THE EDUCATION OF SHELBY KNOX
BY MARION LIPSHUTZ AND ROSE ROSENBLATT

A self-described "good Southern Baptist girl," 15-year-old Shelby Knox of Lubbock, Texas has pledged abstinence until marriage. But she becomes an unlikely advocate for comprehensive sex ed when she finds that Lubbock, where high schools teach abstinence as the only safe sex, has some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and STDs in the state. (1 hour)

GIRLS LIKE US
BY TINA DIFELICIANTONIO AND JANE C. WAGNER

During the four years of shooting this teen chronicle in South Philadelphia, Raelene tackles parenting, Anna struggles with sexuality, De'Yona grapples with loss and Lisa wrestles with relationships. Filmmakers Jane C. Wagner and Tina DiFeliciantonio render a longitudinal portrait that celebrates the fragility, power and drama of adolescence with uncommon patience and respect. A rare and disarming peek into the very real lives of teenage girls, the film provides access to the seldom heard voices of young women working to shape their identities in the '90s. (1 hour)

INTIMATE STRANGER
BY ALAN BERLINER

Alan Berliner puts his late grandfather, Joseph Cassuto, at the center of a personal, single-family saga that shines a light into the silent, shadowy corners that are present in all families. When the film premiered at the New York Film Festival, The New York times called it "a rich, tumultuous portrait of family life with a powerful, bittersweet universality." (2 hours)

SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA
BY LOURDES PORTILLO

Someone is killing the young women of Juárez, Mexico. Since 1993, over 400 young women have been raped and murdered in a chillingly consistent and brazen manner. Authorities ignore pleas for justice from the victims' families and the crimes go unpunished. Most disturbingly, evidence of government complicity remains ininvestigated as the killings continue to this day. Crafting a film that is both a poetic meditation and a mystery, Lourdes Portillo's Señorita Extraviada (which premiered on POV in 2002) is a haunting investigation into an unspeakable crime wave amid the disorders and corruption of one of the biggest border towns in the world. (1 hour)

THE SWEETEST SOUND
BY ALAN BERLINER

What's in a name? Names are the opening words to our life stories. With intimacy, humor and his own inimitable style, Alan Berliner dives headfirst into the American name pool in search of the treasures and traps hidden in names — especially his own. The Sweetest Sound starts out as a search for identity, transforms into a meditation on mortality, leaving a keen sense of the power and mystery embedded in every name. (1 hour)

TAKING ON THE KENNEDYS
BY JOSHUA SEFTEL

It's baptism by fire when a political underdog takes on the closest thing to American royalty. Joshua Seftel gives us a gritty behind-the-scenes look at neophyte Kevin Vigilante's campaign against Patrick Kennedy for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The New England physician learns the hard way how modern politics are fought in this Rhode Island race. (1 hour)