Blog

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…
Michele Stellato sits in front of her walker
Beyond the Films
April, 27, 2023

“Laughter Is My Outlet”: How Michele Stellato is Living and Coping with ALS

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

After being diagnosed as a young woman with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), Michele “Shelly” Stellato said, "We had to decide what to do with the time we had left.” Part of that decision on living life in the moment despite…
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…
Film poster for "Jim Allison: Breakthrough" showing a black and white image of a man standing over a microscope.
Contests
January, 31, 2023

Book Giveaway! Jim Allison: This Is What a Hero Looks Like

Independent Lens in Contests

Celebrate an unconventional superhero. We're giving away seven incredible This Is What a Hero Looks Like coffee table books, a companion to our award-winning documentary, Jim Allison: Breakthrough. Enter for your chance to win!   'This Is What a Hero Looks Like' Book Giveaway
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.
July, 5, 2022

World Without Oil

Independent Lens

On April 30, 2007, the world entered a global oil shock. Or so it seems at World Without Oil, an online 'alternate reality' that enlisted the world's collective imagination to document the oil crisis with blogs, videos, and images. As the…
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…