Blog

doctor takes a patient's blood pressure; image courtesy Rawpixel.com
Beyond the Films
April, 4, 2019

New Efforts to Improve Rural Healthcare Crisis

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Suzanne Gordon The three caregivers we meet in The Providers face daunting challenges as they try to deliver medical and mental healthcare to patients in rural New Mexico. Sadly, their struggles are reproduced all over America because for decades…
Dr Leslie Hayes, smiling at work in her office, in The Providers
Beyond the Films
April, 1, 2019

A Day in the Life of a Rural Doctor, When No Day is the Same

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

Leslie Hayes knew she wanted to become a doctor from a very young age. She was raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico, a community that hosts a national nuclear laboratory and that boasts the highest rate of PhDs per capita…
The filmmakers of The Providers
Behind the Films
March, 27, 2019

How a Lifelong Fascination with Medicine Turned into a Film About the Rural Healthcare Crisis

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

[UPDATED April 6, 2019: We reached out to filmmakers Laura Green and Anna Moot-Levin to gather their thoughts on why they titled their film The Providers.] The filmmaking team behind the Independent Lens documentary The Providers live on opposite coasts from each…
March, 19, 2019

The Seed Saver

Independent Lens

Kristyn Leach was adopted as a baby from South Korea by an Irish-Catholic family on Long Island. It was her rebellious spirit that led her to farming, and it became a way for her to connect with her identity and…
Shen Man and Dabao looking at live streaming on a phone, in People's Republic of Desire
Behind the Films
February, 20, 2019

Director Explores Live Streaming Revolution and How Technology Affects Human Happiness

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Technology executive-turned-filmmaker Hao Wu takes a raw and human approach to storytelling in an era when culture evolves online, and for his very first feature film, People's Republic of Desire Wu won a SXSW Film Festival Grand Jury Prize--pretty impressive…
Elderly woman getting a perm at the salon
January, 25, 2019

Accident, MD

Independent Lens

Accident, MD is a survey of attitudes about America’s healthcare crisis, filmed in and around the small town of Accident, Maryland during the summer before the 2016 election.
Bringing back a bounty of nutria, in Rodents of Unusual Size
Beyond the Films
January, 10, 2019

11 Questions for 3 Filmmakers About a Million Swamp Rats

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

The trio of filmmakers behind the Independent Lens film Rodents of Unusual Size -- Jeff Springer, Chris Metzler and Quinn Costello -- have previously captured unique environmental stories with a very human element to them, as Jeff and Chris made the…
From the film Rodents of Unusual Size, animation of nutria overrunning on island in Louisiana
Beyond the Films
January, 4, 2019

Invasive Species Turned into Sustainable Delicacies

826chi in Beyond the Films

by Claralyse Palmer Vegetarianism has become synonymous with environmentalism, the idea being that going meat-free saves not just animals but the planet (which certainly has some truth to it, especially when it comes to cattle). But the Independent Lens film…
Kelie, in My Country No More, stands in an abandoned farmhouse
Behind the Films
December, 21, 2018

Director Duo Show No Easy Answers in Fight Over Land

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

The team behind the new Independent Lens film My Country No More, Rita Baghdadi and Jeremiah Hammerling, told us they were drawn to Hammerling's native North Dakota to make this film "because his hometown, as well as much of rural America, was changing rapidly…
A Napa winery worker peers into a grapevine, in a scene from Harvest Season
December, 6, 2018

Harvest Season

Independent Lens

Harvest Season probes the lives of the multigenerational Latinos, temporary laborers, and permanent residents intimately connected to the production of premium wines in the Napa and Sonoma regions of Northern California — in the midst of one of the most…
December, 6, 2018

The Providers

Independent Lens

Does your zip code determine your life? The Providers gives a very human face to the physician shortage and opioid epidemic in rural America, following three healthcare professionals who are doing everything they can to make a difference in northern…
Beyond the Films
October, 24, 2018

The Toll: Wildland Firefighters Share Stories from the Job

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

Fallen firefighter Robert E. Caldwell, a Granite Mountain hotshot who perished in the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona, said to a comrade, "I’d rather die in my boots than live in a suit." It would seem one would have to…