Blog

American Denial filmmakers Llewellyn Smith, Christine Herbes-Sommers, and Kelly Thomson.
Interviews
February, 23, 2015

Christine Herbes-Sommers Talks about Film on Racial Bias in America, Then and Now

Craig Phillips in Interviews

[caption id="attachment_6486" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Gunnar Myrdal with Ralph Bunche in Washington D.C., 1942[/caption] American Denial tells the the story of Swedish researcher Gunnar Myrdal, whose landmark 1944 study, An American Dilemma, probed deep into the United States' racial psyche. The…
February, 23, 2015

American Denial

Independent Lens

Follow the story of Swedish researcher Gunnar Myrdal whose landmark 1944 study, An American Dilemma, probed deep into the United States' racial psyche. The film weaves a narrative that exposes some of the potential underlying causes of racial biases still…
Archival family photo from the Digital Diaspora Family Roadshow
Uncategorized
February, 16, 2015

Black Family History Through a Lens

Craig Phillips in Uncategorized

Archival family photo from the Digital Diaspora Family Roadshow A wonderful companion piece to Thomas Allen Harris's film Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People is his Digital Diaspora Family Reunion project — a roadshow connecting communities and history through…
February, 16, 2015

Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People

Independent Lens

The first documentary to explore the role of photography in shaping the identity, aspirations, and social emergence of African Americans from slavery to the present, Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People probes the recesses…
February, 13, 2015

Thomas Allen Harris Goes Through a Lens Darkly

Craig Phillips

The first documentary to explore the role of photography in shaping the identity, aspirations, and social emergence of African Americans from slavery to the present, Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People probes the recesses…
Lists
January, 19, 2015

Moral Dilemmas in 10 War Films

Craig Phillips in Lists

The central dilemma in Dan Krauss's Independent Lens documentary The Kill Team is grappled with by an American soldier in Afghanistan who found members of his platoon were committing immoral war crimes, and wanted to blow the whistle on them, even if it endangered…
Uncategorized
January, 12, 2015

Darius Clark Monroe’s Evolution from Criminal to Filmmaker

Craig Phillips in Uncategorized

[caption id="attachment_6221" align="alignnone" width="600"] Filmmaker Darius Clark Monroe[/caption] Darius Clark Monroe's own evolution from loving son, to incarcerated criminal, and then back to student and filmmaker, is quite a journey. In his documentary Evolution of a Criminal, he points the…
January, 12, 2015

Evolution of a Criminal

Independent Lens

In examining a bank robbery committed by Texas high school students, Darius Clark Monroe’s film interweaves suspenseful reenactment footage with candid interviews from people involved in every angle of the crime. The twist? The filmmaker himself was one of the…
Decaying buildings face an empty street in small town Rich Hill
Lists
January, 5, 2015

American Dreaming: Small Towns Through the Movies

Craig Phillips in Lists

Rich Hill is a new example of a realistic portrayal of a small American town, through the eyes of three young residents and their struggling families, but the fascination with (capital letters intended) Small Town America has been with us since…
Uncategorized
December, 6, 2014

And the winner of IDA Award for Best Curated Series goes to…

Craig Phillips in Uncategorized

At Friday night’s 30th annual IDA Documentary Awards, given out every year by the International Documentary Association to recognize and honor outstanding documentary films and filmmakers, Independent Lens was given the great honor of winning the 2014 Best Curated Series…
Twin Sisters Mia and Alexandra in a museum with giant wind-up teeth.
Where Are They Now?
October, 20, 2014

Update on Twin Sisters Mia and Alexandra from the California Mom

Craig Phillips in Where Are They Now?

We have an exclusive update on the two twin girls featured in Twin Sisters (the film by Mona Friis Bertheussen premieres on PBS tonight, Monday, October 20, at 10 pm; check local listings), from someone who would know: the mother…
October, 20, 2014

Twin Sisters

Independent Lens

Twin Sisters tells the moving true story of Mia and Alexandra, twin Chinese infants found in a cardboard box and taken to an orphanage in 2003. Two sets of hopeful parents — from Norway, and Sacramento, California — arrived in…