Watch a Film, Be the Change!

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Rebecca Huval

Hey guess what? If you like watching our amazing films on TV, you can also see them on the big screen for free thanks to our Community Cinema program. Independent Lens documentaries are released ahead of broadcast to more than 100 venues around the country. You are hereby invited to join us, watch with your neighbors, make friends, hear fascinating people discuss the issues, ask questions, and schmooze with the filmmakers, the stars, and big-time changemakers.

You know that feeling when you’ve finished watching a documentary and you’re itching to do something? We’re giving you the tools and connections to do just that. Local and international organizations show up to Community Cinema events and chat after the screenings. You could forge your own collaborations or learn how to get involved with existing efforts. Our local, national, and international partners (last season’s included The Sierra Club, the Wounded Warrior Project, Girl Scouts of America, and VolunteerMatch, among many others) help us arm you with everything you need to make a difference.

One Philadelphia viewer said, ”My level of engagement and reflection on the themes in the films shown during Community Cinema has been much greater than if I were watching alone.The opportunity to hear from the filmmakers/film subjects/stakeholders from the community has been truly rewarding. I always leave enlightened, moved, and inspired.”

But wait! There’s more. Check out our spanking new site CommunityCinema.org, not only for event listings and stories from these gatherings, but quick and handy tools you can use to get involved in your community and beyond. For example, here are a couple of sample action widgets you can grab and share:

            

We wrapped up this season of Community Cinema with Strong! During the screening in San Francisco, the Olympian herself, Cheryl Haworth, and director Julie Wyman talked about body image, their budding friendship, and the similarities between filmmaking and weightlifting (hint: they both require tons of endurance). One young bodybuilder even asked Haworth what protein powder she uses.

Next month we’ll launch a new season of Community Cinema with … drumroll please … Half the Sky, a documentary based on Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s award-winning book. We’re hoping you will join us for a screening near you.

Watch Women Are Not the Problem, They Are the Solution on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.

Can’t wait? Visit us over the next few months for fresh new ways to change the world.

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Team Wyman-Haworth Talk About the Adventure of Making Strong!

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Brooke Shelby Biggs

We love when a filmmaker and her subject drop in at our offices, especially when they are as funny and charming as these two! Julie Wyman, whose film Strong! premieres on Independent Lens tomorrow, July 26, at 10 PM (check your local listings) and the film’s subject, Olympic weightlifting medalist Cheryl Haworth, visited our San Francisco HQ last month to talk about the years-long process of making the film, the fast friendship that developed between them. You can see how they light up a room.

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Independent Lens Drops in on the TV Critics Press Tour

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Brooke Shelby Biggs

Dick Gregory, Mary-Louyise Parker, and director Byron Hurt. Photo by Rahoul Ghose/PBS.

What a whirlwind weekend. In Beverly Hills, the nation’s television critics assembled to get sneak peeks of upcoming shows headed to the small screen in the Fall. The first two days were given over to public television, and let’s just say PBS set the bar pretty high for the commercial broadcasters who will dominate the next 12 days.

On day one, our illustrious host Mary-Louise Parker and series producer Lois Vossen were on hand to unveil one of our key programs coming in the new season, which starts in October. Over a breakfast of biscuits and gravy, critics previewed Soul Food Junkies, a new film by Independent Lens alum Byron Hurt (Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes). After the screening, Parker joined Hurt and comedian and activist Dick Gregory (who appears in the film) for a discussion panel. Soul Food Junkies premieres on Independent Lens on October 29, 2012.

Check out the trailer here:

“Soul Food Junkies” 2012 Trailer from Byron Hurt on Vimeo.

Chermayoff, Ryan, Kristof, Lane, Basu, Ferrera, and WuDunn. Photo by Rahoul Ghose/PBS.

The joint was buzzing for day two, when PBS and Independent Lens hosted a preview and panel discussion for Half the Sky, a two-part Women and Girls Lead event on PBS on October 1-2, 2012. We really brought the star power with a panel including Half the Sky authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, flanked by Meg Ryan, Diane Lane, and America Ferrera, along with executive producer and director Maro Chermayeff, with participant Urmi Basu.

The extended trailer:

Stay tuned for news about the first half of the season, with trailers for all of our new shows.

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What Does an Athlete Look Like? 11 Exceptional Elites

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Rebecca Huval

Before Olympians in London chalk their hands and brace themselves against the starting block, they overcome life’s hurdles. Some of the most challenging may be society’s assumptions about what constitutes athleticism, or what sports are appropriate for a given type of person. But the competitive spirit can’t be limited by gender, religion, weight, disability, or other arbitrary boundary. Like Cheryl Haworth (the world champion weightlifter who is the subject of our Thursday, July 26th premiere, Strong!), these exceptional, unexpected, and unconventional jocks have blown up the conventional wisdom of elite athletics. Meet these inspirational iconoclasts.

