Community Cinema

Films and Resources

ITVS Community combines partnerships, strategic planning, events, and resource materials to support community and educational activities through Independent Lens films.

Get background information, discussion guides, postcards, and more for this season's line-up: Resources such as discussion guides, teacher curricula, action kits, fact sheets, and preview DVDs are made available to our partners at no cost. Check out this season's campaigns from the list below or view our past and ongoing projects.

If you have questions regarding resources or about becoming a Community Cinema partner, please contact cinema@itvs.org.

  • Women in traditional attire celebrating in Somaliland
    Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

    This multi-platform project is centered around a four-hour PBS primetime national and international broadcast event based on Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's widely acclaimed book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.

  • Janesville Population 63,575 reads a road sign that stands next to a farm field beneath a stormy sky
    As Goes Janesville

    In the wake of a recession that has hit Janesville, Wisconsin particularly hard, the town and its residents struggle to redefine themselves and find solutions they can agree upon. The result is a microcosm of the national plight of the middle class and the political polarization over what the American Dream looks like in the 21st century.

  • Four of the female students at the Barefoot College stand outside of the classroom wearing colorful, traditional attire
    Solar Mamas

    An innovative college in India provides rural women from underdeveloped countries with the engineering education to bring solar energy to their communities.

  • A close-up of hand with fork digging into a heaping plate of barbequed meat and cabbage over rice
    Soul Food Junkies

    To many African Americans, soul food is sacrament, ritual, and a key expression of cultural identity. But does this traditional cuisine do more harm to health than it soothes the soul?

  • Black and white still of Whitney Young speaking at a microphone
    The Powerbroker: Whitney Young's Fight for Civil Rights

    Whitney M. Young Jr. was a civil rights leader who lead from within the white business establishment with the Urban League.

  • A woman dressed as Wonder Woman stands in front of a red curtain decorated with blue and white stars.
    Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines

    Wonder Woman was the first major female comic-book hero, and her evolution — along with other pop-culture heroines speaks volumes about social attitudes about women.

  • Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed surrounded by a swarm of reporters and camerapeople during his appearance at a 350.org event
    The Island President

    Mohamed Nasheed battles corruption and rising seas that threaten the very existence of his nation of the Maldives.

  • Child activists marching through the streets of Calcutta using megaphones to spread health messages.
    The Revolutionary Optimists

    An Indian entrepreneur dedicates his life to empowering children to take action in their impoverished communities to improve local health and infrastructure.

  • Gene Robinson in his bishop’s attire stands next to his husband, Mark
    Love Free or Die

    Faith, love, marriage, homosexuality, and the Episcopal Church collide in the first openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

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