NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 8, 2009) — The Documentary Channel^® (DOC) introduces a quartet of documentaries this July that explore the distinct journeys of true American Dreamers during its featured Monday “Primetime Premieres” programming schedule.  The July films making their exclusive U.S. television premiere on DOC at 9 p.m. ET/PT include: “Amy Cook: The Spaces In Between” (July 6), “Immokalee USA” (July 13), “Manhattan, KS” (July 20), and “Cinderellas of Santa Fe” (July 27).

“As we celebrate our country’s independence, each tale we are showcasing on Monday nights in July is unique and yet quite American,” explains Kate Pearson, The Documentary Channel’s senior vice president of programming.  “The individuals featured in these films are struggling to protect their dreams, as they confront harsh realities.  We follow an aspiring singer on tour, learn about an artist searching for the Geodentic Center of the USA, see the perspectives of those in the heart of the migrant worker debate, and get an inside look at accomplished individuals who still find a need to work cash jobs.  All have dreams - yet all struggle within the system.”

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. The network’s exclusive American Dreamers-themed lineup of documentary premieres in July is as follows:
*Monday, July 6 “Amy Cook: The Spaces in Between” 9 p.m. ET/PT

*Monday, July 13 “Immokalee USA” 9 p.m. ET/PT

Monday, July 20 “Manhattan, KS” 9 p.m. ET/PT

Monday, July  27 “Cinderella’s of Santa Fe” 9 p.m. ET/PT

*-Also available for viewing through DOC’s online distribution channels atYouTube.com and Sling.com

DOC’s exclusive premiere telecasts in July begin with U.S. television debut of “Amy Cook: The Spaces in Between” on Monday, July 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, which follows the creative journey of Austin singer-songwriter Amy Cook and her band as they tour the backwater towns of the American southwest. Powerful and new, Cook’s music is both elegant and challenging in the same breath. Filmmaker Todd Robinson travels the southwest with Cook and her band peering into a life that informs art. But Cook’s story is a story that transcends her own career and ambition. It is the story of a young woman living an authentic life while struggling with the complicated relationship between art and commerce. As she says in her hypnotic “Feathers to a Crown” song, “It’s a hard time for dreamers, we’re all pennies in a wishing well, but we ain’t gonna buy, and we ain’t gonna sell.”

The award-winning “Immokalee USA,” directed by Georg Koszulinski, premieres Monday, July 13 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, and takes a closer look at the tens of thousands of migrant farm workers that converge on small communities like Immokalee, Florida every season where they plant and harvest the food that Americans consume. A vast majority of these workers are undocumented, leaving them at the mercy of the large agribusinesses who hire them, the crew leaders who contract them and the landlords and businesses that profit from their seasonal arrival. Their “undocumented” legal status allows for a system of exploitation that leaves workers and their families to endure conditions and wages that rarely meet international human rights standards. Selected for “Best Director – Documentary” honors at the 2008 Atlanta DocuFest and winner of “Best Documentary” at the 2008 Charlotte Film Festival, “Immokalee U.S.A.” documents these daily experiences, leading the viewer to examine their own role in the issues migrant workers face in this country.

“Manhattan, KS” makes its television debut on Monday, July 20 at 9 p.m. ET, which focuses on a loving daughter who documents her reunion with her mentally-unstable mother in this heartfelt and decidedly personal documentary from filmmaker Tara Wray. When Wray was just a child growing up in Manhattan, Kansas, her mother was her entire life.  It was during those years, as the pair did their best to elude demons both real and imagined, that Wray first began to see signs of the powerful psychosis that would gradually cloud her mother’s mind to the point of total insanity. After loving and protecting her increasingly unstable mother to the best of her abilities, Wray left home at the age of 19 - when her mother threatened to kill her. Five years after that fateful threat, Wray returns to home to re-establish her bond with her mentally disturbed mother, and perhaps help the ailing abstract artist locate the geographic center of the United States - a curious location that just may hold the secret to establishing world peace.

“Cinderellas of Santa Fe,” the award-winning documentary film directed by Vanessa Vassar, premieres Monday, July 27 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.  The film follows people who are highly educated and/or extremely creative and have been, or continue to be, recognized in their fields. However, they still find it necessary to work jobs for cash in order to support their art, their children, their dreams. They are cleaning ladies, waitresses, bartenders, shopkeepers, adult entertainers and office workers to the public at large. But in reality, they are so much more. They are poets, teachers, actors, musicians, dancers, filmmakers, health workers, ministers, designers, artists and writers, in a story that garnered “Best Documentary” honors at the Iowa Independent Film Festival.

About The Documentary Channel^®: The Documentary Channel (DOC) is the USA’s first 24-hour television network exclusively devoted to documentary films and the independent documentary filmmaker, providing viewers with round-the-clock opportunities to see fascinating, eclectic and award-winning documentary films of all lengths and genres.  Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., with offices in New York and Los Angeles, DOC was founded by Oscar^®-nominated and Emmy^®-winning documentary filmmaker Tom Neff (CEO) in January 2006.  DOC now reaches over 21 million homes nationwide via DISH Network (Channel 197) and several broadcast stations in major television markets, including NYC TV (Channel 25) throughout the greater New York metropolitan area.  DOC also provides content to online distribution outlets through www.youtube.com/documentarychannel and www.sling.com/network/189/The-Documentary-Channel. For more information on DOC, visit www.documentarychannel.com.