1. Jackie Mitchell

Jackie Mitchell with Lou Gehrig, Joe Engel, and Babe Ruth (via the Library of Congress)

At the age of 17, rookie pitcher Jackie Mitchell become the second woman to join the baseball minor leagues when she signed with the Chattanooga Lookouts in 1931. Her first game was a doozy. She struck out the legend himself, Babe Ruth, and then Lou Gehrig, one after the other. A few days after that game, the baseball commissioner voided Mitchell’s contract because baseball was “too strenuous” for a woman.

Continue reading →

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Julie Wyman Tackles Body Image, Femininity, and Elite Athletics

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Brooke Shelby Biggs

Julie Wyman, director of Strong!

We caught up with Julie Wyman, director of Strong!, amid her whirlwind tour of appearances across the country, including at SilverDocs in Washington, DC, Frameline in San Francisco, and many of our Community Cinema and Women and Girls Lead events in cities around the United States. We had questions for this Bay Area filmmaker, whose previous films include Buoyant and A Boy Named Sue. (Strong! premieres on Independent Lens on July 26, 2012 at 10 PM. Check your local listings to see when your local PBS station will air it.)

What impact do you hope this film will have?
I see Cheryl as a role model for other young women — and for anyone who struggles to find a sense of belonging in our world. I hope that her success, her confidence, and her candor will inspire others to embrace and utilize their own uniqueness.

Watch Lift Like a Girl! on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.

Continue reading →

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Have You Heard From Johannesburg Nominated for Primetime Emmy

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Brooke Shelby Biggs

In January of this year, we brought you the epic five-part documentary series Have You Heard From Johannesburg, by Connie Field. This morning we learned that the series has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking! We’re pretty excited and proud, as you can imagine.

As you prepare for the awards show we thought you might like to revisit the film with us to remember just what a sweeping document of the anti-Apartheid movement it is.

Watch the trailer:

You may also enjoy exploring our companion Apartheid timeline or listen to our Soundtrack of a Revolution on Spotify.

Our biggest congratulations to Connie, and best of luck at the Emmys!

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Big, Beautiful, Graceful, and Strong! The Body Eclectic

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Brooke Shelby Biggs

L to R: Anne Etheridge, Cheryl Haworth, and Julie Wyman

Next week’s premiere of Strong! brings you a film about more than an elite athlete at the height of her competitive career. In this online exclusive video, filmmaker Julie Wyman, cinematographer Anne Etheridge, and protagonist Cheryl Haworth take us behind the scenes for a peek at the making of the film, and the motivations behind it. Wyman notes that our culture both gawks at and renders invisible those who are bigger than average, and says she wants to provide images that belie popular notions of what is athletic, feminine, beautiful, and “normal.”

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Independent Lens Snags Five Emmy Nominations!

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Brooke Shelby Biggs

We arrived in the office this morning to fantastic news! Four Independent Lens films have been nominated for a total of five Emmy Awards! We are thrilled that these remarkable filmmakers are receiving such a well-deserved honor. Congratulations to all of you!

And the nominees are …

OUTSTANDING CONTINUING COVERAGE OF A NEWS STORY – LONG FORM
Bhutto  (Duane Baughman, director/producer; Mark Seigel and Arlene Sorkin, producers; Glenn Aveni, executive producer; Sally Jo Fifer, executive producer for ITVS; Lois Vossen, senior series producer for Independent Lens)

OUTSTANDING ARTS & CULTURE PROGRAMMING (Two nominations)
The Woodmans (C. Scott Willis, director/producer; Neil Barrett and Jeff Werner, producers: Sally Jo Fifer, executive producer for ITVS; Lois Vossen, senior series producer for Independent Lens)

Continue reading →

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The History of the Quest for the Elusive God Particle

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Brooke Shelby Biggs

Back in 2008, we premiered the film The Atom Smashers, about Fermilab and the search for the Higgs-boson particle, which physicists Wednesday confirmed probably does exist. In light of the news, we’re making the film available in its entirety online (for a limited time) for people curious about the political, scientific, and philosophical history of the race to find the secret of mass.

Check it out right here on PBS Video. Enjoy.

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Ai Weiwei Bail Lifted — but Threats of New Charges Loom

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Brooke Shelby Biggs

Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist and dissident at the heart of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (coming to Independent Lens next season), reports that his bail was lifted after a hearing today, and he has left his compound for the first time in a year without having to alert the police of his plans. However, his passport has been confiscated and he is not permitted to leave the country. Weiwei is being prosecuted for alleged tax evasion in China, but he claims the charges were fabricated to intimidate and silence him. Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of his release from detention after 81 days without being charged.

Ai Weiwei awaiting word on the outcome of his hearing. (Via Ai WeiWei Never Sorry Tumblr)

Weiwei writes that the Chinese government has informed him that he may be charged with pornography for an image he posted online in which he posed nude with several women, and possibly also with bigamy, because he has a child with a woman who is not his wife.

Will it stop him? He says no. “I often ask myself if I am afraid of being detained again. My inner voice says I am not. I love freedom, like anybody; maybe more than most people. But it is such a tragedy if you live your life in fear. That’s worse than actually losing your freedom.” Read his whole article on The Guardian (UK).

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry OFFICIAL TRAILER from Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry on Vimeo.

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