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Beyond the Films
March, 25, 2019

How to Pronounce (and Not Pronounce) “Tre Maison Dasan”

One of the three "stars" of the documentary Tre Maison Dasan, Maison is a funny, charming, hyper-articulate 11-year-old whose Autism Spectrum Disorder presents itself through his ever-active mind and deep love for those around him. He also very much wants you to…
portrait of Philbert McCleod, from What Was Ours
Beyond the Films
January, 18, 2017

Philbert McLeod: Never Conquered (and Rest in Peace)

In this piece created for Independent Lens by filmmaker Mat Hames, we get to know more about Eastern Shoshone tribal elder Philbert McLeod, one of the stars of Hames' Independent Lens documentary What Was Ours. Philbert had an incredible breadth…
Artists Sara Lattis Stone paints at an easel.
Where Are They Now?
April, 17, 2015

Survivors: Confronting Deepwater Horizon Trauma through Oil on Canvas

Artist Sara Lattis Stone, whose husband Stephen Stone escaped the Deepwater Horizon disaster alive, turned to her craft — painting — as a means of confronting the post-traumatic stress her family endured following the tragedy. In a victim impact statement…
Portrait of Kasey, one of the formerly-homeless teens from The Homestretch.
Where Are They Now?
April, 13, 2015

Update: Kasey Checks In

Kasey, one of the three formerly homeless teens portrayed in The Homestretch who are striving to make a better future for themselves, checked in just today to give us all an update on how she's doing. After you watch the…
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October, 21, 2013

The Waiting Room Bonus Videos: More People, More Perspectives

  All of these clips come courtesy of Waiting Room filmmaker Peter Nicks and his "Storytelling Project," which is found on the official site for the film. Consider these mini-features "bonus material" to accompany the main feature, adding extra layers to…
January, 22, 2013

We’re Having Fun Behind the Scenes at Sundance

Can't make it to Sundance Film Festival this year? Neither could some of us at the office, and at least a few other people in the world. But tens of thousands of others have descended on the festival, and our…
September, 24, 2012

Half the Sky: Addressing Maternal Mortality

In many developing countries, pregnancy may as well be considered a death sentence. With the premiere of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide just a week away, we felt it was the perfect time to provide…
Filmmaker Samantha Grant
September, 17, 2012

Welcome Our New Host, Stanley Tucci

It’s official! Our 11th season will be hosted by the acclaimed actor and filmmaker Stanley Tucci! From The Hunger Games to Independent Lens … a logical progression, wouldn't you say? (We can’t help it, some of us around the office…
August, 17, 2012

Help Us Create a Monday Music Playlist

Who's got a case of the Mondays? We do! As you may know, we have a new home on the television schedule starting in October — Monday nights at 10 PM. Yay for Monday! So right after you watch Antiques…
August, 16, 2012

Celebrating Monday Nights, with a 60-Man Welsh Chorus Covering New Order

We wish it were for us, but we love it anyway and want to share, because we are so excited to be on Monday nights this Fall! Herewith, the 60-piece Brythoniad Male Voice Choir covering New Order's classic pop hit…
July, 25, 2012

Team Wyman-Haworth Talk About the Adventure of Making Strong!

We love when a filmmaker and her subject drop in at our offices, especially when they are as funny and charming as these two! Julie Wyman, whose film Strong! premieres on Independent Lens tomorrow, July 26, at 10 PM (check…
June, 11, 2012

PSA Posters from the Early AIDS Years

This week's film is David Weissman's We Were Here, which deals with the impact of HIV/AIDS in San Francisco from the early 1980s to the early 1990s. It will air on Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 10 PM (check local…
Where Are They Now?
May, 15, 2012

Update! See What Has Become of the Nomad Family Portrayed in Summer Pasture

Locho, Yama, and Pale Chubby Baby ... where are they now? Lynn True, co-director of Summer Pasture, provided us with these fantastic video updates from the Tibetan plateau in which we discover what has happened to the nomad family in…
Where Are They Now?
May, 4, 2012

Video Extras and Updates About the Ponces of Circo

If you've seen Circo, you might be wondering whatever happened to Tino and his wife, Ivonne after she left, and of course the children, the extended family, and the circus itself. We certainly wanted to know what had happened to…
April, 30, 2012

