Blog

Michele Stellato sits in front of her walker
Beyond the Films
April, 27, 2023

“Laughter Is My Outlet”: How Michele Stellato is Living and Coping with ALS

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

After being diagnosed as a young woman with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), Michele “Shelly” Stellato said, "We had to decide what to do with the time we had left.” Part of that decision on living life in the moment despite…
A woman with light skin tone and dark hair wears a qipao and writes with a calligraphy brush.
Behind the Films
March, 27, 2023

Telling the Story of Keeping the Secret Nüshu Language Alive

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

"Besides a well, one does not thirst. Besides a sister, one does not despair." — Nüshu poem Inspired by a bestselling book that featured Nüshu, filmmaker Violet Du Feng was surprised at how little she and most Chinese people knew…
A young girl lit by a red light points to her smartphone screen, which has the TikTok logo on it.
Beyond the Films
November, 15, 2022

More Than Just a Hashtag: Disability and TikTok

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Chloe Johnson If you enter the world’s most popular app, TikTok, ADHD might genuinely be the first thing that nondisabled people think of when they imagine what "disability TikTok" might refer to. News sites are even obsessed with how…
A woman using a wheelchair dances with her arms as she sits near the seaside.
Behind the Films
November, 7, 2022

“I Want to Move, I Want to Embrace Change”: Kelsey Peterson’s Journey to Dance Again

Independent Lens in Behind the Films

By Xian Horn Kelsey Peterson and I have had very different experiences of disability—I was born with cerebral palsy, and she became disabled as an adult. But watching her film Move Me, I felt deeply connected to her. The camera…
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…
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,…
A woman with light skin tone, curly dark hair, and a silver nose ring looks out of a car window.
August, 16, 2022

Silent Beauty

Independent Lens

In this autobiographical exploration of survivorship, New Orleans journalist and filmmaker Jasmín Mara López unabashedly shares her process of healing from childhood sexual abuse. After Jasmín discloses to her family she'd been abused by her grandfather, she liberates others to…
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…
A woman releases a bowling ball down a lane as onlookers wait for the result. String lights adorn the surrounding bowling alley.
June, 16, 2022

Our League

Independent Lens

Following an extended hiatus, Michelle Guzowski takes a risk by returning to her favorite local bowling alley in the Ohio Rust Belt, after coming out to fellow bowlers as a transgender woman. While the alley's new owners made it seem…
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…