Documentary1988–PBS

The Best Episodes of POV

Every episode of POV ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of POV!

Best episode
S22E5 The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
9.215 votes
Worst episode
S24E12 The Learning
4.913 votes
Top season
Season 39
10.0avg
Binge time
22d 7h
522 episodes
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons39

All123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Click to reveal
    POV Season 22 Episode 5 - The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
    9.2/10(15 votes)

    S22:E5

    Filmed over 23 years, The Betrayal is the Academy Award-nominated directorial debut of renowned cinematographer Ellen Kuras in a unique collaboration with the film's subject and co-director, Thavisouk ("Thavi") Phrasavath. After the U.S. government waged a secret war in Laos during the Vietnam War, Thavi's father and thousands of other Laotians who had fought alongside American forces were abandoned and left to face imprisonment or execution. Hoping to find safety, Thavi's family made a harrowing escape to America, where they discovered a different kind of war. Weaving ancient prophecy with personal testimony and stunning imagery, The Betrayal is a story of survival and the resilient bonds of family.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. POV Season 27 Episode 13 - The Act of Killing
    8.8/10(19 votes)

    S27:E13

    Joshua Oppenheimer visits men accused of playing a key role in the killing of over one-million Indonesians in 1965. Initially, the men explain their actions as patriotic and necessary. But over time, some question their actions. 2013 Oscar nominee. 2014 BAFTA Best Documentary.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. POV Season 23 Episode 14 - The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
    8.7/10(20 votes)

    S23:E14

    The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers is a 2009 documentary film directed by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith. The film follows Daniel Ellsberg and explores the events leading up to the publication of the Pentagon Papers, which exposed the top-secret military history of the United States involvement in Vietnam.

    Directors:Rick Goldsmith, Judith Ehrlich
    Writers:Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. POV Season 20 Episode 10 - Made in L.A.
    9.3/10(10 votes)

    S20:E10

    Los Angeles is now the country’s center for apparel manufacturing, but many of its factories bear an eerie resemblance to New York’s early 20th century sweatshops. Made in L.A. follows the remarkable journey of three Latina immigrants working in L.A.’s garment factories and their struggle for self-empowerment as they wage a three-year battle to bring a major clothing retailer to the negotiating table. This intimate film offers a rare and poignant glimpse into this “other” California, where immigrants in many industries toil long hours for sub-minimum wages, fighting for an opportunity in a new country. A co-production with the Independent Television Service (ITVS). A Diverse Voices Project co-production. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting. (packaged to 86:46)

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. POV Season 29 Episode 3 - The Look of Silence
    8.7/10(14 votes)

    S29:E3

    An optometrist identifies the men who killed his brother in the horrific 1965 Indonesian genocide. He confronts them while testing their eyesight and demands they accept responsibility.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. POV Season 23 Episode 3 - The Beaches of Agnès
    8.3/10(17 votes)

    S23:E3

    The Beaches of Agnès is a 2008 French documentary film directed by Agnès Varda. The film is an autobiographical essay where Varda revisits places from her past, reminisces about life and celebrates her 80th birthday on camera. She has said that it will most likely be her last film.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of POV

    READ
  7. POV Season 38 Episode 2 - Igualada: Refusing to Know Your Place
    8.4/10(14 votes)

    S38:E2

    Black activist Francia Márquez rises from rural Colombia to launch a historic presidential campaign that defies the political establishment. By espousing a different way of doing politics and championing equality, she inspires a nationwide movement that challenges centuries of exclusion.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. POV Season 35 Episode 10 - Accepted
    8.5/10(8 votes)

    S35:E10

    A prep school in Louisiana that sends 100% of its grads to college is rocked by scandal.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. POV Season 38 Episode 9 - Black Snow
    8.3/10(10 votes)

    S38:E9

    In a remote Siberian coal town, homemaker-turned-journalist Natalia Zubkova investigates an abandoned mine fire releasing toxic gas into residential homes. When her reporting goes viral, government officials launch an aggressive cover-up campaign, putting her directly in their crosshairs.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. POV Season 24 Episode 11 - If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
    8.2/10(11 votes)

    S24:E11

    If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front explores two of America’s most pressing issues — environmentalism and terrorism — by lifting the veil on a radical environmental group the FBI calls America’s “number one domestic terrorism threat.” Former Earth Liberation Front member Daniel McGowan faces life in prison for two multimillion-dollar arsons against Oregon timber companies. What turned this working-class kid from Queens into an eco-warrior? Marshall Curry (Oscar®-nominated Street Fight, POV 2005) provides a nuanced and provocative account that is part coming-of-age story, part cautionary tale and part cops-and-robbers thriller.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. POV Season 22 Episode 8 - This Way Up
    8.2/10(10 votes)

    S22:E8

    This is a story about a wall - the separations it's meant to enforce, and the unintended ones it creates. The security wall being constructed by Israel on the West Bank has divided Palestinian families and communities. It has also isolated the Catholic-run Our Lady of Sorrows nursing home, leaving its feisty residents to face old age in the throes of one of the world's most bitter conflicts.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. POV Season 31 Episode 13 - Survivors
    8.3/10(7 votes)

    S31:E13

    Two health care workers in Sierra Leone face the Ebola epidemic in their country.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. POV Season 24 Episode 13 - Last Train Home
    8.1/10(9 votes)

