Independent Lens RSS

New Global Voices Series on PBS World

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:44:33 -0700

PBS WORLD and the Independent Television Service (ITVS) --the producers of Independent Lens--present the second season of Global Voices, a showcase of internationally themed documentaries made by independent filmmakers from around the globe. <

Watch THE NEW AMERICANS mini-series premiering on PBS World July 5 (check local listing). Also available on iTunes.

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:48:27 -0700

"Totally engrossing … illuminating and effortlessly beautiful."
- New York Times

"THE NEW AMERICANS is a cinematic masterpiece...a sensitive, compelling, irresistible collection of stories…never has the agony and hope of immigration been so poignantly depicted. "
- Chicago Sun-Times

What do you see through your lens?

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:09:29 -0700

See what people think, feel and share with Indie Lens Flickr groups, Community Voices shorts, video Talkback and more on Your Lens.

Catch Independent Lens on Hulu anytime

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:40:31 -0700

We know sometimes a broadcast is hard to time, that's whey we are working hard to make Independent Lens available when its convenient for you.

Check out the latest Independent Lens titles on Hulu!

Watch ASK NOT Tuesday, June 16 on Independent Lens

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:26:55 -0700

As wars rage in the Middle East, the U.S. military is eager for more recruits—unless you happen to be openly gay. ASK NOT explores the tangled political battles that led to the infamous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and reveals the personal stories of gay Americans who serve in combat under a veil of secrecy.

Watch an Encore Presentation of THE ORDER OF MYTHS premieres, Tuesday, June 2

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:03:08 -0700

The doctrine, “separate but equal” ended in the 1950s, right? Think again. At America’s oldest Mardi Gras—celebrated each year in Mobile, Alabama—events remain segregated between white and black residents. Beneath the surface of pageantry, lies a complex story about race relations and the ever-present racial divide that persists in America today.

Who Would You Enlist?

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:12:50 -0700

This interactive feature puts you in the seat of a military recruiting officer seeking qualified candidates while having to honor the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Watch an Encore Presentation of LIONESS Tuesday, June 2.

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:51:00 -0700

They went to Iraq as cooks, clerks and mechanics and returned a year later as part of America's first generation of female combat veterans. In LIONESS, Directors Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers give an intimate look at war through the eyes of women and the U.S. military policy that bans them from combat.

Read The Making Of: STRANDED: The Andes Plane Crash Survivors

Thu, 28 May 2009 15:01:40 -0700

Director Gonzalo Arijón talks about the process of creating "mind pictures" instead of reenactments, addressing the taboo topic of what the survivors ate during their 72-day ordeal and one survivor’s surprise announcement at the crash site, 34 years after the accident.

STEAL A PENCIL FOR ME premieres Tuesday, May 26

Tue, 26 May 2009 10:08:13 -0700

They say, “Love conquers all.” Or at least that’s what Jack Polak thought while struggling for survival in a Nazi concentration camp. Jack, his wife Manja and his new love, Ina, all end up living in the same barracks. When Jack's wife objects to the relationship, in spite of their unhappy marriage, Jack and Ina resort to writing secret love letters, which gives them the strength to survive. Academy Award-nominee Michele Ohayon (Colors Straight Up, 1997) tells this daring tale of unusual love, war and the human condition.

Map your favorite independent theater and post your comments on the Art House Theater Map

Wed, 20 May 2009 11:12:27 -0700

From grand, restored movie palaces to rundown single-screens, art houses are known for taking audiences off the beaten path. Now, movie buffs can share their favorite destinations for indie and alternative film viewing.

STRANDED: The Andes Plane Crash Survivors Tuesday, May 19 on Independent Lens

Mon, 18 May 2009 15:16:32 -0700

How far would you go to stay alive? The survivors of the well-known 1972 Andes plane crash recall what it took to live in the mountains for over 60 days with no food, water, or supplies. What they reveal is a story about one of humanity’s greatest taboos and one that asks the question, what would you do?

Watch STILL LIFE WITH ANIMATED DOGS online.

