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Old photograph of a man with light skin tone standing on the beach. He wears denim shirt and pants and a cowboy hat with sunglasses.
Behind the Films
April, 23, 2020

Making a Film About the Necessity of Science and Commitment to the Truth

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Bill Haney brought all the hats he's worn into play in making the documentary Jim Allison: Breakthrough. The award-winning filmmaker (he counts a Silver Hugo, an IDA Pare Lorentz Award, as well as a Marine Conservation Award, Genesis Award and…
An older man with light skin tone and gray hair, wearing glasses, passionately plays the blues harmonica.
Beyond the Films
April, 21, 2020

Meet the Mavericks of Science and Medicine

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

by Heather Archuletta [caption id="" align="alignright" width="500"] Ignaz Semmelweis[/caption] In 1847, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis proposed a simple tactic: wash your hands. It’s difficult to imagine this as a medical “breakthrough,” but the Hungarian physician noted that when hand-washing was constant,…
Two women on a busy beach build a sandcastle.
Behind the Films
April, 16, 2020

Filmmaker Asks New Yorkers, What Does the Future Look Like?

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Toronto-based filmmaker Brett Story, whose previous film The Prison in Twelve Landscapes aired on Independent Lens in 2017, holds a PhD in geography and her unconventional storytelling style reflects both a geographer's exploring eye and a listener's empathetic ear. She…
Illustration of a side profile of a human head filled in with a black and white image of a tree with many wiry-looking branches.
Beyond the Films
April, 11, 2020

Rural Perspective on Mental Health Care in a Time of Crisis

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

by Rooney Elmi Kenneth Paul Rosenberg MD’s Bedlam profiles of one of the most pervasive and stigmatized public health crises: mental illness. Taking its titular inspiration from the infamous English “madhouse” founded in the 13th Century (and inspiring Rosenberg’s book…
Headshot of producer/director Kenneth Rosenberg, a man with light skin tone and gray hair and beard.
Beyond the Films
April, 8, 2020

“My Family’s Tragedy Is an American Tragedy”: Bedlam Filmmaker’s Journey to Depict Mental Health Crisis

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

In his film Bedlam, Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, MD follows the lives of three patients who find themselves with a chronic lack of institutional support, while he also weaves in his own story of how the system failed his late sister,…
Close up of a mother and daughter hugging inside of a hospital.
Contests
April, 8, 2020

Enter to Win a Copy of “Bedlam: An Intimate Journey into America’s Mental Health Crisis”

Independent Lens in Contests

Looking for your next great read? Bedlam: An Intimate Journey into America's Mental Health Crisis by Bedlam filmmaker Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, MD, sheds light on the mental-health-care crisis in the United States. The book "has the depth of an encyclopedia…
Beyond the Films
April, 6, 2020

Peer Support and the Complexity of Mental Health

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Lennlee Keep The film Bedlam explores mental illness from the perspectives of physicians, politicians, parents, and patients themselves. The power of documentary film is that it generates conversations about more than what is on the screen. After I watched…
An ancient painting of the Hindu myth of the flood, showing 8 men in a swan-shaped boat sailing alongside a large fish or whale, who is pulling them.
Beyond the Films
February, 14, 2020

A Flood of Myths and Stories

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Lennlee Keep We Believe in Dinosaurs is an exploration of the scientific and historical veracity of the Bible and the construction of an authentic likeness of Noah's Ark in Williamstown, Kentucky.  Known as “The Ark Encounter,” this theme park…
A woman with medium skin tone speaks with a man with light skin tone, gray hair, and glasses inside of an office. She holds up her hand, pointing her finger at him.
Interviews
February, 3, 2020

How “Cooked” Evolved into an Investigation of the Disaster Underlying a Disaster

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Documentary filmmaker Judith Helfand is best known for her ability to take the dark worlds of chemical exposure, heedless corporate behavior and environmental injustice and make them personal, highly-charged and entertaining. Her films include The Uprising of ‘34, the Sundance award-winning…
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…
two ladies from Should We Kid or Not, one a teen mom and the other trying to become a mom at 50
November, 14, 2019

Should We Kid Or Not?

Independent Lens

To kid or not to kid, that is the question. Reproductive choice is often a taboo subject, and in this web series, strangers from all walks of life tackle and debate hot-button topics like sterilization, adoption, and teen pregnancy. Grab…
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.…