Blog

A man with light skin tone looks at a computer in a home office alongside an Asian woman, also working at a computer.
Beyond the Films
March, 26, 2020

This Couple Finds Answers for Adopted Daughters From China

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

Brian and Long Lan Stuy are a Utah couple who have adopted three daughters from China: Meikina from DianBai, Meigon from Guangzhou, and Meilan from Luoyang. After discovering that documentation for one of their adopted children was fake, Brian and…
A blind man with light skin tone on a date at a speed dating event with a blond woman with light skin tone.
Beyond the Films
March, 5, 2020

“Is Attraction Different in the Absence of Sight?”

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Kemberlie Spivey Australian-born independent filmmaker Patricia Zagarella has been creating documentaries for over ten years and co-produced the Emmy-award winning documentary Baring It All. That film followed fashion photographer David Jay into the worlds of four young breast cancer…
Still from the 1920 film "Within Our Gates" showing a mob of white men preparing to lynch a young Black boy, while a woman hugs him.
Beyond the Films
February, 20, 2020

As American as the Blues: Lynching in Film and TV

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Ade Adeniji Always in Season explores the history of lynching through the mysterious 2014 death of Lennon Lacy while also looking at historical reenactments of lynching, prompting some to question the value of conjuring up the past. The specter…
Headshot of filmmaker Jacqueline Olive, a woman with medium-dark skin tone and shoulder-length dark hair. She wears pink lipstick.
Behind the Films
February, 20, 2020

Filmmaker Explores First Steps Toward Justice and Reconciliation

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Independent filmmaker Jacqueline Olive, who has worked in non-fiction filmmaking for years and co-directed and co-produced the award-winning hour-long documentary, Black to Our Roots (PBS WORLD), makes her feature documentary directing debut with the searing Always in Season, which was…
A black and white photo of Billie Holiday singing mid-note.
Beyond the Films
February, 19, 2020

Billie Holiday’s Searing “Strange Fruit” Still Has the Power to Startle

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Nick Dedina There are often false narratives we tell ourselves so that we can simplify, and beautify, the past and erase aspects of the present that we are uncomfortable with. Take the view that the olden times glowed with…
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…
An animatronic woman depicting a wife of one of Noah's sons in a museum show about the biblical story of the Ark and the flood.
Beyond the Films
February, 12, 2020

Religion, Science and Belief: Unearthing the Thorny Intersection

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

Filmmakers Monica Long Ross and Clayton Brown have long been fascinated by how science and culture mix--or don't mix--in America. In short, that relationship is complicated.  They directed and produced the award-winning documentaries The Atom Smashers, which was about the…
A Chinese woman holds an infant in her arms while sitting in a gray armchair.
Beyond the Films
February, 5, 2020

The One-Child Policy Legacy on Women and Relationships in China

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Kristal Sotamayor The one-child policy was introduced to China in 1979, written into the national constitution in 1982, and subsequently ended in 2015. Over the 36 years of the policy, entire generations have been marked by the effects of…
A Chinese woman with long hair speaks into a microphone at an event. She wears a white dress with blue and purple flowers.
Behind the Films
February, 5, 2020

Filmmakers Follow Women in China Trying to Overcome Stigma of Being Single

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Israeli filmmakers Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia have had films air on international television as well as here in the U.S. on HBO, MTV, Sundance, and PBS (Medalia has received four Emmy nominations and won a Peabody Award), and both…
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…
Three older men speak into microphones while recording for a radio program.
Interviews
January, 22, 2020

Finding Common Ground: The Story of an Unlikely Chicago Alliance

Craig Phillips in Interviews

It takes an incredible amount of tenacity and belief in a project to stick with it for 14 years, but that's just how long it took for Ray Santisteban to see his documentary The First Rainbow Coalition come to light.…
A man and a woman, both with dark skin tone, laugh together while sitting in front of a piano.
January, 15, 2020

Blind Love

Independent Lens

Blind Love follows four single, blind millennials in their quest for love. With assists from their eager circle of family and friends, these young men and women hope to find The One. Hailing from Florida, Maryland, New York, and Texas,…