Fri, 15 May 2009 14:07:03 -0700

"Kind in nature, but tempered by Fierlinger's sardonic Eastern European humor, STILL LIFE WITH ANIMATED DOGS is a marvelous work that offers more emotion, poetry and reflective wisdom than the vast majority of feature-length, live-action films."
- BARK Magazine

"You don’t have to be a canine lover to find the cartoon “documentary” both whimsical and profound."
- Chattanooga Times Free Press

"Fierlinger puzzles over man’s relationship to dog, nature and the world in this provocative essay in words and pictures."
- The Chicago Tribune

"…. a visually delightful animated documentary…"
- CURRENT

Read Talkback from CRIPS AND BLOOD: Made In America

Wed, 13 May 2009 13:54:13 -0700

I have never seen a documentary that better expresses what I've told people for so long; if an opressed minority is so marginalized as to have its very humanity taken away, eventually it will cease to function as a healthy community, essentially losing its humanity. When you are conditioned to think of yourself as worthless, nothing about you or connected to you means anything to you. Life, freedom and the future become barely recognizable abstracts in the back of your mind, overshadowed by the immediacies of survival. Thank you for bringing this to light.

Posted by: Ralph on May 13, 2009

Watch CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made in America Tuesday, May 12 on Independent Lens

Mon, 11 May 2009 15:03:44 -0700

It’s a civil war that’s lasted 40 years. Passed down from son to son. Fought eye for an eye. Over 15,000 dead and counting, while the world stands by. Welcome to South Central Los Angeles. But what’s at the root of this long-standing battle? Filmmaker Stacy Peralta hits the streets of LA to find out, and speaks with former and current members of the Bloods and the Crips, two of the most notorious and violent street gangs in America.

Watch WINGS OF DEFEAT Tuesday, May 5 on Independent Lens

Mon, 04 May 2009 13:41:14 -0700

What were the Japanese Kamikazes thinking just before crashing into their targets? When Risa Morimoto discovered that her beloved uncle trained as a Kamikaze pilot in his youth, she wondered the same thing. Through rare interviews with surviving Kamikaze pilots, Morimoto retraces their journeys from teenagers to doomed pilots and reveals a complex history of brutal training and ambivalent sacrifice.

The Making Of AT HOME IN UTOPIA

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:57:32 -0700

Filmmakers Risa Morimoto and Linda Hoaglund talk about creating a balanced perspective on the Pacific War, arranging for U.S. veterans to meet their Japanese counterparts and losing the camera twice during filming.

Watch AT HOME IN UTOPIA Tuesday, April 28 on Independent Lens

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:51:09 -0700

A home of your own: that’s the American dream. But what happens when the dreamers are immigrants, factory workers and Communists? Director Michal Goldman traces the history of "The Coops," a cooperative apartment complex built in the Bronx by Jewish garment workers. The film tracks the rise and fall of the community from the 1920s into the 1950s, bearing witness to lives lived across barriers of race, convention and sometimes even common sense.

The Making Of CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made In America

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:37:30 -0700

Director Stacy Peralta talks about realistically stopping gang warfare in Los Angeles and how the Crips and Bloods were “Made in America.”

Read Inside Filmmaking Volume 6

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:05:27 -0700

How do doc makers tell personal stories without being too intrusive? Read about the relationship between a young Native American filmmaker and her film subject; find out what it’s like to interview legendary journalists and discover how a sensitive approach led to compelling stories from the elderly.

Free Community Cinema screening of CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made in America

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:34:14 -0700

Filmmaker Stacy Peralta hits the streets of LA and speaks with former and current members of the Bloods and the Crips, two of the most notorious street gangs in America.

Find a screening in your area:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/getinvolved/cinema/

AN UNREASONABLE MAN Where's Nader?

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:28:58 -0700

What seemingly mundane aspects of daily life have been impacted by Ralph Nader and fellow consumer activists? Explore one neighborhood and spot the influences.

The Making Of: AT HOME IN UTOPIA

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:17:29 -0700

Filmmaker Michal Goldman talks about bonding with former communists, the pitfalls of editing one’s own film and an interview that surprised her with its emotion and intimacy.

