On April 5, we’ll be premiering the film The Desert of Forbidden Art on Independent Lens (check local listings). As the film opens theatrically in a few select cities in the United States, its subject — the remarkable collection of suppressed Soviet-era art that was hidden away in Uzbekistan far from the eyes of communist … READ MORE

To honor the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day on Tuesday, we’re co-hosting a live online discussion with ITVS and PBS News Hour about violence against women in the Congo and beyond. Our chat, hosted by NewsHour’s Hari Sreenivasan, centers on the upcoming Independent Lens documentary Pushing the Elephant, and will explore the effects of … READ MORE

Sad news from Joel Engardio, director of the 2007 audience favorite Knocking. Seth Thomas, the young man in the film who received a transfusion-free liver transplant to remain true to his faith as a Jehovah’s Witness, passed away on February 14. He was 30 years old.

Dan Birman spent six years capturing the evolution and nuances of a case that is both depressingly common and refreshingly multifaceted. He met 16-year-old Cyntoia Brown after she murdered a man. Instead of a lost cause, he found a very bright young woman trapped in a juvenile justice system that leaves no room for redemption. … READ MORE

Yony Leyser’s first feature documentary William S. Burroughs: A Man Within is screening at film festivals all over Europe right now and coming back to the United States for more dates this spring. The film makes its broadcast debut on Independent Lens this Tuesday, February 22, 2011. We sat down with Yony, the two-time film … READ MORE

William S. Burroughs was one eccentric dude. His active war on conventional wisdom and propriety helped America loosen up considerably. As one of the iconic American authors of the 20th century, he will be known for the novel Naked Lunch for centuries to come — not so much for what it is about (come to … READ MORE

The Independent Television Service (which produces Independent Lens) and PBS NewsHour have partnered to help provide Egypt & Democracy, an amazing range of resources for educators to help frame events in Egypt for students in a historical and global context. Included is a live online event on Tuesday, February 15, at 11 AM PST. Entitled … READ MORE

Filmmaker Lucy Walker joined us for a live chat on Wednesday, February 9 to talk about her film Waste Land. The documentary, which airs April 19 on Independent Lens has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film follows Brazilian artist Vik Muniz, who travels to his native Rio de Janiero … READ MORE

Rose Mapendo — the subject of the upcoming Independent Lens film Pushing the Elephant — lost her husband and home to the ethnic violence that engulfed the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1990s, and emigrated to Phoenix in 2000 as a refugee. Yet she emerged from the suffering advocating for forgiveness and reconciliation, … READ MORE

Part of our slate for African American History Month, When I Rise premieres on Independent Lens Tuesday, February 8 on PBS (check local listings). As we do with all of our premieres, we asked the filmmakers to sit down and answer a few probing questions about making the film and about filmmaking in general. Director … READ MORE

Filmmaker Jim Bigham sat down with Independent Lens to talk about making For Once in My Life, and how his subjects inspired him to make a film about people with mental and physical challenges that wasn’t condescending but rather expansively joyful. For Once in My Life premieres tonight at 10 PM on PBS (check local … READ MORE

The nominations for the 83rd annual Academy Awards are in, and included on the list for best documentary feature is Lucy Walker’s Waste Land. Premiering this April on Independent Lens, the doc follows Brazilian artist Vik Muniz, as he embarks on a project inspired by the trash pickers at the largest landfill on earth. Congratulations … READ MORE