 16 million users on PBS-owned streaming platforms, 53 million viewers on YouTube, and 60 million people view PBS content on social media, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature, and public affairs and to take front-row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’s broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS LearningMedia for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. As the number one educational media brand, PBS KIDS helps children 2-8 build critical skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality content on TV — including a PBS KIDS channel — and streaming free on pbskids.org and the PBS KIDS Video app, games on the PBS KIDS Games app, and in communities across America. More information about PBS is available at PBS.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, Facebook, Instagram, or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Communications on X.
About PBS KIDS
PBS KIDS believes the world is full of possibilities, and so is every child. As the number one educational media brand for kids, PBS KIDS helps children ages 2-8 learn lessons that last a lifetime. Through media and community-based programs, PBS KIDS wants children to see themselves uniquely reflected and celebrated in lovable, diverse characters who serve as positive role models, and to explore their feelings and discover new adventures along the way. Families can stream PBS KIDS for free anytime, no subscription required. A large collection of mobile apps and pbskids.org provide accessible content that spark kids’ curiosity. PBS KIDS and local stations across the country support the entire ecosystem in which children learn and grow – including their teachers and caregivers, parents, and community – providing resources accessible anytime and anywhere. For more information, visit pbs.org/pressroom, or follow PBS KIDS on X, Facebook and Instagram.
For images and additional up-to-date information on this and other PBS programs, visit PBS PressRoom at pbs.org/pressroom.