Blog

December, 26, 2006

Short Stack 2006

Independent Lens

Paris, 1951 Jasmin Gordon’s mother makes a startling discovery 40 years after her father’s death: she finds out that the man who raised her was not her real father. In midlife and without any physical remnants of the past, Jasmin’s…
October, 24, 2006

The World According to Sesame Street

Independent Lens

Children’s education is more than just ABCs and 123s. With today’s global landscape dominated by such pressing issues as poverty, human rights, AIDS and ethnic genocide, how can the world’s most-watched children’s television show bridge cultures while remaining socially relevant?…
June, 21, 2006

A Lion in the House

Independent Lens

This inspiring, harrowing and intimate series follows five children as they fight against cancer with the help of their families, nurses, and doctors over a span of six years puts viewers in the shoes of those who struggle to defeat…
March, 21, 2006

Troop 1500

Independent Lens

At Hilltop Prison in Gatesville, Texas, a unique Girl Scout troop — Troop 1500 — unites daughters with mothers who are serving time for serious crimes, giving them a chance to rebuild their broken bonds. Facing long sentences from the…
January, 17, 2006

Girl Trouble

Independent Lens

Although the youth crime rate in San Francisco has declined in the past decade, the number of girls in the juvenile justice system has doubled. Girl Trouble, an intimate documentary by directors Lexi Leban and Lidia Szajko, goes beyond the…
A profile shot of Albert Cullum facing and looking left, with a pencil in his hand
January, 11, 2005

A Touch of Greatness

Independent Lens

You won’t find 10-year-old children reciting Shakespeare soliloquies, acting out the Cuban Missile Crisis, or performing Sophocles’s plays in most American classrooms today. But Albert Cullum’s elementary school students did all this and more. Combining interviews with Cullum and his…
A girl stands in her wrestling uniform in front of large American and Texas flags
December, 14, 2004

Girl Wrestler

Independent Lens

Women's wrestling is in the news. In summer 2004, it became an official Olympic sport. But for young women interested in pursuing wrestling, challenges still abound. Girl Wrestler follows a year in the life of Tara Neal, a Texas teenager who…
Four Indian women smile for the camera.
November, 30, 2004

The Day My God Died

Independent Lens

Narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Tim Robbins, The Day My God Died lifts the veil of secrecy on the sex trafficking of Nepali children  in India using footage from the brothels captured with spy camera technology. The film tells the…
May, 11, 2004

Refugee

Independent Lens

Three young Cambodian American men living in San Francisco return to the land of their roots wielding video cameras to document their experience of meeting fathers, sisters, and brothers for the first time.
Danny, Raymond and their grandmother Erslena
January, 27, 2004

Why Can’t We Be a Family Again?

Independent Lens

Kitten Jacob has struggled with drug addiction for most of her adult life. Nine years ago, she abandoned her two young sons for weeks, leaving them alone in their apartment to fend for themselves. When food ran out, five-year-old Danny…
Two young men in suits walk down the street
December, 23, 2003

Get the Fire! Young Mormon Missionaries Abroad

Independent Lens

Filmmaker Nancy du Plessis first noticed the Mormon missionaries in the Munich subway. With their white shirts, dark suits and name badges, the shorthaired adolescent boys stood out from the other passengers, nervously talking and joking in American English. Each…