Blog

Masked member of Ovarian Psycos bike brigade
August, 23, 2016

Ovarian Psycos

Independent Lens

Ovarian Psycos is about a new generation of fierce, unapologetic and feminist women of color from the Eastside of Los Angeles who confront injustice, build community, and redefine identity through a raucous, irreverently named bicycle crew: The Ovarian Psycos Cycle…
Musician Daryl Davis stands with a member of the Klan next to a confederate flag and a KKK flag
August, 23, 2016

Accidental Courtesy

Independent Lens

Daryl Davis is an accomplished musician, a piano player who has played all over the world with legends like Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry. He also has an unusual and controversial hobby: Daryl likes to meet and…
Bennett and Joe from Real Boy, sitting on steps in front of Joe's house comparing chin hairs
August, 23, 2016

Real Boy

Independent Lens

A moving and intimate story of a family in transition, Real Boy follows the journey of trans teen Bennett as he navigates adolescence, sobriety, and the physical and emotional ramifications of his changing gender identity. Through the process, his mother…
Native American woman in head dress dancing
August, 23, 2016

What Was Ours

Independent Lens

Like millions of indigenous people, many Native American tribes do not control their own material history and culture. For the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes living on the isolated Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, new contact with lost…
Michelle Smith blows out birthday candle, in Best and Most Beautiful Things
August, 23, 2016

Best and Most Beautiful Things

Independent Lens

In rural Maine, a quirky, charming, and determined young woman named Michelle Smith lives with her mother Julie. Legally blind and on the autism spectrum, Michelle has big dreams and proudly wears the badge of outcast. Searching for connection, Michelle…
Interviews
July, 27, 2016

In the Ring with the USA’s First Women’s Boxing Olympic Gold Medalist

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper's film T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold tells the story of Claressa "T-Rex" Shields, who at the 2012 London Olympics became the first American woman to win a Gold medal in boxing. After a long, hard road coming…
Tony Sullivan in the living room of the home he shared with late partner Richard Adams for decades
Where Are They Now?
June, 8, 2016

United States Officially Recognizes Tony Sullivan and Richard Adams’s Marriage

Craig Phillips in Where Are They Now?

For those of you who remember the dear story told in the Independent Lens film Limited Partnership, longtime partners Tony Sullivan and Richard Adams became one of the first same sex couples to be legally married in the world, in 1975 in…
Armed in America: Faith & Guns title card
Beyond the Films
May, 9, 2016

Armed in America: Faith & Guns

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyEk0YiiRwQ Join PBS for a town hall conversation about gun violence and the moral obligation to prevent it. Armed in America: Faith & Guns, a one-hour special event moderated by award-winning journalist Michel Martin, weekend host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” explores the relationship…
Still of priest standing in front of outdoor cross in Robert Bresson's 1951 film Diary of a Country Priest
Lists
May, 6, 2016

Losing Your Religion: Nine Movies about Crises of Faith

Noel Murray in Lists

Abigail Disney’s documentary The Armor of Light takes an unusual but illuminating approach to the gun control debate. In the film, Reverend Rob Schenck — an evangelical Christian who gained some cachet on the right decades ago via his leadership of…
From left to right: Horst van Wächter, Philippe Sands, and Niklas Frank
Behind the Films
April, 28, 2016

Human Rights Lawyer Philippe Sands Confronts Children of Nazis with Painful Past

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

While some might call Philippe Sands the on-screen host of My Nazi Legacy, the new film by David Evans that is based on Sands' new book, he's actually the probing, searching journalistic heart at the center of this powerful documentary.…
James "The Amazing" Randi stands casting large shadow against wall
Interviews
March, 23, 2016

Tyler Measom and Justin Weinstein Unlock the Mystery of James “The Amazing” Randi

Craig Phillips in Interviews

As famous a skeptic as he is a magician, James "The Amazing" Randi has led a life full of magic and mystery, as much off the stage as on it, and a naturally compelling subject for a documentary. Blessed with…
Fihi Kaufusi, in emotional scene in Football We Trust
Where Are They Now?
March, 3, 2016

Update on Fihi from In Football We Trust

Craig Phillips in Where Are They Now?

Those who saw the Independent Lens film In Football We Trust will remember one of the four student-athletes featured in the film, "Fihi" Kaufusi, who was trying to fight through a rough upbringing to make it as a football player. We…