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from history of white people in america episode 6, the US capitol with a huge number of illustrations from world cultures of diverse peoples, none of them racial caricatures
Beyond the Films
December, 18, 2024

Behind the Animated, Musical Documentary About “Race Roulette”

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Independent Lens Staff The sixth episode of the short docuseries History of White People in America is in the format of a catchy musical, but for a purpose: to tell the story of the arbitrary system of race in…
Illustration of a white man in colonial garb towering over miniature couples and families.
September, 30, 2024

The History of White People in America

Independent Lens

A series of musical animations, chronicling diverse experiences of how race has helped shape American culture. These shorts provide insight into the unique lived experiences of historical figures who played a role in the evolving definitions of identity.
Hunting knife on a table with a spoon of saffron below it
July, 18, 2024

Wild Hogs and Saffron

Independent Lens

A wild hog hunt in the Ozarks leads to an unexpectedly vulnerable dialogue between Iranian American filmmaker Andy Sarjahani and his childhood friend Bubba as they navigate a polarized world. As their paths diverged in the increasingly anti-Middle Eastern years…
Two men with dark skin tone, a father and son, wearing professional bike gear and helmets while standing in front of the St. Louis Arch with their bicycles at sunset.
July, 3, 2024

Bike Vessel

Independent Lens

Knowing his dad miraculously recovered from three open-heart surgeries after discovering a passion for cycling, filmmaker Eric D. Seals proposes an ambitious idea: Bike together from St. Louis to Chicago. 350 miles. 4 days. On their journey, the two push…
Three teens from the Texas/Mexico border chat with a fourth teen on a horse.
June, 26, 2024

The In Between

Independent Lens

Following her brother's death, a filmmaker returns to Eagle Pass, the Texas bordertown where she grew up, to document the places that shaped their family. She finds a treasure trove of his own footage that brings him back to life,…
A man wears an American flag wrapped around his head and face with only his eyes showing. Two sets of hands surround him, carrying a hammer and wrench and American dollars, respectively.
June, 20, 2024

When I Close My Eyes

Independent Lens

His ability to paint portraits of Saddam Hussein likely saved his life. Oil painter Samir Khurshid reflects on his own tumultuous life growing up surrounded by death and chaos in war-torn Iraq. His densely layered work is heavily influenced by…
A photograph of a woman with medium-dark skin tone and short braids is superimposed over a government building at night.
January, 31, 2024

holding bodies: a justice anthology

Independent Lens

The three-part holding bodies: a justice anthology uses personal experiences of arrest, pretrial detention, and incarceration to reconsider the intention, design, and process of America’s justice system.
A table of assorted South Asian dishes and spices, like curries, rice, and coriander.
Beyond the Films
November, 17, 2023

“Stinky Lunch Kids Strike Back”: South Asians Redefine What American Food Can Mean

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Bedatri D. Choudhury Journalist and chef Pervaiz Shallwani’s mother moved from Pakistan to Toronto, where she ate her first hot dog in 1975. “She thought it was the grossest thing ever,” Shallwani said in a conversation. The “idea of…
Illustration of a transparent red star laid over a military camp. Three adults and two children are shown fleeing atop the red star.
November, 13, 2023

Beyond Utopia

Independent Lens

They grew up believing their land was paradise. Now, they risk everything in escaping it. In an unforgettable documentary, follow families on a treacherous journey to defect from their homeland of North Korea, as the threat of severe punishment and…
A child with medium skin tone and dark hair, looking downcast, sits with his arms and head resting on a table full of food.
Behind the Films
September, 25, 2023

“Your Story Makes You Strong”: Sansón, an Incarcerated Man, Watches His Life as Documentary Reenactment

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

By Craig Phillips with Rodrigo Reyes and Sansón & Me team  The life story of a young man serving life in prison for murder, Sansón and Me is told through dramatic re-creations—featuring members of Sansón's own family as actors—out of…
Filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes, a Mexican-American man with medium-light skin tone and glasses sits next to a man with medium skin tone and dark features at a table in an auditorium, recreating a courtroom scene.
Behind the Films
September, 18, 2023

From Crimmigration Court Interpreter to Lifelong Friends

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Mexican American filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes was and still is a court interpreter in rural California. It was in that capacity that he met then 19-year-old Mexican migrant Sansón Noé Andrade, who was sentenced to two life sentences without parole.  Reyes…
Film poster in the style of a '40s tourism postcard for Palm Springs. The postcard says "Greetings from Racist Trees, California."
September, 11, 2023

Racist Trees

Independent Lens

Were trees intentionally planted to exclude and segregate a Black neighborhood? Racial tensions ignite in this documentary, when a historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs, California, fights to remove a towering wall of tamarisk trees. The trees form a barrier,…