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Behind the Films
February, 5, 2016

Nelson George Captures the Poise of Misty Copeland to Tell a Ballerina’s Tale

Independent Lens in Behind the Films

Author, filmmaker, television producer, and critic Nelson George may have worn a lot of hats in his long career, but his love for music has been  constant throughout. He's published numerous non-fiction books on black music history as well as a series…
Ballerinas Raven Wilkinson and Misty Copeland hold hands.
Beyond the Films
February, 4, 2016

Breaking Barriers on Stage: African American Ballet Dancers Who Made History

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

As we learn in A Ballerina's Tale, Nelson George's new documentary about Misty Copeland's Eurocentric standards of body shape, muscle tone, and skin color excluded dancers who didn't fit the wan mold demanded of prima ballerinas. All that changed in the summer of…
Plaintiff Maria Hurtado and her husband, Salvador
Interviews
January, 29, 2016

Renee Tajima-Peña on the Women of the Madrigal vs Quilligan Case

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Filmmaker Renee Tajima-Peña was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary for her film Who Killed Vincent Chin?, which aired on PBS back in 1989. She's hardly sat still since then; her films have premiered at Sundance, Cannes, San Francisco International, New…
From No Mas Bebes, Maria Hurtado in the abandoned maternity ward of the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
Beyond the Films
January, 29, 2016

Unwanted Sterilization and Eugenics Programs in the United States

Lisa Ko in Beyond the Films

Coerced sterilization is a shameful part of America’s history, and one doesn't have to go too far back to find examples of it. Used as a means of controlling “undesirable” populations – immigrants, people of color, poor people, unmarried mothers,…
Claressa "T-Rex" Shields stands in the boxing ring in a gold robe.
December, 1, 2015

T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold

Independent Lens

Flint, a city made famous by Michael Moore's documentary Roger & Me, and more recently by the lead poisoning water crisis, has been hard-hit for years as factories closed, jobs left, and crime, unemployment, and poverty became endemic. It's the…
Ballerina Misty Copeland on stage.
November, 25, 2015

A Ballerina’s Tale

Independent Lens

Few dancers reach the elite level of ballet; of that already small number only a fraction are black women. Misty Copeland shattered those barriers in 2015, making history as the first African American principal dancer with the prestigious American Ballet…
Robin Poor Bear, with Kind Hearted Woman filmmaker David Sutherland
Announcements
November, 23, 2015

Sad News about Robin Poor Bear

Craig Phillips in Announcements

This weekend we received sad news about the subject of the Independent Lens/FRONTLINE film Kind Hearted Woman. Robin Poor Bear, a.k.a. Charboneau, passed away this Friday at home in North Dakota. We will continue to share updates as they are released. Our…
rape protesters in India hold a candle-lit vigil
Beyond the Films
November, 13, 2015

Anti-Rape Culture Activism Takes to the Streets and Online

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

When you watch the harrowing, even jaw-dropping, film India's Daughter, which premieres Monday on Independent Lens [check local listings], the case of the rape and murder of Jyoti Singh will stay with you long afterwards. Anti-rape activists in the film and those…
India's Daughter filmmaker Leslee Udwin
Interviews
November, 12, 2015

India’s Daughter Director Leslee Udwin on the Rape Case that Shocked a Nation

Craig Phillips in Interviews

[caption id="attachment_11517" align="alignnone" width="813"] Candle-lit vigils were held throughout India to mourn the death of Jyoti Singh[/caption] It should go without saying that documentary filmmakers put their hearts and souls into their films, but the gender-equality activism at the core of Leslee…
A mother stands before an empty incubator.
October, 20, 2015

No Más Bebés

Independent Lens

No Más Bebés tells the story of a little-known but landmark event in reproductive justice, when a small group of Mexican immigrant women sued county doctors, the state, and the U.S. government after they were sterilized while giving birth at…
A woman marches down a Delhi street shouting in protest as water cannons shower the scene.
September, 14, 2015

India’s Daughter

Independent Lens

India's Daughter is the story of the brutal gang rape and murder in Delhi of 23-year-old medical student Jyoti Singh, which sparked protests and serious debate about gender inequality across India. From the earliest age, Jyoti wanted to become a…
May, 4, 2015

Kumu Hina

Independent Lens

Kumu Hina is the story of Hina Wong- Kalu, a transgender native Hawaiian teacher and cultural icon who brings to life Hawaii’s long-held embrace of mahu — those who embody both male and female spirit, and were traditionally respected as…