Blog

Two men standing outside building that says Punjabi
June, 7, 2023

Spice Road

Independent Lens

In Spice Road, a food and travel series spreading the joy of South Asian cuisine, culture, and community, actor Rupak Ginn road-trips across America’s small towns and big cities, where intrepid immigrants set up eateries as eclectic as South Asia…
Black and white photograph of Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee walking through a crowd of reporters.
August, 16, 2022

Free Chol Soo Lee

Independent Lens

Sentenced to life for a 1973 San Francisco murder, Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee was set free after a pan-Asian solidarity movement, which included Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Americans, helped to overturn his conviction. After 10 years of fighting for…
Woman in dress dancing and smiling
May, 26, 2022

Folk Frontera

Independent Lens

Far West Texas is a place where local folklore looms as large as the landscape. Two fronteriza women—one a public radio music show host, the other a Mariachi and folklórico dancer—live in two cultures at the same time, as they…
A husband and wife look over a fence straddling a river in Brooks County, Texas.
Beyond the Films
February, 3, 2022

“Death Valley for Migrants”: The Invisible Cost of Border Crossing

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Ivonne Spinoza What is more important: laws or lives? This is the question at the center of the immigration debate and its ramifications.  Conversations around illegal border crossings often result in the dehumanization of migrants. These are people we’re…
A husband and wife tape a missing persons poster to a telephone pole.
Interviews
January, 10, 2022

Confronting the Agonizing Facts of Life and Death in Brooks County

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Missing in Brooks County is an eye-opening investigation set in an unforgiving region of South Texas, where migrants go missing more than anywhere else in the United States. The documentary features activist detective Eddie Canales of the South Texas Human…
Woman hanging up missing person poster on lamp post
July, 2, 2021

Missing in Brooks County

Independent Lens

Migrants go missing in rural South Texas more than anywhere else in the U.S. For many families whose loved ones have disappeared after crossing the Mexico border, activist detective Eddie Canales is their last hope. Unlock the mysteries and confront…
A smiling Cambodian-American man in a suit offers a pink box of donuts through a drive-thru window.
November, 25, 2020

The Donut King

Independent Lens

Co-Presented by Center For Asian American Media (CAAM). An immigrant story with a (glazed) twist, The Donut King follows the journey of Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy, who arrived in California in the 1970s and, through a mixture of diligence and…
Portrait of a young Latino man.
October, 28, 2020

The Graduates / Los Graduados

Independent Lens

The Graduates / Los Graduados explores pressing issues in education today through the eyes of six Latino and Latina students from across the United States. More than a survey of contemporary policy debates, the bilingual, two-part film offers first-hand perspectives…
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 man with dark skin tone holds a phone to his ear. He looks anxious.
Behind the Films
January, 14, 2020

Filmmaker Accepts the Call to Tell Story of a Father and Son Divided

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Filmmaker Eunice Lau, who is originally from Singapore (and boy does she have a story to tell you here about the experience of showing her film back home), was once a journalist at Al Jazeera Network. She has a penchant…
Interpreter stands at US Military base, from the film The Interpreters
July, 24, 2019

The Interpreters

Independent Lens

The Interpreters is a poignant but tense portrayal of a very human and high-stakes side of war's aftermath, the story of how Afghan and Iraqi interpreters risked their lives aiding American troops--but then became the people we left behind.  During…
Vintage photos from the winemaking history of the Robledo family from their collection
Beyond the Films
May, 8, 2019

Harvest Season’s Historical Roots: Latinos in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys

826chi in Beyond the Films

Bittersweet -- this is the taste you’re left with after watching Harvest Season’s central storylines come to a close. Loved ones are reunited while wineries are engulfed in flames and the one constant through all the personal, natural, and political…