Programs of interest on Sydney Community TV (UHF 31) — Art Experimenta, Mondays, 8pm and 11.30pm, and Tuesdays, 3am and 6.30am. Bent TV, gay and lesbian program, Thursdays, 10.30pm and Fridays, 2.30am. Waste Not, Want Not, environment and recycling, Saturdays, 8.30pm and 12.30am, and Sundays, 4.30am. For more information phone 649 9622.
Actively Radical TV — Community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Friday, 10.30pm.
The Confessions of Rosalee — This program looks into the reasons for the number of poor, lower-class blacks in British jails by focusing on the life of Rosalee Cunningham, now HIV positive, who gave the film crew complete access to her family for four years. What is revealed is a life of child abuse, petty theft, drug addiction and prostitution. SBS, Friday, March 22, 8.30pm.
The Absence of War — Art imitates life with this fictional account of the battle for the soul of the British Labour Party during a frenetic election campaign. Labour leader George Jones sets out to "modernise" the party and make it "respectable". While some would argue that the soul of the BLP met its maker long ago, this drama should be worth watching nonetheless. ABC TV, Friday, March 22, 8.30pm.
Movie: Stepping Razor — Biopic of the life, music and aspirations of Peter Tosh — "the first lieutenant of reggae" — based on tapes he made in his final years, before he was murdered in Jamaica in 1987. SBS, Saturday, March 23, 11.45pm.
Women: the Strength of Vietnam — Women prominent in the struggle against US aggression and the reconstruction following victory talk about themselves, their vision and their responsibilities in today's Vietnam. SBS, Monday, March 25, 11.05pm.
African Footsteps — British Labour MP Paul Boateng takes his young son Ben on his first trip to Ghana, travelling down the Gold Coast to the slave forts where Paul's father — a minister in independent Ghana's first government — was once imprisoned. A Ghanaian comedian tours Accra and explains the humour of African jokes. SBS, Tuesday, March 26, 8pm.
Movie: Underground (1987) — Video alert! A young woman revolutionary falls in love with the leader of an underground organisation fighting the Batista dictatorship in Cuba in 1958. From Cuba. SBS, Wednesday, March 27, 12.50am.
Tales from a Hard City — Sheffield was once a thriving industrial town, where young people had a good chance of getting a job. With the help of Maggie Thatcher, factories have closed up and the north of England and Scotland have been devastated. The British government now says these regions must base their economies on tourism and entertainment. This doco looks at four people attempting to find this elusive future. ABC TV, Wednesday, March 27, 8.30pm.
Movie: Street Urchins (1989) — A play performed by children from a Neapolitan detention centre, based on the real lives of the cast. It is interspersed with stark reminders of the brutality of their lives. From Italy. SBS, Wednesday, March 27, 11.15pm.