Deep Inside Mexico, Filmmaker Finds Remnants of a Rich but Endangered Culture

Aaron Schock wanted to make a documentary about Mexico that wasn't about immigration, for a change. While scouting for subjects in the rural communities off the beaten path, he happened upon a traveling circus, and the rest is, well, Circo.…
Where Are They Now?
April, 27, 2012

The Return: Genetically Pure Bison Reintroduced to Montana

After shooting wrapped on Facing the Storm: Story of the American Bison, filmmaker Doug Hawes-Davis captured the story of the historic transfer of wild, genetically-pure bison from Yellowstone National Park to the Fort Peck tribes of northeastern Montana. Here's his 16-minute…
April, 13, 2012

What Returning Soldiers Have in Common With AIDS in the 1980s

Yes it sounds like an outrageous nonsequitur, but bear with it. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow's new book Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power includes a passage in the epilogue that makes the parallel. In the book, Maddow makes the…
April, 12, 2012

Meet Septentrional — Video Interview with the Band

We caught up with filmmaker Whitney Dow and some members of Septentrional while they were in New York this week. The band is on a mini-tour in New York, playing at the Maranatha Auditorium in Queens on Friday, at the…
April, 5, 2012

Kevin Clash and Elmo Video Hits Pt. 2

Tonight at 9pm, tune in for Being Elmo on your local PBS station! Until then, you might need a fix, so we're here for you. Of course, Elmo is a television star, so between his work on Sesame Street and…
Uncategorized
March, 1, 2012

Month-Long Women and Girls Lead Online Film Festival Kicks Off

Women and Girls Lead, a public media campaign designed to uplift, empower, and celebrate women who are making change around the world, is honoring Women's History Month with a month-long online film festival featuring many audience favorites from the Independent…
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February, 15, 2012

Join Independent Lens and PBS NewsHour for a Social Screening of More Than a Month

The day after the PBS broadcast premiere of More Than a Month on Independent Lens, join us for a social screening of the film at 12PM PT / 3PM ET on Friday, February 17. Filmmaker Shukree Tighlman will participate in…
February, 11, 2012

Talib Kweli Celebrates Black History Month

American visionary Talib Kweli, who appears in The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, has a message for PBS viewers this month.
Where Are They Now?
February, 10, 2012

Lioness Filmmakers Respond to Pentagon Announcement

On February 9th, 2012, the Pentagon unveiled plans to allow women to serve in jobs that would put them closer to the front lines but still block them from all-male infantry, armor, and special-operation units. Although represented by the Pentagon…
February, 8, 2012

The Island President Ousted — Filmmakers Respond

The Island President, directed by Jon Shenk and produced by Bonni Cohen and Richard Berge, debuted at Sundance just two weeks ago. We told you then how thrilled we were that the film will be on Independent Lens next season.…
February, 7, 2012

Angela Davis Weighs in on Black Power versus Occupy Wall St.

Dr. Angela Davis, former member of the Black Panther Party and Communist Party and now a renowned activist, professor, and intellectual on the topic of human rights, discussed The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 with PBS NewsHour's Hari Sreenivasan last month.…
February, 3, 2012

Special Free Episode of THE 99, This Weekend Only

If you saw our season premiere, Wham! Bam! Islam! then you are familiar with THE 99, a comic book and animated series featuring a band of heroes drawn from the 99 virtues of Allah. THE 99 is the first and…
February, 2, 2012

Sharon La Cruise Discusses Daisy Bates, “a Different Kind of Hero”

Premiering tonight, February 2 on Independent Lens (check your local listings), Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock examines the life and legacy of Daisy Bates, who organized nine African American children to integrate Central High School in the Arkansas…
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February, 1, 2012

Join Our Social Screening of Daisy Bates Friday from Little Rock

On Friday, February 3 we're producing an interactive screening of the documentary Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock from Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas. Moderated by PBS NewsHour's Hari Sreenivasan and featuring filmmaker Sharon La Cruise, the event…
January, 20, 2012

Dr. Angela Davis Reflects on the Black Power Movement

Earlier this month, Independent Lens launched a slate of films celebrating Black History at the Television Critics Association in Los Angeles. While at the event, the series teamed up with PBS NewsHour's Hari Sreenivasan to interview many of the filmmakers…
December, 25, 2011

