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A table of assorted South Asian dishes and spices, like curries, rice, and coriander.
Beyond the Films
November, 17, 2023

“Stinky Lunch Kids Strike Back”: South Asians Redefine What American Food Can Mean

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Bedatri D. Choudhury Journalist and chef Pervaiz Shallwani’s mother moved from Pakistan to Toronto, where she ate her first hot dog in 1975. “She thought it was the grossest thing ever,” Shallwani said in a conversation. The “idea of…
Painting of green field with trees in fall colors and farm animals
September, 6, 2023

Greener Pastures

Independent Lens

There is a mental health crisis happening for many American farmers. A combination of climate change and the pandemic have contributed to increasing economic uncertainty and isolation. Following four family farms in the Midwest over several years, the documentary Greener…
A small red boat powers through still water. A figure at the front of the boat holds a harpoon ready to be thrown. Below the boat, the tail of a whale appears.
September, 6, 2023

One With the Whale

Independent Lens

Hunting whales is a matter of life or death for the residents of St. Lawrence. When a shy Alaska Native teen becomes the youngest person ever to harpoon a whale for his village, his family is blindsided by thousands of…
Two men standing outside building that says Punjabi
June, 7, 2023

Spice Road

Independent Lens

In Spice Road, a food and travel series spreading the joy of South Asian cuisine, culture, and community, actor Rupak Ginn road-trips across America’s small towns and big cities, where intrepid immigrants set up eateries as eclectic as South Asia…
A smiling Cambodian-American man in a suit offers a pink box of donuts through a drive-thru window.
Behind the Films
May, 21, 2021

From Cambodia to Southern California: Telling the Story of a King of Donut Shops

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

A Los Angeles native, Alice Gu began her career as a Director of Photography, working with renowned directors Werner Herzog (on his fascinating Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World) and Stacy Peralta. Take Every Wave: The Life of…
A smiling Cambodian American donut clerk offers up a box full of donuts in Southern California
Test Your Knowledge
May, 19, 2021

How Much of a Donut Nut Are You?

Craig Phillips in Test Your Knowledge

Do or donut, there is no try! Do you know your donut from a spudnut? While you watch The Donut King on PBS, test yourself on all things donut-related with this quiz that will make you hungry and may even…
A smiling Cambodian-American man in a suit offers a pink box of donuts through a drive-thru window.
November, 25, 2020

The Donut King

Independent Lens

Co-Presented by Center For Asian American Media (CAAM). An immigrant story with a (glazed) twist, The Donut King follows the journey of Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy, who arrived in California in the 1970s and, through a mixture of diligence and…
The three chefs from alter-NATIVE: Kitchen
November, 15, 2019

alter-NATIVE: Kitchen

Independent Lens

Purveyors of America’s Indigenous foods are forging a resurgence of native dishes that satisfy a new generation hungering for insight and culinary delight. Meet three talented young Indigenous chefs -- Brian Yazzie, a Navajo/Diné chef originally from Arizona, now based…
Jewel Wilson
November, 14, 2019

Jewel’s Hunt

Independent Lens

Sixteen-year-old Jewel Wilson is the next generation in a long line of prolific Inupiat subsistence hunters in Unalakleet, Alaska. Her ability to hunt moose is hindered by two pressing issues – scarce wildlife and the pressures of high school life.…
Vintage photos from the winemaking history of the Robledo family from their collection
Beyond the Films
May, 8, 2019

Harvest Season’s Historical Roots: Latinos in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys

826chi in Beyond the Films

Bittersweet -- this is the taste you’re left with after watching Harvest Season’s central storylines come to a close. Loved ones are reunited while wineries are engulfed in flames and the one constant through all the personal, natural, and political…
Winemaker Vanessa Robledo control-burning her dry grapevines
Behind the Films
May, 7, 2019

Bernardo Ruiz Tells Story of the Central Role Latinos Play in California Wine Industry

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Two-time Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz, who was born in Guanajuato, Mexico and grew up in Brooklyn, made his directorial feature debut with the PBS film Reportero, about attacks on the press in Mexico, which New York Magazine called "a powerful reminder of how…
Simons and Parham in Oakland
Beyond the Films
April, 19, 2019

Stepping Up for Homeless Black People in Oakland

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Pendarvis Harshaw The Independent Lens documentary Charm City brings to mind the long list of urban American cities that fall into the same category as the Baltimore seen in that film: Detroit, Newark, Compton, and Oakland, to name a…