An intimate documentary with the soul of an epic, “Up the Yangtze” on “P.O.V.” (9 p.m., PBS, check local listings) packs more story, more drama, more strange, deadpan humor, political insight, heartache and human emotion into its 90-minute running time than many major motion pictures. It’s a small, personal film with a grand subject and a reminder of the power of filmmaking to inform, entertain and put us in the shoes of people who are caught up – quite literally – in the rising tide of history.

The film follows a family of peasant farmers whose ramshackle house is slated to be flooded out by the completion of the enormous Three Gorges Dam. The shy 16-year-old girl Yu Shui wants to go to high school and university and become a scientist, but her illiterate father insists that she get a job.

She joins the staff of an enormous cruise ship that ferries foreign tourists up the river on “Farewell Tours” – one last glimpse of ancient Chinese cities and landscape destined to be drowned by the giant dam. The cruise ship evokes memories of both “Grand Hotel” and “The Love Boat” while offering perspectives on the changing Chinese society and economy.

Yu Shui moves from heartache to a grudging acceptance of her fate in the disorienting new economic order. An elderly Western lounge pianist drills tourists in the rudiments of conversational Chinese while a glib Chinese manager and master of ceremonies teaches his teenage employees the do’s and don’ts of interacting with tourists. “Don’t use words like ‘fat,'” he tells them. But “plump” is OK.

A brash teenage bellhop relates the best strategies for extracting the biggest tips from the most gullible tourists and exults that he is already making more money than his parents.

And all the time the water rises, bringing the certain promise that progress will destroy the only world that Yu Shui’s family has ever known. Like many of its characters, “Yangtze” never shouts or calls attention to itself. But it is a rare film that examines staggering consequences of change while keeping the focus on the personal. It’s a gem not to be missed.

¢ “The Tony Rock Project” (8 p.m., MyNetwork) features the younger brother of Chris Rock in an ensemble sketch project lampooning stereotypes and prejudices. Perhaps they should hire the younger siblings of some better writers, too.

¢ “The Sarah Silverman Program” (9:30 p.m., Comedy Central) enters a new season with an ambitious sendup of stoner comedies. Garry Marshall cameos.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Half of a cadaver yields a bounty of confusion on “Bones” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ A girl runs off to join the circus on “Pushing Daisies” (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ “Latinos ’08” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) looks at the election from the perspective of Hispanic voters.

¢ The four top contestants compete for three spots on “Project Runway” (8 p.m., Bravo), otherwise known as “Everybody Hates Kenley.”

¢ A death in the family on “Dirty Sexy Money” (9 p.m., ABC).

Cult choice

A nurse (Pam Grier) become an urban vigilante in the 1973 action film “Coffy” (9 p.m., IFC).

Series notes

Good publicity on “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (8 p.m., CBS)