‘Mother Suriname’ premieres in AfroPop’s Season 19

Season 17 of AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange, the Peabody Award-winning series by Black Public Media (BPM) and WORLD, began on Monday, June 9, with an impressive lineup of documentary and narrative films, including the premiere of “Mother Suriname.”

“Mother Suriname,” a documentary feature by Tessa Leuwsha, uses colorized archival footage and gripping narration to pay a touching tribute to the director’s grandmother in colonial Suriname.

It gives a voice to the washerwoman — and her peers — while providing a rare and eye-opening glimpse into Dutch colonialism and its ramifications.

The film will be followed by “The Changing Same,” an award-winning US documentary shot by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster.

The impactful short captures Marianna, Fla., resident and poet L. Lamar Wilson, who mounts a marathon run attempting to lift the veil on a highly publicized 1934 lynching of a Black farmhand named Claude Neal.

The season transports viewers around the globe and to places past, present, and future with award-winning films that stir the senses and satisfy the soul, including a narrative directed by Anisia Uzeyman and Saul Williams and executive produced by Lin-Manual Miranda and Stephen Hendel, among others.

Presented by Black Public Media, WORLD, and PBS Plus, AfroPoP remains the only US-based public media show focused on independent documentaries and narrative films about contemporary life, art, and culture from the African Diaspora.

Each episode of AfroPoP will be broadcast weekly on public television’s WORLD and streamed on WORLD’s YouTube channel and the Black Public Media YouTube channel.  

Season 17 episodes will be available to stream on the PBS App on that date. PBS Plus will also release the season to additional public television stations nationwide weekly.

The series is executive produced by BPM Executive Director Leslie Fields-Cruz and WORLD (at GBH) Executive Producer Nina Chaudry. Denise A. Greene is the series producer/director, Carol Bash is the series co-producer/director, and Ashton Pina is the series writer.

“AfroPoP continues to evolve each season, showcasing a vibrant array of films fueled by the creativity and boldness of filmmakers within our expanding community,” said Fields-Cruz. “While these stories explore diverse histories, traditions, and even universes, they also reveal the shared connections that unite all humankind.”

“Once again, WORLD is pleased to join Black Public Media to bring this dynamic series to the viewing public,” said Chaudry. “The beauty of AfroPoP is that it offers stations an opportunity to deliver stories from around the vast African diaspora that American audiences won’t find easily.”

With season 17, since its premiere in 2008, AfroPoP has presented 97 feature and short films on public media, offering a wide range of stories about the African Diaspora.

Among the many noted directors whose films have appeared in the series are George Amponsah, Joel Zito Araújo, Violeta Ayala, Blitz Bazawule, Yaba Blay, Barron Claiborne, Rebecca Richman Cohen, Bobbito Garcia, Alain Gomis, Thomas Allen Harris, Eric Kabera, Terence Nance, Raoul Peck, Sam Pollard, Michèle Stephenson and Marco Williams.