Frontline
Season 9
TV-MA
Since it began in 1983, Frontline has been airing public-affairs documentaries that explore a wide scope of the complex human experience. Frontline's goal is to extend the impact of the documentary beyond its initial broadcast by serving as a catalyst for change.
Where to Watch Season 9
28 Episodes
- The Arming of Iraq: Frontline SpecialE1
The Arming of Iraq: Frontline SpecialFrontline examines how Saddam Hussein built Iraq's massive arsenal of tanks, planes, missiles, and chemical weapons during the 1980's. Correspondent Hodding Carter investigates the complicity of the US, European governments, and Western corporations in creating the Iraqi military machine the world is now trying to stop. - Decade of Destruction (1): Ashes of ForestE2
Decade of Destruction (1): Ashes of ForestAdrian Cowell's epic, ten-year-long series begins with a tale reminiscent of the American Wild West. A Brazilian settler brings his family to live deep in the Amazon, in Indian territory. Two of his sons are murdered and another is kidnapped by a renegade Indian tribe. For four years, a government expedition searches for the Indians and the child. Meanwhile, the colonists' expansion continues to encroach on the Indians' land. The series follows landless peasants as they are lured to the forest with promises of free land and big harvests. As the forest is slashed and burned, the crisis is taken to the US Congress, where under pressure, the World Bank finally changes its policies toward Brazilian development. - Decade of Destruction (2): Killing for LandE3
Decade of Destruction (2): Killing for LandPart II follows the land wars which broke out as millions of poor farmers migrated to massive ranches in the Brazilian rain forest. As squatters, they begin to work the land until absentee landlords hire gunmen to kill these peasants. The peasants take up arms themselves, and the result is a lawless gun battle. - Decade of Destruction (3): Mountains of GoldE4
Decade of Destruction (3): Mountains of GoldPart III follows the gold rush of 200,000 illegal prospectors who swarm over private gold reserves in the rain forest. As security forces track the prospectors, the government fights to protect the world's largest untapped gold reserves. - Decade of Destruction (4): Chico MendeE5
Decade of Destruction (4): Chico MendeThe series concludes with the story of Chico Mendes, a rubber tapper whose murder in 1988 brought worldwide attention to the problem of Amazonian deforestation. Mendes had become a symbol of the struggle between the rubber tappers and landowners. After surviving attempts on his life, Mendes was finally murdered by gunmen allegedly from a neighboring cattle ranch. - The Hunt for Howard MarksE8
The Hunt for Howard MarksFor 20 years, one man - Oxford-educated Dennis Howard Marks - was responsible for running an international drug market that shipped marijuana into the US by the ton. Frontline tells the story of the man who believed that he was too smart to be caught-and the DEA agent who was determined to prove him wrong. - Betting on the LotteryE10
Betting on the LotteryLottery fever is spreading. Twenty-nine states now raise $20 billion a year in revenues. Frontline correspondent James Reston, Jr., goes behind the scenes of state lotteries to look at the promoters selling them, the people buying the tickets, and to ask the question, ‘Who really wins and who loses?’ - Springfield Goes to WarE11
Springfield Goes to WarAs the threat of war in the Gulf grows, a middle-sized American city grapples with the reason hundreds of thousands of US troops are being sent to Saudi Arabia. As one of the country's embarkation points for US troops and equipment, Springfield, Massachusetts has a special connection to the deployment. A student, a protester, a soldier, and a family join correspondent Bill Moyers and others in a special town meeting to discuss their hopes and fears. - High Crimes and MisdemeanorsE12
High Crimes and MisdemeanorsFour years after the Iran-contra scandal broke, correspondent Bill Moyers examines-for the first time on television-the full record of this story, documenting the scale of White House deceit and analyzing the failures of our other democratic institutions: the Congress, the press, and the law. - The Struggle for South AfricaE13
The Struggle for South AfricaAs fear and violence mount, Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk struggle to control the tumultuous course of change in South Africa. Correspondent David Dimbleby examines the lineup of forces on each side-Afrikaners and blacks-and the divisions within each group that could disrupt negotiations for a new South Africa. - The Spirit of Crazy Horse
E14The Spirit of Crazy HorseOne hundred years after the massacre at Wounded Knee, Milo Yellow Hair recounts the story of his people-from the lost battles for their land against the invading whites-to the bitter internal divisions and radicalization of the 1970's-to the present-day revival of Sioux cultural pride, which has become a unifying force as the Sioux try to define themselves and their future. - To the Brink of WarE15
To the Brink of WarOn January 15, 1991, the United Nations resolution that allowed the use of force against Saddam Hussein took effect. Frontline correspondent Hodding Carter examined the critical decisions inside the White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon that had brought the nation to the brink of war. - The Man Who Made the SupergunE17
The Man Who Made the SupergunFrontline examines the career of one of the world's most brilliant designers of weaponry, Gerald Bull, who designed long-range artillery used by Iraq during the Gulf War. Bull was murdered at his home in Brussels, Belgium, in March 1990-a murder believed to have been orchestrated by the Israeli secret intelligence agency, Mossad. - The Mind of HusseinE19
The Mind of HusseinFrontline investigates the personal and political history of Iraq's Saddam Hussein. Through interviews with Hussein's former neighbors, members of his government, military leaders, journalists, and Middle East experts, correspondent Hodding Carter reveals the fears, the passions, and the intellect of the man behind the demonic image. - Black America's WarE20
Black America's WarNearly thirty percent of all US soldiers in the Gulf War were black Americans. But blacks were much more skeptical than whites about the decision to go to war. Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree leads a Frontline town meeting that explores the source of black attitudes and the impact of the war on the lives of black Americans. - The Election Held HostageE22
The Election Held HostageOn January 20, 1981, just as Ronald Reagan became the 40th president of the United States, Iran finally released the 52 American hostages it had held for 444 days. Frontline reporter Robert Parry investigates startling new evidence about how both the Carter and Reagan camps may have tried to forge secret deals for those hostages during the 1980 presidential campaign. - Innocence LostE24
Innocence LostWhat has happened to the small town of Edenton, North Carolina, now that its most prestigious day-care has been closed down because of charges of sexual abuse? Frontline examines the painful personal story of a divided community, the tangled roots of the charges, and the history of the investigation in this highly controversial case. - The Spy HunterE25
The Spy HunterCorrespondent Tom Mangold profiles the mysterious, tortured life of James Angleton, ex-chief of counter-intelligence for the CIA who was obsessed by the belief that the agency was harboring a mole. His pursuit ruined lives and careers and seriously skewed US intelligence. - To the Last FishE26
To the Last FishCorrespondent Al Austin looks at the mass environmental destruction of the world's fisheries caused by new technologies in the fishing industry. Interviews with fishermen, businessmen, scientists, and government leaders reveal how the vital marine resource is in a dangerous state of decline. - The Color of Your SkinE27
The Color of Your SkinAn intimate journey into America's great racial divide, reported by David Maraniss. For 16 weeks, behind a two-way mirror in a small room at the US military's intensive race relations course, a dozen Americans-black, white, and Hispanic-confront each other with their racial anger, pain, and bewilderment. This group's dramatic struggle poses the vital question: can America overcome its racial conflicts and make equality work? - The Gates NominationE28
The Gates NominationAt the start of US Senate confirmation hearings, Frontline probes the background of Robert M. Gates, President Bush's nominee to head the CIA. The program, anchored by Hodding Carter III, focuses on Gates's role in the Iran-contra affair and in a secret US policy to help Saddam Hussein build and maintain his war machine.