Watch MILKING THE RHINO Tuesday, April 7 on PBS

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:28:25 -0700

Everyone has seen a nature documentary with a ferocious kill on the Serengeti Plain. Well, here’s a different story about villagers navigating the dangers and costs of living with wildlife. After a century of “white man’s conservation,” the Maasai of Kenya and Namibia’s Himba people are vying to share a piece of the eco-tourism pie. But can they fulfill the expectations of Westerners without abandoning their native culture?

Explore a “different” kind of nature film

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:24:50 -0700

Who is Wangari Maathai? Read Maathai’s thoughts on her work and the issues most important to her.

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:21:29 -0700

Wangari Maathai’s work can’t be pigeonholed. Instead of viewing poverty, debt, human rights, social justice, environmentalism and women’s rights as isolated issues, Maathai has deftly addressed their connectivity and the relationships between them. Examining symptoms and root causes is how Maathai has succeeded in taking a seemingly simple idea, like tree planting, and has used it to fight larger, underlying problems.

Watch RECYCLE Tuesday, March 31 on PBS

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:13:10 -0700

Ride shotgun with ex-Mujahideen fighter Abu Amar and his son through the chaotic streets of Zarqa, Jordan—a hotbed of political extremism and birthplace of the infamous al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Follow Amar’s daily life as he scours the streets to earn a meager living collecting cardboard to recycle and struggles with his faith and the social realities of life in the Middle East.

Find free screenings of TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai near you

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:32:09 -0700

A free monthly screening series, Community Cinema features films from the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens.

This month, see TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai. Under Wangaari Maathai's leadership, tree-planting in Kenya has grown into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, human rights and democracy.

Watch LAKSHMI AND ME Tuesday, March 24 on PBS

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:35:15 -0700

Have you ever dreamed of being waited on hand and foot? For the past six years, Lakshmi has been doing just that for her employers—virtually unnoticed. That is, until one of Lakshmi’s employers begins to film her daily life on the job in Mumbai, India. In a deeply personal portrait, the film takes a hard look at the Indian caste system, gender and class relations.

Watch ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING Tuesday, March 17 on PBS

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:06:58 -0700

Set against the turbulent relationship between the U.S. and Iran, Iranian-American filmmaker Marjan Tehrani captures the struggle and excitement of Alex and Heather as they plan a Persian Islamic wedding in Iran. But when Alex’s Iranian-born parents and Heather’s conservative American father meet for the first time, cultures clash and test the couple to their limits.

Celebrate Women's History Month

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:36:55 -0700

From stuntwomen, mariachis and wrestlers to activists, mothers and more, explore the women of Independent Lens films.

View colorful images of ethnic weddings

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:01:41 -0700

From Morocco's boisterous precessions to Bali's timeless beauty, inspired by ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING.

Watch an Encore Presentation of ABDUCTION: The Megumi Yokota Story

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:31:04 -0700

ABDUCTION: The Megumi Yokota Story is the true story of a 13-year-old Japanese girl kidnapped by North Korean spies in 1977, and her parents' 30-year battle to bring her home. Told through the eyes of Megumi's parents, ABDUCTION follows their incredible journey full of bizarre twists, and a life they never imagined.

PAUL CONRAD: Drawing Fire Online at Hulu.com

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:28:47 -0700

Three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Paul Conrad has drawn and quartered 11 presidents in a remarkable career spanning half a century. Narrated by Tom Brokaw, PAUL CONRAD: Drawing Fire pays tribute to a legendary journalist and artist who epitomizes the fiercely independent voice that has been vanishing from American news media in recent years.

Watch MARCH POINT Tuesday, March 3 on PBS

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:26:52 -0700

In the late 1950s, two oil refineries were built on March Point, an area that was once part of the Swinomish Reservation by treaty. MARCH POINT tells the story of three boys from the Swinomish Indian Tribe who make a movie about the destruction the refineries have wrought in their community.

Selected Independent Lens films now on Hulu.com. Watch them free on your time.

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:36:07 -0800

Hulu is a top destination for watching film and television online. Since it’s debut in 2008, Hulu has become the sixth most visited site for online video viewing.