A Love Letter to Celluloid Penned by Two Doc Makers

Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton are co-founders of Gravitas Docufilms in California, and the producers of These Amazing Shadows, which made its debut on Independent Lens on Dec. 29, 2011 (check local listings). Their film is a departure for both…
December, 22, 2011

Behind the Scenes of The Woodmans with C. Scott Willis and Lois Vossen

This week marks the premiere of The Woodmans, a film by C. Scott Willis about a family of successful artists and the fallout from the death of their youngest and most celebrated member. Francesca Woodman was a talented, visionary, and…
December, 6, 2011

The Greatest Movie Montages — Got a Favorite?

Our good friends Kurt Norton and Paul Mariano who produced These Amazing Shadows (which airs on Independent Lens on Dec. 29) have posted a really cool video on their blog about the great art of the movie montage. And that's…
Uncategorized
August, 11, 2011

IL Classic China Blue to Stream Free; Chat on Globalization with PBS NewsHour

Next up on the summer ITVS Indies Showcase is an Independent Lens classic, China Blue. Micha Peled's stunning undercover film follows Jasmine, one of many teenagers working at a blue jeans factory, struggling to survive brutal work conditions. Shot clandestinely…
August, 10, 2011

A Trip Down Memory Lane with the PBS Logo

Almost nothing makes me so nostalgic as the bumpers and "idents" (network identification spots) of the media of my childhood. That got me thinking about the PBS logo through the years -- which is a very personal anchor for a…
May, 25, 2011

Women and Girls Lead Featured at PBS Annual Meeting

We kicked it off with Bhutto two weeks ago, and last week the PBS family assembled in Orlando, Florida and discussed the ITVS initiative Women and Girls Lead. Check out this panel moderated by Pat Harrison, president of the Corporation…
May, 17, 2011

Ethnobiology Enthusiast Filmmaker versus MOTHRA!

We caught up with Jessica Oreck, the director of Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, to talk about her maiden voyage into documentary filmmaking. For a young woman who spent a lifetime fascinated with bugs and movies, Oreck's film seems almost like…
Director Jeff Malmberg and Mark Hogancamp with their Marwencol alter egos. (Photo by Chris Shellen)
April, 25, 2011

Marwencol Director Reflects on a Man, His Dolls, and the Touch of Genius

Jeff Malmberg, director of Marwencol, took on much more than just a film project when he decided to shoot a documentary about Mark Hogancamp. Intrigued by a magazine article about Mark and his imaginary backyard universe, Jeff had to earn…
April, 1, 2011

Unearthing the Miraculous in a Far Away Land

Amanda Pope and Tchavdar Georgiev discovered a book at a flea market in Moscow about Russian avant-garde art that miraculously survived Soviet censorship. That chance encounter led to many years traveling back and forth between Los Angeles, Moscow, and Uzbekistan,…
January, 19, 2011

Find and Use the Secret Word to Win Our Basquiat Poster

Yeah, we're doing another contest because we really like giving stuff away. First, did you know that select Independent Lens films are screened in more than 95 communities nationwide -- at schools, libraries, veteran's halls, etc. -- every month? It's…
January, 11, 2011

Crisis in Haiti Especially Dire for Children

Children of Haiti premieres on Independent Lens tonight at 10 PM. As tomorrow's one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake approaches, the media is alight with stories of rebuilding efforts, humanitarian missions, the still-desperate conditions inside the tent camps which sprung…
December, 23, 2010

Happy Winter Holidays from Independent Lens!

All of us at Independent Lens wish you and yours a safe, warm, peaceful, and joyous holiday season, and a prosperous and intellectually stimulating 2011! See more Independent Lens.
December, 13, 2010

Are You an Independent Lens Facebook Fan?

Our lovely and talented host America Ferrera invites you to join us on Facebook, where we offer exclusive events and content not always available on our website. We have some of the liveliest discussions about our films and the issues…
November, 16, 2010

Lost Sparrow director: ‘If I had known what I was getting myself into, I wouldn’t have made the film.’

Bobby and Tyler Billing ran away on a Monday. Their bodies were discovered on the train tracks on Tuesday. They were buried on Wednesday. Their family moved to their summer home on Thursday and barely spoke of the boys again.…