POV: Season 25 (2012 - 2013)

Season 25 opens with "My Reincarnation," about exiled Tibetan spiritual master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu and his first-born son Yeshi, whom he believes is the reincarnation of his uncle, a Dzogchen master. Yeshi, however, isn't so sure; and, even if he is what his father believes, becoming a Tibetan teacher isn't necessarily the life he wants.

"Granito: How to Nail a Dictator" tells how Pamela Yates' 1983 documentary "When the Mountains Tremble," about the 1982 genocide of indigenous Mayans by the Guatemalan military, was used to hold ex-dictator Efraín Ríos Montt responsible. "Granito" also features individuals who appeared in the 1983 film, including storyteller Rigoberta Menchú, who would go on to win the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize; and former guerrilla commander Gustavo Meoño.

In "The City Dark," filmmaker Ian Cheney—who grew up in a small Maine town—ponders light pollution, a phenomenon foreign to him until he moved to New York City. To learn what the consequences of diminished darkness might be, he talks with experts, including astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. What he discovers: possible health implications for humans; and serious issues for such wildlife as sea turtles. Yet, as criminologist Jon Shane points out, there is some good: less crime in well-lit areas.

"Guilty Pleasures" examines the popularity of romance novels through the stories of three fans, an author and a male model whose face graces the covers of many books. The fiction feeds Japanese housewife Hiroko's fantasies of being wooed by a David Beckham look-alike. Shumita, an Indian woman whose husband left her, recognizes the books' Utopian take on love but enjoys them, anyway. And British author Gill Sanderson, surprisingly, turns out to be a male pensioner who resides in a trailer park.

"The Light in Her Eyes" offers a vérité portrait of Houda al-Habash, a religiously observant Syrian woman who has defied tradition for the past 30 years by teaching the Koran to young girls at a school she runs at a Damascus mosque.

"Up Heartbreak Hill" chronicles the senior year of two Navajo high-school students in New Mexico. One, a rebellious cross-country runner named Thomas, hopes to win a scholarship and attend college, then return to and help improve the Navajo Nation. The other, fellow runner and valedictorian contender Tamara, has her heart set on a college out of state, though her parents would prefer she stick closer to home.

Five shorts, including "The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement," about an octogenarian Alabama barber and WWII veteran who carried the American flag across the bridge on the first Selma to Montgomery march of 1965; and "Sin País (Without Country)," about illegal immigrants from Guatemala who, 20 years after arriving in the U.S., are deported to their home country. Also: three StoryCorps animations, including "Eyes on the Stars," about astronaut Ronald McNair.

The Jonathan Demme-directed "I'm Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful" tells the story of a New Orleans native and civil-rights activist who works to rebuild her house, church and community after they're devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

"El Velador (The Night Watchman)," about a guard who oversees a cemetery in Culiacán, the capital of the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The region is the nexus of the country's illegal drug trade; the cemetery is the final resting place for many drug lords.