Blog

A man stands in front of a graffiti wall
February, 20, 2007

Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes

Independent Lens

Take an in-depth look at masculinity in rap music and hip-hop culture — where creative genius, poetic beauty, and mad beats collide with misogyny, violence, and homophobia through interviews with aspiring rappers and fans at hip-hop events throughout the country.
February, 6, 2007

Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life

Independent Lens

As Duke Ellington's co-composer, arranger, and right-hand man, Billy Strayhorn wrote some of the greatest American music of the 20th century.  But as a gay man in the ’40s and ’50s, Strayhorn had to lead a discreet existence, while Ellington…
December, 26, 2006

Short Stack 2006

Independent Lens

Paris, 1951 Jasmin Gordon’s mother makes a startling discovery 40 years after her father’s death: she finds out that the man who raised her was not her real father. In midlife and without any physical remnants of the past, Jasmin’s…
A man with a beard wearing a dark grey turban and a checkered shirt stands in front of an SUV in the desert
May, 9, 2006

American Made

Independent Lens

“I wanted to tell the story of a father and a son,” says Writer/Director Sharat Raju. So begins American Made, a conflict between a father and a son, a reflection on assimilation versus identity, faith versus compromise. As the sun…
May, 9, 2006

Fishbowl

Independent Lens

From the late acclaimed Hawaiian filmmaker Kayo Hatta comes Fishbowl, a vivid and funny account of growing up in Hawaii in the 1970s — when life was anything but “paradise.” Adapted from Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s first novel, Wild Meat and the…
John Trudell
April, 11, 2006

Trudell

Independent Lens

Trudell follows the extraordinary life of Native American poet and activist John Trudell, from his impoverished childhood in Omaha to his leadership in the American Indian Movement (AIM), and his reincarnation as an acclaimed musician and spoken word poet. The…
February, 7, 2006

Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power

Independent Lens

Negroes with Guns follows Robert Williams’s journey from North Carolina community leader to exile in Cuba and China, a journey that brought the issue of armed self-defense to the forefront of the Black Power and civil rights movements.
November, 29, 2005

Maid in America

Independent Lens

Meet Telma, Eva, and Judith, three undocumented workers who toil as cooks, housekeepers, and even surrogate mothers — often at the expense of their own families — as they attempt to pursue their American dreams.
November, 22, 2005

Race Is the Place

Independent Lens

Funny, angry, and profound, Race Is the Place is a visual and verbal riff on race in America from a wide variety of artists, poets, rappers, performance artists, and stand-up comics. Featuring established artists as well as up-and-comers, Race Is…
June, 14, 2005

Brother to Brother

Independent Lens

This film invokes the glory days of the Harlem Renaissance through the memories of Bruce Nugent (Robinson), who co-founded the revolutionary literary journal Fire!! with legendary authors Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Wallace Thurman.
June, 7, 2005

Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story

Independent Lens

In 1949, photographer Don Normark visited Chavez Ravine, a close-knit Mexican American village on a hill overlooking downtown Los Angeles. Enchanted, he stayed for a year and took hundreds of photographs documenting community life. But little did Normark know that…
A disabled man in a wheelchair in his home radio studio.
February, 15, 2005

On a Roll: Disability and the American Dream

Independent Lens

The founder of On a Roll talk radio, Greg Smith travels the globe in his power wheelchair, but finds his own nation's capital inaccessible — a minor challenge compared to living independently and having safe intimate relationships.