Blog

Illustration of a woman standing in front of the Earth, surrounded by waves, clouds, and weather patterns.
Beyond the Films
September, 5, 2023

Got Climate Anxiety? You’re Not Alone, but Here’s How to Cope

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Jennie Rose With climate-related events bombarding us on a seemingly daily basis, there's naturally a corresponding increase in eco-anxiety, a chronic fear of environmental devastation. The Independent Lens short documentary Everything Wrong and Nowhere to Go inspired me to…
illustrated animated film still of young Matt from the film Brother
Behind the Films
August, 30, 2023

Feeding Our “Hungry Ghosts”: The Misunderstood Pain Behind Addiction

Independent Lens in Behind the Films

By Ivonne Spinoza Brother is an intimate portrayal of addiction that makes us question our preconceptions and helps shed light on what really goes on inside the mind of a person suffering through this process. I spoke with filmmaker Joanna…
Black and white iIllustration of a woman forensic scientist digging up a human skeleton.
July, 18, 2023

El Equipo

Independent Lens

Legendary U.S. anthropologist Dr. Clyde Snow sets out to train a new group of Latin American students in the use of forensic anthropology. Their goal: to investigate disappearances in Argentina during the “dirty war.” The group expands its horizons, traveling…
An injection site in Vancouver with orange colored partitions separating different areas. A sign reads "Injection site open all night." A man with a ponytail and long beard stands in the middle of the site looking off camera to the right.
Behind the Films
February, 23, 2023

How Vancouver Finds Hope and Love Amid Fentanyl Crisis

Independent Lens in Behind the Films

  By Ivonne Spinoza One of the more horrible legacies we are left with from the war on drugs is the lack of compassion toward those who struggle with addiction. Instead of treating this crisis as a health issue, society…
A woman stands facing the camera in an alley covered in murals. She wears glasses and a shirt reading "EASTVAN."
August, 16, 2022

Love in the Time of Fentanyl

Independent Lens

As deaths in Vancouver, Canada reach an all-time high, the Overdose Prevention Society opens its doors—a renegade supervised drug consumption site that employs active and former drug users. Its staff and volunteers do whatever it takes to save lives and…
A woman with light skin tone, curly dark hair, and a silver nose ring looks out of a car window.
August, 16, 2022

Silent Beauty

Independent Lens

In this autobiographical exploration of survivorship, New Orleans journalist and filmmaker Jasmín Mara López unabashedly shares her process of healing from childhood sexual abuse. After Jasmín discloses to her family she'd been abused by her grandfather, she liberates others to…
Two people in a bright, light-filled room with tall windows help a man in a wheelchair lean back and stretch his arm.
August, 16, 2022

Matter of Mind: My ALS

Independent Lens

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neuromuscular disease with an average survival time of 2-5 years from diagnosis. In this intimate exploration, three people with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, bravely face different paths as they live with this progressively…
A mother and her daughter, both with light skin tone, pose together in front on a sunset. The steeple of a church is backlit behind them.
August, 16, 2022

Mama Bears

Independent Lens

They call one another “mama bears” because of the ferocity with which they fight for their children’s rights. Although they grew up as fundamentalist, evangelical Christians praying for the souls of LGTBQ+ people, these mothers are now willing to risk…
Black and white portrait of a woman posing defiantly in a wheelchair. Surrounding her is a gallery wall of different artwork.
August, 5, 2022

Move Me

Independent Lens

At 27, Kelsey Peterson dove into Lake Superior as a dancer and emerged paralyzed. But within the spinal cord injury (SCI) community, she found allies in her quest to discover who she is now and to dance with disability. When…
Illustrated image of a young boy's face with light skin tone and brown hair as he looks upwards towards a starry sky.
July, 7, 2022

Brother

Independent Lens

A filmmaker's intimate phone calls with her brother explore his fragile recovery from opioid addiction.
Film poster for "Hazing" showing a young man with medium-dark skin tone and a young woman with light skin tone. Over both their eyes is a red blindfold that says the word "Hazing" on it.
June, 22, 2022

Hazing

Independent Lens

Hazing is a widespread, far-reaching practice fueled by tradition, secrecy, groupthink, power, and the desire to belong in fraternities and sororities on college campuses across the U.S. Filmmaker Byron Hurt embarks on a deeply personal journey to understand the underground…
An illustration of a young girl weighed down by a heavy red and yellow backpack.
Beyond the Films
April, 27, 2022

How Today’s High School Students Face High Pressure in a Grind Culture

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Gail Cornwall Christina Zhang, 16, averages a couple hours of free time a day, but it’s hard to watch Netflix. “The whole time you’re thinking about, ‘Oh, what if other people are working right now, and they are getting…