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Won’t You Be My Neighbor, The Acclaimed Story of “MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD,” Returns to WOUB, Monday, August 31 at 8 pm

Posted on: Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Won’t You Be My Neighbor, The Acclaimed Story of Fred Rogers and “MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD,”

Returns to Broadcast on Independent Lens on WOUB From Academy Award®-Winning Director Morgan Neville

Monday, August 31 at 8 pm

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, the acclaimed documentary from Morgan Neville (the Oscar®-winning “20 Feet from Stardom”), is scheduled to broadcast as part of PBS Pledge Drive programming on Monday, August 31, 2020 at 8pm on Independent Lens on WOUB.

Fred Rogers meets with a boy in the film WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?, a Focus Features release.

One of the most celebrated theatrical releases of 2018, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? takes an intimate look at America’s favorite neighbor: Fred Rogers. The documentary tells the story of a soft-spoken minister, puppeteer, writer and producer whose show was beamed daily into homes across America for more than 30 years. In his beloved television program, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” Rogers and his cast of puppets and friends spoke directly to young children about some of life’s weightiest issues in a simple, direct fashion. There hadn’t been anything like Mr. Rogers on television before, and there hasn’t been since.

Fred Rogers’ career represented a sustained attempt to present a coherent, beneficent view of how television could be used as a positive force in society. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? explores his legacy, focusing on his radically kind ideas. While the nation changed around him, Roge

Fred Rogers with Daniel Striped Tiger from his show, "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." — Fred Rogers with Daniel Tiger from his show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood in the film, WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR, a Focus Features release.Credit: Focus Features

rs stood firm in his belief about the importance of protecting childhood. This intimate portrait goes beyond zip-up cardigans and the land of make-believe and into the heart of a creative genius who inspired generations of children with compassion and limitless imagination.

Since its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Jan. 2018, the film has become the top-grossing biographical documentary of all time, earning more than $22 million at the domestic box office. It received three Documentary Critic’s Choice Awards, including Best Documentary, Best Director and Best Editing, as well as the Audience Award at the IFP Gotham Awards. Neville’s film is also nominated for the IDA Documentary Award for Best Documentary, five Cinema Eye Honors, including Best Documentary, the Producers Guild of America award for Best Documentary Motion Picture and the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is a Focus Features presentation, in association with Impact Partners and PBS/Independent Lens, a Tremolo Production; executive producers, David J. & Linda A. Cornfield, David Stone & David Boies III, Rick Rosenthal & Nancy Stephens, John Boccardo & Derek Esplin, Andrea Van Beuren, Jenifer Westphal, Dan Cogan, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Regina K. Scully; cinematography by Graham Willoughby; edited by Jeff Malmberg & Aaron Wickenden; produced by Morgan Neville, Caryn Capotosto and Nicholas Ma; directed by Morgan Neville.