Blog

August, 31, 2017

Dolores

Independent Lens

Who is Dolores Huerta? One of the most important, yet least known activists of our time, Dolores Huerta was an equal partner in founding the first farm workers union with César Chávez. Tirelessly leading the fight for racial and labor…

May, 5, 2017

The Prison Economy: How Do Prisons Affect the Places We Live?

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

The Independent Lens film The Prison in Twelve Landscapes examines the effect prisons have on the communities around them in both positive and negative ways. Prisons can stimulate the economy and create jobs, but they also loom monolithically over our lives.…

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…

October, 1, 2015

East of Salinas

Independent Lens

East of Salinas takes us to the heart of California’s “Steinbeck Country,” the Salinas Valley, to meet a bright boy and his dedicated teacher — both sons of migrant farm workers. With parents who are busy working long hours in…

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…

October, 5, 2012

In Pictures: Janesville’s Industrial Rollercoaster, 1849-2008

826chi in Where Are They Now?

As we witness in As Goes Janesville, when the General Motors plant in Janesville, Wisconsin closed for good in 2008, the town found itself in the midst of an identity crisis. Of course, Janesville is not entirely exceptional in this…

March, 25, 2003

The Workers

Independent Lens

It's 1999, and the booming city of Austin, Texas keeps on growing — thanks largely to men like Ramon and Juan, who work some of the hardest jobs in an America that doesn't want them. Through their lives and a…