AfroPoP series keeps that Pride spirit going

Two groundbreaking films headline Season 17 of Black Public Media's acclaimed series AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange

NEW YORK (June 30, 2025) - AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange, the Peabody Award-winning series by Black Public Media (BPM) and WORLD, brings two powerful stories featuring LGBTQ+ protagonists to Season 17. The films - Neptune Frost, by Anisia Uzeyman and Saul Williams, and Mama Gloria, by Luchina Fisher - present an Afrofuturistic tale of an intersex hacker and the real-life story of a pioneering trans woman. Presented by Black Public Media, WORLD and PBS Plus, AfroPoP remains the only U.S.-based public media show focused on independent documentaries and narrative films from across the global African diaspora.

In addition to broadcastingweekly on public television's WORLD through June 30, episodes from this season are also available to stream on WORLD's YouTube channel, on the Black Public Media YouTube channel and on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS App. PBS Plus will also release the season to additional public television stations across the country weekly (check local listings).

Directed by Williams and Uzeyman, Neptune Frost premiered on WORLD on Monday, June 23, and has been released to streaming on worldchannel.org. An Afrocentric musical set in the hilltops of Burundi, the film follows Neptune, an intersex runaway portrayed in dual, resonant performances by CherylIsheja and ElvisNgabo, alongside Matalusa, an escaped coltan miner played by Bertrand Ninteretse (AKA Kaya Free). Together, they spark a hacker collective that aims to overthrow an authoritarian government profiting from their country's exploited natural resources. The film, which is executive produced by Lin-Manual Miranda and Stephen Hendel, among others, is streaming as part of an AfroPoP episode that also includes the narrative short and cinematic elegy, Tsutsue, by Amartei Armar. Set in a small Ghanaian fishing town perched on a toxic landfill spilling into the ocean, the film follows two young brothers, reeling from the drowning of their eldest sibling.

On Monday, June 30, WORLD will broadcast an exclusive encore presentation of Mama Gloria by Fisher, an Emmy-award winning director. The GLAAD-nominated documentary offers an intimate portrait of the late Gloria "Mama" Allen (1945-2022), a trailblazing Black transgender elder from Chicago. This heartfelt and hopeful film follows Gloria as she reflects on a life lived authentically - from her coming-of-age in Chicago's pre-Stonewall drag ball culture to founding a self-funded "charm school" for young transgender people experiencing homelessness. More than a celebration of survival, it's a testament to joy, grace, acceptance and intergenerational love. Mama Gloria is also available to stream as part of AfroPoP.

A conversation with Fisher, journalist Imara Jones and multimedia artist and producer Zackary Drucker around issues raised in the film is now available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/_YXLWhv3pKA?si=roBJ7gD7d9CV1pDp.

"AfroPoP is proud to showcase queer Black voices that are visionary, defiant and deeply human," said Leslie Fields-Cruz, executive director of Black Public Media and AfroPoP executive producer. "These stories are not only timely - they're timeless."

"This series celebrates the power of global Black storytelling and the urgent need for diverse voices," said Chaudry. "At WORLD, we are committed to ensuring these visionary films reach audiences who can see themselves - and the rest of the world - reflected on screen."

Other season 17 films include:

Mother Suriname, a documentary feature by Tessa Leuwsha set in colonial Suriname under Dutch rule. More than a family tribute, it's a celebration of cultural memory, a testament to the unseen labor of Black women, and a challenge to colonial narratives that rendered them invisible. It reminds us that history lives in the voices of everyday people. The feature is followed by The Changing Same - a documentary short by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster - winner of Best Immersive Narrative at Tribeca Festival (2021). The short spotlights L. Lamar Wilson, a poet from Marianna, Florida, who embarks on a marathon pilgrimage to unearth the suppressed truth behind Claude Neal's notorious 1934 lynching, a legacy of cruelty buried deep in American history.
Tongo Saa (Rising Up at Night), an award-winning documentary feature by Nelson Makengo. Offering a lyrical yet urgent portrait of Kinshasa's nightly struggle under endemic power outages, the film uses immersive visuals, candid voices, and atmospheric soundscapes to reveal how residents navigate darkness - both literal and political - while shining the light on a community determined to survive.

Launched in 2008, AfroPoP explores the vibrant lives, cultures and creativity of people of African descent through powerful independent films. Each season features a curated selection of critically acclaimed documentaries and narrative works that span continents, genres and generations - from village life to city streets, and past struggles to future visions.

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

The series is presented with the generous support of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

To find out more about AfroPoP, visit https://worldchannel.org/show/afropop/ or https://blackpublicmedia.org/afropop/.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

ABOUT BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA:

Black Public Media (BPM) supports the development of visionary content creators and distributes stories about the global Black experience to inspire a more equitable and inclusive future. For 45 years, BPM has addressed the needs of unserved and underserved audiences. BPM-supported programs have won five Emmys, 10 Peabodys, five Anthem Awards, 14 Emmy nominations and an Oscar nomination. BPM continues to address historical, contemporary, and systemic challenges that traditionally impede the development and distribution of Black stories.

ABOUT WORLD:

WORLD shares the best of public media in news, documentaries and programming. WORLD's original series examine the issues and amplify the voices of those often ignored by mainstream media. The multiplatform channel helps audiences understand conflicts, movements and cultures from around the globe. Its original work has won two Peabody Awards, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, an International Documentary Association Award, a National News and Documentary Emmy Award, two Gracie Awards and many other awards and nominations. WORLD is carried by 203 member stations in markets representing 78.63% of US TV households. Funding for WORLD is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Wyncote Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. WORLD is produced by GBH in partnership with WNET and is distributed by American Public Television (APT). Find out more at WORLDChannel.org.

ABOUT PBS PLUS:

PBS Plus is a syndicated programming service for public television stations, supplementing the primetime, daily news, and children's content in the National Program Service, providing series and specials intended for various dayparts. All PBS member stations, reaching all available national TV households, have access to PBS Plus content. Annually, stations are provided with approximately 500 hours of programming via PBS Plus.

PBS Plus series and specials range from "how-to" programs such as This Old House and food series such as Somewhere South to topical news and information programs and arts and cultural shows such as Austin City Limits and The Caverns Sessions.