NASHVILLE, Tenn. (August 18, 2008) — As students start returning to school, Documentary Channel® will showcase a variety of talented and creative students as part of the network’s “Primetime Premieres” Monday lineup during September.

The special student-themed programming kicks off Monday, Sept. 1, and Monday, Sept. 8, with the exclusive U.S. television premiere of the three-part documentary “Dance School: Juilliard” about a recent senior class of 16 promising dance students finishing their tenures at the world famous school for the performing arts. It will be followed on Monday, Sept. 15 and Sept. 29, by a network original series production of “DOC U” featuring two one-hour episodes of documentaries written, directed and produced by students in Manhattan’s New School Documentary Media Studies Program.

On the following Monday, Sept. 22, DOC will exclusively telecast three winning documentaries from past Student Academy Awards®, including 1996 gold winner “Independent Little Cuss,” 2008 silver winner “Unattached” and 2008 bronze winner “If a Body Meet a Body.”

Finally, in association with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences®, DOC premieres its original production of “The Start of Something Big: The Student Academy Awards” on Monday, Sept. 29. The one-hour special presentation takes an in-depth look at the 35-year history of the Student Academy Awards®, complete with all-new interviews with past and present honorees and Academy members.

“As September is ‘Back to School’ month, we salute and recognize students for their creativity, dedication and hard work with a variety of exclusive programs that put students directly into the primetime spotlight,” says Tom Neff, Documentary Channel founder and CEO. “The students of today are the professional documentarians of tomorrow, and one of the missions of DOC is to foster the next generation of filmmakers.”

DOC is available on DISH Network (Channel 197), and several broadcast stations in major markets including NYC TV (Channel 25) throughout the greater New York metropolitan area.

DOC’s student-themed primetime schedule for September is as follows:

Monday, Sept. 1 “Dance School: Juilliard” – Part 1 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

“Dance School: Juilliard” – Part 2 9:00 p.m. ET/PT

Monday, Sept. 8 “Dance School: Juilliard” – Part 3 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

Monday, Sept. 15 “DOC U: New School” – Part 1 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

Monday, Sept. 22 Student Academy Award® Winners

“If a Body Meet a Body” – 2008 Bronze award 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

“Unattached” – 2008 Silver award 8:30 p.m. ET/PT

“Independent Little Cuss” – 1996 Gold award 9:00 p.m. ET/PT

Monday, Sept. 29 “DOC U: New School” – Part 2 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

“The Start of Something Big: The Student Academy Awards” 9:00 p.m. ET/PT

“Dance School: Juilliard,” written and directed by Carlos Chacon and Elyse Sara, follows the hopes, dreams and disappointments of the chosen few who are accepted into the world’s most prestigious dance conservatories: The Juilliard School in New York City. This three-part documentary series, released in 2006 and distributed by EyeOpener Productions, gives viewers an honest and personal inside look at the lives of 16 aspiring dancers in their final year at Juilliard, including their emotional ups and downs, exhaustive rehearsals, challenging auditions, triumphs and rejections, as well as breathtaking performances.

“DOC U: New School,” an original DOC production, welcomes two hours of documentaries written by students in Manhattan’s New School Documentary Media Studies Program. Executive produced by Neff and produced by Barry Rubinow, DOC senior vice president of creative services, the two one-hour specials include films such as “Shadow of Guilt” by Dana Bartle, “Woman with Cats” by Erin Clarke, “In/Sight” by Jennifer Jones, “Bowery Scenes” by Tina Grapenthin, and “Double the Pleasure…Eight Times the Therapy” by Linda Goldman.

Two of the 35th Annual Student Academy Award® winning documentaries, awarded June 7, 2008, will be televised for the first time exclusively on DOC, including silver award selection “Unattached,” won by J.J. Adler of Columbia University, and bronze award winner “If a Body Meet a Body,” claimed by the University of Southern California’s Brian Davis. DOC also will telecast the 1996 gold award winner “Independent Little Cuss,” by former Loyola Marymount University student Jeff Patterson, whose documentary focuses on his courageous disabled cousin who never gave up.

In the week following their telecast, all three student filmmakers will be among those individuals featured in the DOC original program “The Start of Something Big: The Student Academy Awards,” produced in association with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences®. The one-hour special will provide front-row seats to June’s invitation-only celebration of the Student Academy Award® nominees and winners, in addition to exclusive interviews with all 12 winners in four categories, members of the Student Academy Awards Executive Committee, many past winners and Sid Ganis, president of the Academy.

About Documentary Channel®: Documentary Channel (DOC) is the USA’s first 24-hour television network exclusively devoted to documentary films and is the Voice of the Independent Documentary Filmmaker. DOC seeks out and showcases independent, cutting-edge and international non-fiction programming rarely seen in the U.S., and often then only in film festivals or other special venues. Many of DOC’s programs are U.S. or world premieres on television. DOC is the television viewer’s round-the-clock opportunity to see fascinating, eclectic and award-winning documentary films of all lengths and genres, from classics to cutting-edge.

DOC has created partnerships and relationships with world-renowned organizations and festivals to bring the world’s greatest documentaries to television, often for the first time. These organizations include The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, The International Documentary Association, The National Film Board of Canada, Los Angeles Festival, Nashville Film Festival, Hot Springs, HotDocs, Durango Film Festival, Reel Women, and many others. In addition, DOC has teamed up with distinguished educational institutions including USC School of Cinema and the Academy of Art in San Francisco, among others, to introduce young, future documentary filmmakers to the viewing public.

Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., with offices in New York and Los Angeles, Documentary Channel was founded by CEO, Oscar®-nominated and Emmy®-winning documentary filmmaker Tom Neff. DOC launched on DISH Network (Channel 197) in January 2006, and now reaches over 21 million homes nationwide. DOC is carried by several broadcast stations in major television markets including NYC TV (Channel 25) throughout the greater New York metropolitan area. DOC’s Web site is located at www.documentarychannel.com. DOC was recognized after its first year as co-winner of the Emmy for Best Feature Documentary at the 28th Annual News & Documentary Emmy® Awards for the film, “Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire.”