Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Thursday, 10pm and Saturday, 7pm. Ph 9565 5522.
Access News — Melbourne community TV, Channel 31, has excellent coverage of industrial, environmental and community actions throughout Victoria. Access News broadcasts every Monday at 8pm. Phone 9525 3551 to contact the producers or make a donation.
Artists Up Front — Frances Rings, a member of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, discusses how her feelings of worthlessness dispersed since she joined the dance company. SBS, Saturday, May 23, 4pm.
Big Women — A four-part drama written by novelist Fay Weldon is billed as an "irreverent look at the rise of women from the passionate idealism of the early '70s to the slick careerist culture of today". In the first episode, a New Zealander arrives in London with her sexist fiancé and joins a feminist publishing house. ABC-TV, Sunday, May 24, 8.30pm.
Palestine: Story of a Land — This episode examines the Palestinian struggle from the earliest guerilla raids on Israel to the intifada in the 1980s and the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991. SBS, Monday, May 25, 8pm.
Chronicle of a Disappearance — Palestinian film-maker Elia Sulieman visits his family in Nazareth and observes his parents and other Palestinian people in their search for identity. SBS, Monday, May 25, 10.55pm.
Bringing Them Home — Produced for the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to document the investigation into the stories of the Aboriginal "stolen generation". Sir Ronald Wilson, then president of the Human Rights Commission, details the physical and sexual abuse suffered by many children in institutions and foster homes, and argues that one of the UN definitions of genocide — the forcible removal of children from a culture in order to wipe out that culture — applies to Australia's assimilation policy. SBS, Tuesday, May 26, 7.30pm.
Ordinary People — For generations in Silesia, mining has been not just an occupation, but a way of life. Miners have always been important to Poland. During the Communist era, they were treated as privileged citizens. But deregulation of the economy has brought unemployment to the region, and families like the Mzryks are facing disintegration and cultural disruption for the first time. SBS, Wednesday, May 27, 4pm.
Movie: Riff-Raff (1990) — Ken Loach's chaotic dark comedy about the scams, laughs, dangers and camaraderie of work on a London building site. SBS, Wednesday, May 27, 9.30pm.
Spirit in the Flames — When racial hatred fanned flames that destroyed three African-American churches in a small town in Alabama, soon Mennonites from all over Canada and the US arrived to help with the reconstruction. SBS, Thursday, May 28, 4pm.
Venezuela: the Curse of Black Gold — Venezuela, one of the seven largest oil producers in the world, has never made the leap from underdevelopment to an economically developed society — 50% of inhabitants are below the poverty line; 20% are illiterate. The curse of the black gold is that for almost a century there has been a steady flow of money, which has never been invested in development. SBS, Thursday, May 28, 7.30pm.