Get with the Program: A Motley Crew

There's a wide range of notable programming today on the Sundance Channel. Here's a rundown of what's worth tuning in for:

Eco Documentaries Season 2: In the Pit
Mexican immigration has been a prominent issue in United States politics. On the human rights side, many are outraged by the mistreatment of illegal Mexican workers. This documentary follows Mexican construction workers as they toil on the infrastructure of a Mexico City highway. The injustice comes in with Mexico's lack of recognition for its own working class.

"Crane operators, masons and laborers in Mexico City -- largely anonymous to motorists who speed past them -- speak to the cameras about their lives, hopes and beliefs, and about their risky and often deadly profession. Rulfo's "absorbing" (New York Times) documentary won the Grand Jury Prize for World Documentary at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival."

Watch In the Pit on the Sundance Channel tonight at 7:30pm.

Leila Khaled, Highjacker
What amazing perseverance some people have! But I dare not praise the undying passion for one woman to continually hijack airplanes as means for revenge. The show Fear Factor should have been devoted to capturing the essences of individuals who overcame their fear to achieve whatever terrible or great goals they might have had or still have.

In 1969, Leila Khaled, an attractive 24-year-old Palestinian, made headlines as the first woman to hijack an airplane. A year later, after six operations to alter her identity, she did it again. Despite reports of Khaled's death some years ago, filmmaker Lina Makboul found the former PFLP militant living openly in Jordan, where she remains politically active and unrepentant.

Watch Leila Khaled, Highjacker on Sundance tonight at 9pm or Thursday, Feb. 26 at 1pm.

Make a social event out of watching these episodes charged with social issues. From HIV to homosexual Muslims -- no relation between these issues -- sit down in your over-stuffed, red leather armchair with some tissues and pom-pons.

"Stephen Fry: HIV & Me" (Part 1)
Actor and writer Stephen Fry conducts a personal journey into the contemporary world of HIV and AIDS. In the first half of this engaging, moving and shocking documentary, Fry delves into the reasons behind the rise in new infections and meets a brave teen who talks candidly about living openly with HIV.

Part 1 of "Stephen Fry: HIV & Me" airs tonight at 5:30pm.

"Stephen Fry: HIV & Me" (Part 2)
In concluding the program, "Fry talks with author Armistead Maupin and meets physicians who were among the first to treat patients with the disease in the early 1980s. Later, in Africa, he visits a rural clinic and attempts to discover why life-saving drugs never reach those who need them."

Part 2 of "Stephen Fry: HIV & Me" airs tonight at 6:30pm.

Gay Muslims

In this revealing documentary, filmmaker Cara Lavan investigates the largely hidden population of gay Muslims in Britain. [...] Anonymous gay and lesbian Muslims reflect on how they reconcile their religion with their lifestyle; and a scholar offers insight into Shariah law and passages from the Qur'an.

Gay Muslims airs tonight at 10pm.

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