Blog

Actor Jared Leto, wearing a red beanie, lights a blow torch in the dark.
Behind the Films
January, 6, 2021

How Jared Leto and 92 Film Crews Captured 24 Hours in America

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

In some ways, you'd think Jared Leto, Oscar-winning actor, movie star, and frontman for Platinum-selling band (with his brother Shannon) 30 Seconds to Mars, would not need much of an introduction. But now you can add another hat, with a…
Fenell Doremus with kid on laptop and husband and dog in background
Interviews
October, 29, 2020

Parenting and Making Docs During a Pandemic? It’s a Juggling Act

Independent Lens in Interviews

By Ivonne Spinoza "Producing films often translates to putting out fires before they start, so I suppose this gets you ready for parenting in a pandemic, generally speaking, but did I feel prepared for the reality of 2020? That’s a…
Composite image of a vintage TV on a creek with a episode of Colombo playing on it
Lifestyle
September, 24, 2020

Comfort Viewing: What Filmmakers and Writers Are Watching to Get Through It

Craig Phillips in Lifestyle

What are YOU watching to provide comfort during these trying times? Filmmakers, artists, critics and writers chimed in with their personal favorite shows and films to watch when in dire need of checking out and calming down, which, let's face…
5 people with various shades of skin tone sit together on the set of Soul! They are all wearing fabulous 1960s/70s outfits.
September, 21, 2020

Mr. SOUL!

Independent Lens

In 1968, America’s first Black variety show, “SOUL!,” helmed by producer and host Ellis Haizlip, premiered on public television. The pioneering series ran for five years, cementing itself as not only a vehicle to celebrate African American artistry, community, and…
Black and white photograph of a smiling woman using a wheelchair while her young son plays peek-a-boo in her lap.
July, 16, 2020

The Evolution of Disability in Film: After the Accolades, the Work Continues

Independent Lens

By Lawrence Carter-Long Once upon a time, disability was just a diagnosis. Through time, the word has evolved to encompass larger more expansive concepts like community, identity, and culture. In 2020—thirty years after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act—anyone…
Still from the 1920 film "Within Our Gates" showing a mob of white men preparing to lynch a young Black boy, while a woman hugs him.
Beyond the Films
February, 20, 2020

As American as the Blues: Lynching in Film and TV

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Ade Adeniji Always in Season explores the history of lynching through the mysterious 2014 death of Lennon Lacy while also looking at historical reenactments of lynching, prompting some to question the value of conjuring up the past. The specter…
Black and white image of text reading "2020." One of the zeroes is a clock.
Lifestyle
December, 20, 2019

New Year’s Resolutions and Goals from the Independent Lens Film Family

Independent Lens in Lifestyle

What are your own resolutions for the New Year? Or your personal hopes, dreams, and goals? We reached out to some members of the Independent Lens family -- the directors behind some of our recent films -- to ask them…
menorah
Lifestyle
December, 10, 2019

9 Lights for Hanukkah: Finding Light in Dark Times

Sharon Knolle in Lifestyle

This Hanukkah, as millions light their menorahs and rededicate themselves to their family, their faith and their communities, we look for ways to find and share joy, light, healing, and blessings. We reached out to filmmakers, authors, and film critics…
Announcements
April, 16, 2019

Independent Lens Wins Two 2018 Peabody Awards

Craig Phillips in Announcements

Independent Lens is proud to announce that two of the series' films —Dolores and The Judge — have won 2018 Peabody Awards in the Documentary category. The oldest and most prestigious award for electronic media, honoring the “most powerful, enlightening and invigorating stories…
Copyright IDIOM Film, Courtesy RaMell Ross; Family at hospital, from Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Behind the Films
February, 7, 2019

RaMell Ross Charts “the Visual Story of Blackness” in Oscar-Nominated Doc

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Just one year after RaMell Ross' Hale County This Morning, This Evening won a Special Jury Award at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, the filmmaker will follow his film's television debut on PBS by awaiting the Academy Awards, where it is…
Elvis Presley's Rolls-Royce parks in front of a row house, in The King
Beyond the Films
January, 23, 2019

Elvis and the Death of the American Dream, Through Movies

Sean Axmaker in Beyond the Films

Elvis Presley is ostensibly the subject of The King, Eugene Jarecki's expansive road movie of a documentary. The award-winning director drives Presley's 1963 Rolls-Royce across the US, from Mississippi and Memphis to Nashville, New York, Las Vegas, Hollywood, and elsewhere,…
Indie Lens Wins 2 News & Doc Emmy Awards
Awards
October, 2, 2018

Independent Lens Wins Two 2018 News & Documentary Emmys: TOWER and Forever Pure

Craig Phillips in Awards

  The News & Documentary Emmy Awards were presented on Monday, October 1, 2018, in a ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City, an event attended by more than 1,000 television and news…