The Glass House
This cinéma vérité look inside a Tehran rehab center for poor young women spotlights four of them, including an aspiring rapper and a 14-year-old pushed into drug addiction by her own mother. Following their journeys to health and self-esteem over 18 months, the film offers a moving message of hope. Monday, Nov. 16, at 9 p.m., Sundance Channel
Frontline: A Death in Tehran
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Following Iran’s controversial presidential election last summer, Neda Soltani—the young woman whose death during a protest was captured by camera phone and uploaded to the Web—became familiar around the world as a symbol for Iranian reformists. Frontline chronicles her life and death, and seeks to uncover exactly how many protesters were arrested and killed following the election. Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Independent Lens: No Subtitles Necessary
Hungarian émigrés Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond were two of the most important American cinematographers of the 1970s. This Cannes Film Festival selection follows the two friends’ odyssey, which began when they were film students who daringly shot footage of the Soviet invasion in Budapest, then barely escaped to the U.S. with their lives. Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Deep Secrets: The Ballard Gallipoli Expeditions
During the Gallipoli campaign of 1915, several French and British warships sank off the coast of Turkey. Cameras follow oceanographer Bob Ballard—who famously discovered the wrecks of the Titanic and the Bismarck—to the undersea graveyard of one of the bloodiest chapters of World War I. Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 9 p.m., National Geographic Channel
Mustang—Journey of Transformation
Isolated between Tibet and Nepal, the ancient kingdom of Mustang is “a time capsule of Tibetan culture,” says Richard Gere, narrator of this documentary. Now time, poverty, and the elements threaten one of the last refuges of ancient Buddhist tradition, and experts are fighting to restore its magnificent temples. The evocative film includes an interview with the Dalai Lama. Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Other highlights
e2 design
This new series examines how architects are incorporating environmentalism into their designs. This week it looks at housing in Austin and in Mexico’s Sonoran Desert. Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m., Sundance Channel
Modern Family
This ensemble sitcom has turned out to be one of the brighter spots in the fall season. In this episode, an anniversary gift and a night out have unexpected consequences. Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 9 p.m., ABC
Mars: Making the New Earth
Could Mars be made habitable? Computer animation brings a NASA astrobiologist’s vision to life. Thursday, Nov. 19, at 9 p.m., National Geographic Channel
