On the box

Programs of interest on Sydney Community TV (UHF 31) — Perleeka, indigenous Australians' program, nightly, 7pm. Art Experimenta, Mondays, 8pm and 11.30pm, and Tuesdays, 3am and 6.30am. Bent TV, gay and lesbian program, Thursdays, 10.30pm and Fridays, 2.30am. XX, women's program, Fridays, 8pm and midnight, and Saturdays, 5am. Waste Not, Want Not, environment and recycling, Saturdays, 8.30pm and 12.30am, and Sundays, 4.30am. For more information phone 649 9622. Actively Radical TV — Community television's progressive current affairs program tackles the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Friday, 10.30pm. Spirit of Freedom: Days of Contempt — The story of those who fought against fascism with their literary talents. SBS, Sunday, December 17, 11.40pm. A Portrait of Ken Loach — Ken Loach's latest film, Land and Freedom, will be released in Australia in December. His earlier films, such as Raining Stones, Riff Raff, and Kes, built Loach's reputation as a maker of films that are uncompromising in artistic and political principles. Loach speaks about and and Freedom, his earlier films, his beliefs and background. SBS, Monday, December 18, 8.30pm (followed by Loach's Kes). The Panama Deception — This program reveals the carnage that was hidden from the world when the US invaded Panama in 1989. ABC TV, Monday, December 18, midnight. The Pacific Century — Profiles of two of Asia's most important political leaders, Ho Chi Minh and Sukarno. ABC TV, Tuesday, December 19, 2pm. The Torture Trail — Undercover reporters make contact with some of Britain's largest arms makers who are prepared to sell weapons with no questions asked. British-made torture equipment flows to dictatorships with the full knowledge of the British government. SBS, Tuesday, December 19, 8.30pm. Uncle Ho and Uncle Sam — The story of the unusual alliance between the US and Ho Chi Minh during the Vietnamese people's resistance against Japan. Ho did not turn out to be the pliable nationalist the US thought he was. SBS, Thursday, December 21, 8.30pm. Merry Christmas — No, not another appalling Christmas special but a witty Norwegian spoof on the rampant consumerism that overwhelms yuletide rituals. SBS, Sunday, December 24, 4pm and 11pm. Spirit of Freedom: Lost Illusions — Many socialists struggled to free the ideas of communism from the Stalinist yoke. SBS, Sunday, December 24, midnight. The Soul of Stax — Just what the doctor ordered after a day of stuffing your face with food and drink to mark a superstition most Green Left Weekly readers don't even believe in. Switch on the telly and enjoy this celebration of '60s soul music by Otis Redding, Sam and Dave and Rufus Thomas. SBS, Monday, December 25, 8.30pm. Pulp Future — A documentary that predicts chaos and social anarchy will take over our mega-cities with violence escalating at frightening speed. Just visit your nearest department store as the doors open on the post-Xmas sale and you will know what to expect. SBS, Tuesday, December 26, 8.30pm. Nina Simone: The Legend — A profile of the performer and black activist Nina Simone. SBS, Wednesday, December 27, 10.55pm. Djabote: Doudou N'diaye Rose — Rose, a Senegalese musician, founded an ensemble of 50 percussionists and made a recording near Dakar, famous as the embarkation point for the African slaves being shipped to the US. SBS, Friday, December 29, 1.30pm. The Gold of Moscow — Secret archives reveal the mystery of what happened to the massive gold reserves sent by the Spanish Republican government to the Soviet Union during the Spanish Civil War. SBS, Friday, December 29, 2.40pm. The Spirit of Freedom — In the 1960s, French intellectuals are looking for new revolutionary models. Castro, Ho Chi Minh and Mao provide new inspiration. SBS, Sunday, December 31, 11.50pm. Woodstock: Birth of a generation — For three days in 1969, nearly half a million people attended the largest musical festival in rock history. Woodstock came to symbolise the attitudes, music, fashion and lifestyle of the '60s. SBS, Monday, January 1, 10.55pm. History's Turning Points — The Zulus defeated the British at the Battle of Isandhlwana but lost the war for South Africa. SBS, Tuesday, January 2, 8pm. The Prize: Crude Diplomacy — As US capitalism in the 1950s demanded more and more oil to fuel industry and consumption, it faced challenges from nationalist governments in the oil producing countries. The US engineered coups and invasions to guarantee supplies of oil. ABC TV, Tuesday, January 2, 10.05pm. Birth of the Brain — The complex workings of the human mind are the focus of this French documentary series, which traces the development of the brain from the human embryo to the fully developed adult. SBS, Wednesday, January 3, 8.30pm. Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice — The first black woman civil rights activist, born into slavery in 1862, who turned to journalism at the end of the Civil War to expose racism and was catapulted to the forefront of the civil rights movement. SBS, Thursday, January 4, 2.30pm. Miami-Havana — Looks at the effects of family separation brought about by the hostile relationship between the US and Cuba. SBS, Saturday, January 6, 5.30pm. The Celts — In 1846, the discovery of a graveyard in the Austrian village of Hallstatt provided the first proof of the existence of Celtic civilisation going back to 700 BC. This six-part series investigates the lives of the Celts. SBS, Friday, January 12, 7.30pm.