Blog

The Masumoto family farmers on a tractor in the Central Valley California peach farm
Beyond the Films
April, 18, 2018

Organic Farmer, Writer Mas Masumoto Shares Sense of Place with Wendell Berry

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

by Mas Masumoto [pullquote]"The two of us have something often overlooked in today's fast-paced world: history on the land and a sense of place."[/pullquote]I dream of Wendell Berry visiting my farm. I imagine us two old farmers, stopping along the…
Wendell Berry at home in Kentucky, in "Look and See"
January, 18, 2018

Look & See: Wendell Berry’s Kentucky

Independent Lens

Look & See: Wendell Berry’s Kentucky is a portrait of the changing landscapes and shifting values of rural America as seen through the mind’s eye of writer, farmer, and activist Wendell Berry, in his native Henry County, Kentucky, a place…
James Baldwin on the Dick Cavett Show
Interviews
January, 10, 2018

How “I Am Not Your Negro” Filmmaker Reopened James Baldwin’s “House”

Craig Phillips in Interviews

The worldly Haitian-born filmmaker Raoul Peck and his family fled the Duvalier dictatorship in 1961 and found asylum in the Democratic Republic of Congo, before Peck finished his schooling in the United States, France, and Germany. Currently living in both France and…
Armistead Maupin at typewriter in the 1970s, from Untold Tales
Beyond the Films
December, 18, 2017

Take the Armistead Maupin and Tales of the City Pop Quiz!

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

How much do you know about Armistead Maupin and about his beloved Tales of the City series? Are you a Maupin superfan? Take this quiz we created for both for longtime fans and those who are newer to Maupin and Tales to…
Filmmaker Jennifer Kroot interviews Maupin at steps to the real-life inspiration for Barbary Lane in Tales of the City
Interviews
December, 15, 2017

From North Carolina to San Francisco: Jennifer Kroot Tells the Tales of Maupin

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Jennifer Kroot brings a background in underground filmmaking to her documentaries and uses that sensibility to create surprises within her stories. The San Francisco-based filmmaker first caught the eye of writer Armistead Maupin when he saw her documentary To Be…
From Poster Art for Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin
August, 30, 2017

The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin

Independent Lens

The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin examines the life and work of one of the world's most beloved storytellers, following his evolution from a conservative son of the Old South into a gay rights pioneer whose novels have inspired millions…
Lists
December, 4, 2012

7 Books That Inspired Popular Documentaries

826chi in Lists

Not many national commemorative months get our attention here at Independent Lens. National Raisin Bread Month ended a few days ago, and no one here so much as gave a toast! Along with National Prune Breakfast Month in January, but…
December, 12, 2006

A Sad Flower in the Sand

Independent Lens

A Sad Flower in the Sand is the first major film documentary about a largely unsung writer of the 20th century: John Fante, the renegade author whose highly autobiographical novels illustrate his deep-rooted love of Los Angeles and his struggles…