Blog

Joey McGee walks down a road in the Mojave Desert.
Behind the Films
March, 17, 2017

Filmmakers Lou Pepe and Keith Fulton Tell Story of At-Risk Youth Getting Last Chance

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Filmmakers Lou Pepe and Keith Fulton have gone from the deserts of Spain (for their acclaimed film Lost in La Mancha about Terry Gilliam's ill-fated attempt to make a Don Quixote film) to the Mojave Desert in California, for their latest…
Black Rock School Principal Vonda Viland gives advice to student Lee, in The Bad Kids
Beyond the Films
March, 16, 2017

Principal Vonda Viland and 10 of the Most Unforgettable “Bad Kids”

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

The following is by Vonda Viland, principal of Black Rock Continuation High School in Yucca Valley in California's Mojave Desert, and subject of the documentary The Bad Kids. Viland's tireless work to help at-risk teenagers find their way to graduation is reflected…
They Call Us Monsters trio of youths in juvenile pen posing for the camera; with Audience Award graphic added
February, 27, 2017

They Call Us Monsters

Independent Lens

They Call Us Monsters goes behind the walls of the Compound, a high-security facility where Los Angeles houses its most violent juvenile criminals. To their advocates, they’re kids. To the system, they’re adults. To their victims, they’re monsters.   The…
A young woman smiles at a toddler riding a swing set in the desert.
August, 23, 2016

The Bad Kids

Independent Lens

Located in an isolated and impoverished Mojave Desert community, Black Rock Continuation High School is one of California’s alternative schools for at-risk students. Every student there has fallen so far behind that they have little hope of earning a diploma…
Interviews
July, 27, 2016

In the Ring with the USA’s First Women’s Boxing Olympic Gold Medalist

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper's film T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold tells the story of Claressa "T-Rex" Shields, who at the 2012 London Olympics became the first American woman to win a Gold medal in boxing. After a long, hard road coming…
Alex and Mia laugh while a film cameraman shoots them on a boat in Norway
Where Are They Now?
July, 18, 2016

Twin Sisters Are Growing Up (and Getting a Sequel)

Craig Phillips in Where Are They Now?

The many global fans of our film Twin Sisters are constantly asking us for any kind of update on the twin girls featured in Mona Friis Bertheussen's popular documentary. After getting a detailed report from one of the moms awhile…
A mother who lost a child in the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting in Newtown, CT in December 2012 embraces a state police officer.
July, 5, 2016

Newtown

Independent Lens

On December 14, 2012, a disturbed young man committed a horrific mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut that took the lives of 20 elementary school children and six educators. Filmed over the course of nearly three years, Newtown uses deeply personal,…
A nurse wearing latex gloves clasps the hands of a woman receiving an abortion (includes IL Audience Award graphic)
March, 4, 2016

TRAPPED

Independent Lens

TRAPPED goes to the front lines of the controversial battle currently being waged over so-called TRAP laws — Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers — which reproductive rights advocates believe are designed to restrict access to abortion. Told through the eyes…
Wilhemina Dixon, star of Wilhemina's War, looks across a field, while wearing a red bandanna
Interviews
February, 25, 2016

June Cross Tells the Story of a Family Fighting HIV in South Carolina

Craig Phillips in Interviews

June Cross, who has two national Emmys and two duPont-Columbia Journalism Awards to her credit and is the founder of the Documentary Program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, has always been interested in documenting families and issues of…
East of Salinas filmmakers Laura Pacheco and Jackie Mow (l-r), in front of a sea-themed mural.
Interviews
December, 25, 2015

Laura Pacheco and Jackie Mow Tell the Story of a Farmworker’s Studious Son

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Not just a filmmaker but a trained anthropologist, Laura Pacheco has traveled the world to tell the stories of people overcoming the odds of their rough circumstances, including for the Emmy Award-winning series Rx for Survival (PBS), where she followed a…
Mimi and Dona filmmaker Sophie Sartain
Interviews
November, 19, 2015

Sophie Sartain Finds Resonance in Her Family’s Caregiving Story

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Longtime documentary film writer, editor, and fundraiser Sophie Sartain decided to go personal for her directorial debut. Her film Mimi and Dona enters the world of Sophie's grandmother and developmentally disabled aunt, who after sixty years together face their inevitable separation. Shot over the course…
High school football players perform a traditional Polynesian war chant.
November, 17, 2015

In Football We Trust

Independent Lens

In Football We Trust transports viewers deep inside the tightly-knit and complex Polynesian community in Salt Lake City, one of the chief sources of the modern influx of Pacific Islander football players to the NFL. Shot over a four-year period…