Watch THE ORDER OF MYTHS Tuesday, February 24 on PBS

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:11:17 -0800

Community Voices Short Videos: Watch and Be Inspired!

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:51:36 -0800

Independent Lens and ITVS Community are pleased to present Community Voices: short videos developed by independent filmmakers and community partners from around the U.S. From a flea market to the DNC to an independent recording studio, emerging and first-time filmmakers provide new perspectives on democracy in America today.

Watch BILLY STRAYHORN: LUSH LIFE Tuesday, February 17 on PBS (encore presentation)

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:52:42 -0800

As Duke Ellington's co-composer, arranger, and right-hand man, Billy Strayhorn wrote some of the greatest American music of the 20th century. But as a gay man in the '40s and '50s, Strayhorn had to lead a discreet existence, while Ellington played to thunderous applause on center stage. BILLY STRAYHORN: Lush Life tells the story of the unheralded man who changed jazz and popular music forever, maintaining artistic and personal integrity, while challenging prejudice along the way

Watch BULLET PROOF VEST (5:27) online. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize Online Shorts Festival II.

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:11:13 -0800

Nine-year-old Jyeshria wants a bulletproof vest—and she's dead serious. In a city riddled with gun violence, fed up residents take action.

Web Site Launch THE ORDER OF MYTHS

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:29:55 -0800

Web-exclusive: FACE TO FACE

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:36:30 -0800

Connect the experiences of Japanese Americans in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor with those confronting Arab and Muslim Americans today in a post-September 11 America.

Find a free Community Cinema screening of ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:32:21 -0800

New Indie Lens videos

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:16:29 -0800

Many new video clips from upcoming Independent Lens films have been posted, check 'em out!

Flickr: Mardi Gras madness, inspired by THE ORDER OF MYTHS

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:20:54 -0800

From gigantic floats to outrageous costumes, view colorful images of Mardi Gras celebrations in this month’s Your Lens Flickr Group.

Watch TULIA, TEXAS Tuesday, February 10 on PBS

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:51:42 -0800

A lone undercover cop moves into a small farming town. By the end of the blazing summer of 1999, 46 people are arrested for selling cocaine—nearly all of them African American. It was heralded as one of the biggest drug busts in Texas history, until a team of lawyers set out to uncover the truth.

Watch PLEASE VOTE FOR ME Tuesday, January 20 on PBS

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:54:40 -0800

In an elementary school in the city of Wuhan in central China, three eight-year-old students campaign for the coveted position of class monitor. This is the first election for a class leader to be held in China. The three candidates hold debates, campaign tirelessly and show their intellectual and artistic skills, until one is voted the winner. An encore presentation.

Web Site Launch for TULIA, TEXAS

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:07:36 -0800

Find a free Community Cinema screening of TULIA, TEXAS

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:19:27 -0800

Watch HELVETICA Tuesday, January 6 on PBS

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:54:46 -0800

You can't escape if you try—it's on your computer, the subway, U.S. mailboxes, IRS tax forms, and spells out countless corporate logos from Target to Fendi. No doubt, Helvetica is the king of fonts. But why? To find the answer, first-time Director Gary Hustwit meets with historians and designers whose passion for typefaces run high, and discovers the secrets behind the fonts we use and read every day.

Watch OPERATION FILMMAKER Tuesday, December 30 on PBS

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:54:49 -0800

In this surprising allegory of America's involvement in Iraq, an Iraqi film student, Muthana Mohmed—whose school was destroyed by American bombs—lands a dream job working on a Hollywood movie in the West. On set, idealistic expectations and cultural misunderstandings collide launching Muthana on a journey more complicated than either he or his American benefactors ever anticipated.

Watch GREY GARDENS: From East Hampton to Broadway Tuesday, December 23, 2008 on PBS

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:54:53 -0800

The 1975 Maysles brothers cult classic Grey Gardens told the story of the eccentric and often humorous mother-daughter relationship between Edith Beale and her daughter Edie—aunt and cousin to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. GREY GARDENS: From East Hampton to Broadway looks at how their lives set the stage for the Maysles film and later the Broadway musical, both of which have impacted the art, entertainment and fashion communities.

