Blog

January, 19, 2015

The Kill Team

Independent Lens

The Kill Team goes behind closed doors to tell the harrowing story of Specialist Adam Winfield, a 21-year-old infantryman in Afghanistan who — with the help of his father Chris — attempted to alert the military to heinous war crimes…
Filmmaker Dan Krauss films the Winfield family during hearing
Interviews
January, 15, 2015

Dan Krauss Investigates The Kill Team

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Filmmaker Dan Krauss, who was nominated for an Academy Award and two Emmys for his first feature, The Death of Kevin Carter, was on the Oscar shortlist for his latest documentary The Kill Team, which also received a Director’s Guild of America…
Test Your Knowledge
January, 9, 2015

Evolution of a Criminal: Juvenile Justice Quiz

Craig Phillips in Test Your Knowledge

  Alongside the PBS documentary Evolution of a Criminal, we thought it'd be interesting to dig a little deeper into the topic of juvenile criminality in America. To step back for a moment, the Indie Spirit Award-nominated film itself is by…
Decaying buildings face an empty street in small town Rich Hill
Lists
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…
November, 3, 2014

Powerless

Independent Lens

A cat-and-mouse game of electricity theft unfolds in Kanpur, India, a city that once prided itself as “the Manchester of the East” for its many factories, but now many of its three million people cannot afford their power bills. Desperate…
October, 27, 2014

Brakeless

Independent Lens

Brakeless is a cautionary tale of what happens when punctuality, protocol, and efficiency are taken to the extreme. On Monday, April 25th 2005, a West Japan Railway (West JR) commuter train crashed into an apartment building and killed 107 people…
Leveled Philadelphia row houses after the MOVE bombings
July, 11, 2014

From RealScreen: Archive Masterclass on the Making of the Film

Craig Phillips

Super piece by Adam Benzine on Let the Fire Burn's extensive, exhaustive archival process, with insight from filmmaker Jason Osder: "Archive masterclass: Making Let the Fire Burn'."  The film had its television premiere on Independent Lens in May. (more…)
African American protestors carry a sign that reads "Vote for Prop 6."
June, 15, 2014

The New Black

Independent Lens

The New Black tells the story of how the African American community is debating the marriage equality movement and the fight over LGBT rights. The film documents activists, families, and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalize gay…
May, 19, 2014

God Loves Uganda

Independent Lens

God Loves Uganda explores the role of the American evangelical movement in Uganda, the “Pearl of Africa,” where American missionaries have been credited with creating schools and hospitals, but also blamed for promoting dangerous religious bigotry. For many American evangelicals,…
Uncategorized
May, 16, 2014

Filmmaker Roger Ross Williams on God Loves Uganda

Craig Phillips in Uncategorized

Roger Ross Williams won an Academy Award for his short documentary Music by Prudence, which told the moving story of 21-year-old Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Prudence Mabhena, who was born severely disabled and has struggled to overcome poverty and discrimination. For his first feature-length documentary God…
A Philadelphia police officer observes the rubble after the MOVE bombings
Where Are They Now?
May, 12, 2014

The MOVE Bombings 29 Years Later

Craig Phillips in Where Are They Now?

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="594"] MOVE members and police during the 1978 confrontation outside MOVE headquarters.[/caption] It's the week of the 29th anniversary of the MOVE bombings, and for those who were in the middle of it and are still with us,…
Philadelphia police attack MOVE member with arms in air.
May, 12, 2014

Let the Fire Burn

Independent Lens

Let the Fire Burn is composed entirely with archival footage yet unfurls with the tension of a thriller. Jason Osder’s documentary recounts the steps that led to a horrific tragedy on May 13, 1985, when a longtime feud between the…