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The Philadelphia D.A., a man with light skin tone, gray hair, and glasses, sits in a leather chair flanked by his team: two rows of people with various skin tones wearing business casual attire.
December, 15, 2020

Philly D.A.

Independent Lens

In 2017, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania had one of the highest incarceration rates of any major city in the United States. And it’s become the epicenter of a historic experiment that could shape the future of prosecution in America for decades to…
A woman's hand is handcuffed to a hospital bed.
Behind the Films
November, 18, 2020

Filmmaker Exposes Shocking Pattern of Illegal Sterilizations in Women’s Prisons

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Erika Cohn has made powerful documentaries for Independent Lens before and is no stranger to telling intimate, surprising stories in tense environments: her Peabody Award-winning film The Judge showed Shari’a law in a new light to Western eyes, through the…
Jonathan Scott at a solar company in Nevada, with solar panel
Behind the Films
November, 6, 2020

Jonathan Scott Investigates Who Controls Our Power

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

In some ways Jonathan Scott should need no introduction—or so you'd think as co-host with his brother Drew of the hugely popular HGTV shows Property Brothers and Brother vs. Brother, which air in more than 160 countries, and as a…
Myya records for her campaign
Interviews
October, 20, 2020

How Three Passionate Candidates Represent Women Shaping the Future

Craig Phillips in Interviews

What does "representation" mean in the midst of a historically tense election year?  In her film Represent, filmmaker Hillary Bachelder sought to show the universal struggle to redefine repressive expectations for women in politics with a look at three women…
From an animation in Feels Good Man of a desktop full of memes, Pepe the frog and otherwise
Beyond the Films
October, 8, 2020

From Kilroy to Pepe: A Brief History of Memes

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Lennlee Keep What do Pepe the Frog, the Spanish Inquisition, the blinking guy, the French Revolution, concern for the environment, and the Third Reich all have in common? These are all ideas that spread until they became pervasive throughout…
From animation of Pepe the Frog playing a video game with pal, from Matt Furie art
Behind the Films
October, 2, 2020

How a Cartoon Frog Became a Symbol for a “Confounding Moment in Our History”

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Filmmakers Arthur Jones and Giorgio Angelini both bring very unique artistic backgrounds to the drawing table that led to the fruitful collaboration for Feels Good Man, which is Jones' feature film debut. Both are well-suited to tell the vivid tale…
Marchers at a Black and Brown Unity rally in Chicago, June 2020. Photo by Mateo Zapata/Courtesy of Quiet Pictures.
Lists
September, 9, 2020

Honor Hispanic Heritage Month with Eight Unique Documentaries

Independent Lens in Lists

By Lola Méndez Hispanic Heritage Month has been honored annually in the United States since 1968 when President Lyndon Johnson first launched it as Hispanic Heritage Week. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan expanded the celebration to last the four weeks…
Jonathan Scott sits on a Spanish tiled roof that's covered in solar panels.
August, 31, 2020

Jonathan Scott’s Power Trip

Independent Lens

Property Brothers co-host and home-renovation expert Jonathan Scott journeys all across the U.S. to uncover why clean, renewable energy isn’t available to all. While traveling to learn both the obstacles and opportunities for achieving energy freedom, Jonathan talks with conservatives…
A large group of people in orange shirts march together. In the front of the line is a group of people using wheelchairs and other assistive devices.
July, 31, 2020

The People vs. Agent Orange

Independent Lens

Nearly 60 years following the use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War—the deadliest use of chemical warfare in history—the devastating aftereffects of the toxin remain lethal, demanding attention both in Vietnam and at home in America. The People vs.…
A female police officer, wearing a bullet-proof vest, a blue shirt, and sunglasses, poses in a patrol car with her arm on the passenger seat.
July, 30, 2020

Women in Blue

Independent Lens

With the national conversation around police reform still resonating loudly around the country, Women in Blue shines a spotlight on the women within the Minneapolis Police Department working to reform it from the inside by fighting for gender equity. Filmed…
Illustrator Matt Furie, a man with light skin tone, is bent over a table drawing an image of Pepe the Frog.
July, 29, 2020

Feels Good Man

Independent Lens

Feels Good Man is the story of how artist Matt Furie, creator of a trippy, once-benign comic character named Pepe the Frog, fought an uphill battle to reclaim his iconic creation from those who turned it into a symbol of…
A skateboarder rides with an American flag flying behind them. A lens flare obscures the image slightly.
July, 24, 2020

A Day in the Life of America

Independent Lens

Director Jared Leto crafts a sweeping yet intimate cross-section of America shot on a single July 4th in 2017 with 92 film crews fanning out across each of the United States and Puerto Rico to capture A Day in the…