Blog

East of Salinas filmmakers Laura Pacheco and Jackie Mow (l-r), in front of a sea-themed mural.
Interviews
December, 25, 2015

Laura Pacheco and Jackie Mow Tell the Story of a Farmworker’s Studious Son

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Not just a filmmaker but a trained anthropologist, Laura Pacheco has traveled the world to tell the stories of people overcoming the odds of their rough circumstances, including for the Emmy Award-winning series Rx for Survival (PBS), where she followed a…
Ron "Stray Dog" Hall takes a moment of prayer with fellow vets and the mother of a fallen soldier
Interviews
November, 9, 2015

“Stray Dog” Updates: Ron Advises Veterans and His Stepsons Check In

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Stray Dog filmmaker Debra Granik, on our behalf, checked back in with the subjects of her film, Ron "Stray Dog" Hall, and his Mexican-born stepsons, Angel and Jesús, to see how they were faring these days.  Ron wanted to focus specifically…
Illinois Congressman Luis Gutiérrez arrested during immigration reform protest.
Announcements
October, 19, 2015

Immigration Battle: The High-Stakes World of Immigration Reform

Independent Lens in Announcements

Premiering on PBS Tuesday October 20 at 10pm [please check local listings] as a co-presentation of Independent Lens and FRONTLINE, the new documentary Immigration Battle plunges straight into the heart of one of the most divisive issues in America. Filmmakers Michael Camerini…
Immigration protestors in Washington D.C. wave flags of America and Honduras.
October, 12, 2015

Immigration Battle

Independent Lens

Why has it been so hard for Washington to fix our country's broken immigration system? In Immigration Battle, a special two-hour feature film presentation from FRONTLINE and Independent Lens, acclaimed independent filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini take viewers behind closed…
Biker Ronnie "Stray Dog" Hall watches a kid eat a watermelon.
August, 26, 2015

Stray Dog

Independent Lens

From Debra Granik, director of the Oscar-nominated Winter’s Bone, comes this portrait of a motorcycle-riding, freedom-loving, Vietnam veteran cast in the mold of an outlaw biker. But there’s much more to burly, bearded Ronnie “Stray Dog” Hall than meets the…
Richard Adams and Tony Sullivan at the Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation in Paris during their European exile.
June, 15, 2015

Limited Partnership

Independent Lens

Limited Partnership chronicles the 40-year love story between Filipino American Richard Adams and his Australian husband, Tony Sullivan. In 1975, thanks to a courageous county clerk in Boulder, Colorado, Richard and Tony were one of the first same sex couples…
Immigration activist wearing "We Will Not Comply" T-shirt arrested by a group of police.
January, 27, 2014

The State of Arizona

Independent Lens

In 2010, the Arizona Senate passed controversial immigration law SB1070, also known as the “papers please” law, igniting a national maelstrom. Supporters call it a common sense law-enforcement tool; opponents feel it will inevitably lead to racial profiling. Neighborhoods empty,…
Immigration protestors on the streets of Phoenix
Test Your Knowledge
January, 14, 2014

Immigration Quiz

826chi in Test Your Knowledge

An always hot-button topic, immigration gets at the heart of who we are as Americans. Our immigration quiz is meant to test your knowledge of immigration in the United States. You may find some of the questions challenging, and just…
A young Chinese bride is carried over the threshold by her white American husband.
May, 6, 2013

Seeking Asian Female

Independent Lens

Steven is an aging white man obsessed with marrying an Asian woman, dreaming of a devoted young wife. Sandy is the young, feisty, ambitious Chinese woman he finds online. This engaging documentary follows their tumultuous love story. (more…)
April, 29, 2013

The Undocumented

Independent Lens

In the past 15 years, more than 2,000 dead migrants have been found in the vast borderlands between Sonora, Mexico and Tucson, Arizona. The film tells the story of border crossers who perished while trying to cross an unforgiving desert…
Young girl holds megaphone to her mouth.
May, 17, 2012

Precious Knowledge

Independent Lens

Precious Knowledge interweaves the stories of students in the Mexican American Studies Program at Tucson High School. While 48 percent of Mexican American students currently drop out of high school, Tucson High’s Mexican American Studies Program has become a national…
May, 24, 2011

Welcome to Shelbyville

Independent Lens

A small town in the heart of America's Bible Belt grapples with rapidly changing demographics. Longtime African American and white residents are challenged with how best to integrate with a growing Latino population and the more recent arrival of hundreds…