Photos: Firelight Films\PBSYouTube
ARLINGTON, VA – Two original documentaries that shed new light on the lives of a pair of towering figures in the struggle to end slavery—Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass—premiere on PBS in October 2022. Co-productions of Firelight Films and Maryland Public Television (MPT), the films are directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Stanley Nelson (Attica, Freedom Riders, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution) and Nicole London. HARRIET TUBMAN: VISIONS OF FREEDOM premieres Tuesday, October 4, 2022, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET, and BECOMING FREDERICK DOUGLASS premieres Tuesday, October 11, 2022, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS. Both films will stream on PBS.org and the PBS Video App.
HARRIET TUBMAN: VISIONS OF FREEDOM is a rich and nuanced portrait of the woman known as a conductor of the Underground Railroad, who repeatedly risked her own life and freedom to liberate others from slavery. Born in Dorchester County, Maryland—2022 marks her bicentennial celebration—Tubman escaped north to Philadelphia in 1849, covering more than 100 miles alone. Once there, she became involved in the abolitionist movement and, through the Underground Railroad, guided an estimated 70 enslaved people to freedom.
She would go on to serve as a Civil War scout, nurse and spy, never wavering in her pursuit of equality. Featuring more than 20 historians and experts and grounded in the most recent scholarship, the film goes beyond the standard narrative to explore what motivated Tubman, including divine inspiration, to become one of the greatest freedom fighters in our nation’s history.