Watch BULLET PROOF VEST (5 min. 20 sec.)

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:55:07 -0800

Welcome to Richmond, California, the most dangerous city in the state—and the 11th most dangerous city in the U.S. With an average of one homicide every 10 days, many parents are afraid to let their children outside. Nine-year-old twins Mustapha and Jyeshria know they can’t go to the park unaccompanied. “Your parents need to be there with you, so they can block the bullet,” Jyeshria explains. In 2006, fed up with the gun violence decimating the city's young men, residents took over the four most dangerous parks, camping in tent cities in a desperate stand for peace.

Web Site Launch for HELVETICA

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:55:12 -0800

Watch WONDERS ARE MANY: The Making of Doctor Atomic Tuesday, December 16 on PBS

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:57:52 -0800

The Making of WONDERS ARE MANY

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:57:58 -0800

WONDERS ARE MANY tells the story of making a grand opera about the birth of the atomic bomb. This behind-the-scenes documentary follows Composer John Adams and Director Peter Sellars over the course of a year as they work to forge the tale of J. Robert Oppenheimer into a music drama like no other: the strange and beautiful Doctor Atomic.

Producer, director and writer Jon Else talks about the creative motivation of unfinished business, oven-baking 30-year-old videotape and how “funny is important” when getting people to think seriously about nuclear war.

Watch DOC Tuesday, December 9, 2008 on PBS

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:58:03 -0800

A biography of literary figure Harold Louis "Doc" Humes by his daughter, DOC tells the story of a life crammed full of ideas about politics, literature and protest. Exploring Doc's paranoia and mental illness, this homemade, improvisational piece sheds light on an original mind as well as the cultural history of postwar America.

Explore Native American Storytelling

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:55:50 -0800

Circle of Stories is an interactive Web site that uses documentary film, photography, artwork and music to honor and explore Native American storytelling with Native culture bearers as your guides.

Web Site Launch for WONDERS ARE MANY: The Making of Doctor Atomic

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:55:54 -0800

Online Shorts Festival II

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:55:57 -0800

Animation, drama, documentary and poetry in motion—shorts that pack a punch! Immerse yourself in an eclectic mix of stories and storytelling with this year’s batch of Independent Lens Online Shorts winners. Download them ‘to go,’ read about the films and filmmakers and post your comments in Talkback.

The making of THE ATOM SMASHERS

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:56:04 -0800

"We hope this film will raise the awareness of America's strange relationship with science. We don't attempt to answer questions in our film, but rather to raise them. Is this research worth doing? Should we care about it? Should the U.S. participate in it or let it get done elsewhere? Also, we hope to help demystify science and scientists." -Clayton Brown, Monica Ross and Andrew Suprenant

What do you see through Your Lens?

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:56:09 -0800

We’ve launched Your Lens to find out what you independent thinkers are thinking. Talkback and get involved. Come back monthly and see new ways to participate and share your passions, ideas and opinions.

Watch MARCH POINT Tuesday, November 18, 2008 on PBS

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:56:18 -0800

What is Visionary Art?

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:56:25 -0800

Visionary art . . . outsider art . . . self-taught art . . . is work made by people who didn’t necessarily go to school to be artists. They usually don’t even think that what they’re doing is making art—they may simply think they’re decorating their houses or yards or painting signs.

Find a free Community Cinema screening near you

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:56:29 -0800

A free monthly screening series, Community Cinema features films from the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens.

In over 50 cities nationwide, screenings are followed by lively panel discussions that bring together citizens, organizations and public television stations to encourage dialogue and action around important and timely social issues. Last season, over 30,000 people attended 400 events nationwide.

Download the Indie Lens video widget

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:56:37 -0800

What is the Independent Lens Video Widget?

The Independent Lens Video Widget is a portable video player application that can be added to your own Web site, blog or social networking pages.

The IL Video Widget is a convenient portal for viewing and sharing previews of upcoming Independent Lens broadcasts and allows for easy access to the film's companion Web site. The widget will update regularly with new video content as it becomes available.