Blog

Two young girls, backlit by the sun, take a selfie in front of the ocean.
Beyond the Films
October, 26, 2022

The Real People Behind Shadowbanned TikTok Accounts

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Andy Hirschfeld Tensions are especially high across the globe right now, and on TikTok, knee-jerk reactions may drive some people into—or out of—their 15 minutes of fame. With that comes both empowerment and validation, but also hurtful comments and…
Two women with dark skin tone hold a mirror for a third woman with dark skin tone so she can observe herself. The three women are surrounded by trees.
October, 2, 2022

The Command Center to Bring Women Home

Independent Lens

Through a collaborative writing process with filmmakers, three women bring to life “The Command Center to Bring Women Home,” an imagined space run by formerly incarcerated women for those with nowhere else to turn but to each other, a place…
A woman stands facing the camera in an alley covered in murals. She wears glasses and a shirt reading "EASTVAN."
August, 16, 2022

Love in the Time of Fentanyl

Independent Lens

As deaths in Vancouver, Canada reach an all-time high, the Overdose Prevention Society opens its doors—a renegade supervised drug consumption site that employs active and former drug users. Its staff and volunteers do whatever it takes to save lives and…
Film photograph of Ruby Duncan, Black welfare activist, and her two children.
August, 16, 2022

Storming Caesars Palace

Independent Lens

After losing her job as a hotel worker in Las Vegas, Ruby Duncan joined a welfare rights group of mothers who defied notions of the “welfare queen.” In a fight for guaranteed income, Ruby and other equality activists took on…
A young woman and an elderly woman reading a letter in a room by the light of a single window.
August, 16, 2022

Hidden Letters

Independent Lens

For centuries in China, the once-secret written language of Nüshu was calligraphed on folded fans and handkerchiefs as hidden letters so women could share stories and express solidarity in a repressive era when many women were denied literacy. Confronting patriarchy,…
Black and white photograph of Black photographer Ernest Withers. He carries a camera while walking with a group of civil rights leaders.
July, 27, 2022

The Picture Taker

Independent Lens

From his Memphis studio, Ernest Withers' nearly 2 million images were a treasured record of Black history but his legacy was complicated by decades of secret FBI service revealed only after his death. Was he a friend of the civil…
Inside empty subway car
July, 27, 2022

Underground

Independent Lens

The hustle and bustle of New York City subways provides a veil of anonymity, making invasions of personal space inevitable. There are innocuous interactions, but also violations that cross the line. Vividly shot in New York subways and stations, Underground…
Woman in dress dancing and smiling
May, 26, 2022

Folk Frontera

Independent Lens

Far West Texas is a place where local folklore looms as large as the landscape. Two fronteriza women—one a public radio music show host, the other a Mariachi and folklórico dancer—live in two cultures at the same time, as they…
A woman in a green and gold sari videotapes an interview with her smartphone. Another woman looks on behind her.
Beyond the Films
March, 28, 2022

Women Journalists Are Targeted Just for Reporting the Facts

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Lennlee Keep Journalism is a male-dominated field around the globe. A global report on the Status of Women in the News Media by the International Women in Media foundation examined more than 500 companies in nearly 60 countries. The…
Four Indian women reporters chat together while working on a project.
Interviews
March, 15, 2022

Oscar-Nominated “Writing With Fire” Goes Inside India’s Only All-Women Newspaper

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, co-directors, made a long journey metaphorically and literally with their film Writing With Fire, from northern India's Uttar Pradesh state, where they worked on the film for four years, to winning awards at Sundance in…
A husband and wife tape a missing persons poster to a telephone pole.
Interviews
January, 10, 2022

Confronting the Agonizing Facts of Life and Death in Brooks County

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Missing in Brooks County is an eye-opening investigation set in an unforgiving region of South Texas, where migrants go missing more than anywhere else in the United States. The documentary features activist detective Eddie Canales of the South Texas Human…
A young man with dark skin tone sits on the stairs of a brick house.
Behind the Films
January, 7, 2022

Owning Up to the Dark History of America’s Housing Industry

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Before stepping into film, Giorgio Angelini had quite the diverse path: After touring in indie rock bands for most of his 20s, he enrolled in the Master of Architecture program at Rice University in Houston, which happened to be right…