    S24:E13

    Every spring, China’s cities are plunged into chaos as 130 million migrant workers journey to their home villages for the New Year in the world’s largest human migration. Last Train Home takes viewers on a heart-stopping journey with the Zhangs, a couple who left infant children behind for factory jobs 16 years ago, hoping their wages would lift their children to a better life. They return to a family growing distant and a daughter longing to leave school for unskilled work. As the Zhangs navigate their new world, Last Train Home paints a rich, human portrait of China’s rush to economic development. An EyeSteelFilm production in association with ITVS International. An Official Selection of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Winner of Best Feature-Length Documentary Award, 2009 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. (90:00)

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. POV Season 22 Episode 3 - Life.Support.Music
    8.2/10(7 votes)

    S22:E3

    In 2004, Jason Crigler's life was taking off. He was one of New York's hottest young guitarists, his new CD was due for release and his wife, Monica, was pregnant with their first child. Then, at a gig in Manhattan, Jason suffered a near-fatal brain hemorrhage. His doctors doubted he would ever emerge from his near-vegetative state. The astonishing journey that followed, documented by friend and filmmaker Eric Daniel Metzgar (The Chances of the World Changing, POV 2007), is a stirring family saga and a portrait of creative struggle in the face of overwhelming tragedy.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. POV Season 33 Episode 4 - Advocate
    8.1/10(7 votes)

    S33:E4

    Meet Israeli lawyer Lea Tsemel, a political firebrand who is known by her opponents as "the devil's advocate" for her decades-long defense of Palestinians who have been accused of resisting the occupation, both violently and non-violently.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. POV Season 38 Episode 3 - Made in Ethiopia
    7.9/10(9 votes)

    S38:E3

    Inside Ethiopia's largest Chinese-run industrial park, three women stand at the crossroads of rapid development. A Chinese director drives ambitious expansion, while a local farmer and factory worker grapple with promises of prosperity and the true cost of progress in their transforming community.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. POV Season 25 Episode 12 - Nostalgia for the Light
    7.8/10(11 votes)

    S25:E12

    Patricio Guzmán's Nostalgia for the Light is a remarkable meditation on memory, history and eternity. Chile’s remote Atacama Desert, 10,000 feet above sea level, provides stunningly clear views of the heavens for astronomers. But it also holds secrets from the past: human remains, from pre-Columbian mummies to the bones of political prisoners "disappeared" during the Pinochet dictatorship.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. POV Season 26 Episode 8 - The Law in These Parts
    7.7/10(15 votes)

    S26:E8

    For the first time, Israeli military and legal professionals who devised the legal framework behind the occupation are interviewed about this system, which mirrors the country’s toughest moral quandaries.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. POV Season 38 Episode 8 - The Age of Water
    7.7/10(14 votes)

    S38:E8

    When three children die of leukemia in a rural Mexican community, two mothers partner with a scientist to investigate their water supply. Their discovery of dangerous radioactivity leads to community backlash and government denial, revealing how deep aquifers harbor ancient nuclear traces from the last ice age.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. POV Season 36 Episode 3 - Liquor Store Dreams
    7.8/10(7 votes)

    S36:E3

    Immigrant dreams and generational divides collide against LA's complex racial landscape.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. POV Season 36 Episode 7 - While We Watched
    7.8/10(7 votes)

    S36:E7

    In a world of fake news, journalist Ravish Kumar stands his ground. Will his show survive?

    Director:Vinay Shukla
    Writers:Amaan Shaikh, Abhinav Tyagi, Vinay Shukla

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. POV Season 38 Episode 5 - Emergent City
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    S38:E5

    Residents of Sunset Park, Brooklyn face rising rents, a legacy of environmental racism and the loss of the industrial jobs that once sustained their community. When a global developer purchases a massive industrial complex on the waterfront and lays plans for an “innovation district,” a battle erupts over the future of the neighborhood and of New York City itself.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. POV Season 38 Episode 6 - A New Kind of Wilderness
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    S38:E6

    On a small farm in a Norwegian forest, the Paynes live a purposefully isolated life, striving to be wild and free. But when tragedy strikes, their idyllic world is shattered, forcing them to navigate the expectations of modern society. This intimate and soulful documentary explores love, growing up, and how we navigate life after loss.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. POV Season 38 Episode 7 - DRIVER
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    S38:E7

    After losing everything, Desiree Wood takes a second lease on life as a long-haul trucker. Alongside an irreverent group of women drivers, she fights for a life on the road. In a rapidly changing labor landscape, Desiree and her sisterhood of truckers rally against the crushing forces of an industry that is indifferent to their survival.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. POV Season 38 Episode 10 - The Bitter Pill
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    S38:E10

    When attorney Paul Farrell Jr. takes on pharmaceutical giants to help his opioid-ravaged West Virginia hometown, his innovative legal strategy catches fire. As his local battle transforms into the largest civil litigation in U.S. history, he must navigate increasingly high stakes to secure justice—not just for his community, but for an entire nation in crisis.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Best Episodes Summary

"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)" is the best rated episode of POV. It scored 9.2/10 from 15 votes. Written and directed by Unknown, it aired on July 21, 2009. This episode scored 0.4 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Act of Killing".

Keep going

Browse POV by season

If you like POV