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Independent Lens is broadcast on most PBS stations on Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m.
Please check the broadcast schedule. Dates and times may vary.
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BANISHED
by Marco Williams
February 19, 2008
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From the 1860s to the 1920s, dozens of towns and counties across America violently expelled entire African American communities, forcing thousands of black families to flee their homes. A century later, these towns remain mostly white. BANISHED tells the story of three of these communities and their black descendants, who return to learn shocking histories.
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HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes takes an in-depth look at machismo in rap music and hip-hop culture—where creative genius, poetic beauty and mad beats collide with misogyny, violence and homophobia.
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Born in a Thai refugee camp on Cambodian New Year, filmmaker Socheata Poeuv grew up in the United States never knowing that her family had survived the Khmer Rouge genocide. In NEW YEAR BABY, she embarks on a journey to Cambodia in search of the truth and why her family's history had been buried in secrecy for so long.
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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.
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COSMOPOLITAN
by Jen Small, Jason Orans, Brian Devine and Nisha Ganatra
Co-presented by KTEH/San Jose and the Center for Asian American Media
June 1, 2004
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When his wife and daughter abandon him, East Indian immigrant Gopal (Roshan Seth) reinvents himself as an all-American bachelor. With women’s magazines as his guide, he pursues Mrs. Shaw (Carol Kane), the divorcée next door. But he finds there’s more to love than the pages of Cosmo would suggest. A romantic comedy directed by Nisha Ganatra (Chutney Popcorn) and written by Sabrina Dhawan (Monsoon Wedding).
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Dr. Jack Kessler, a prominent neurologist, shifts his diabetes research to stem cell research when his daughter is paralyzed from the waist down. MAPPING STEM CELL RESEARCH: Terra Incognita brings the stem cell debate to the forefront and examines the constantly evolving interplay between the promise of new discoveries, the controversy of modern science and the courage of people living with devastating disease and injury.
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THE NEW AMERICANS
by Gita Saedi, Gordon Quinn and Steve James
Co-presented by Latino Public Broadcasting and the
Center for Asian American Media
March 29, 2004
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What does the “American dream” look like through the eyes of today’s immigrants and refugees? From Nigeria, India, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, they come with different dreams: to achieve athletic glory or high-tech riches, to escape poverty and persecution, to provide for their families. This seven-hour three-part series follows these newcomers from each of their homelands through their first tumultuous years in America.
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Exploring the drama and complexities behind producing international versions of the world’s most popular children’s television program and created in cooperation with the show itself, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SESAME STREET illustrates how social impact can come from the most seemingly unlikely sources, including a team of Muppets.
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Jasmine left her village in a remote part of China to get a job and help her family. Now she and her teenage friends at the blue jean factory are trying to survive in a brutal work environment. Shot clandestinely, CHINA BLUE takes a rare and poignant look at the individuals who toil day-to-day to make the clothes we buy. Co-production of ITVS in association with CAAM.
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COMPAÑERAS
by Elizabeth Massie and Matthew Buzzell
April 1, 2008
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COMPAÑERAS profiles America's first all-female mariachi band, Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles. Founded in 1994, the 12 members of Reyna shatter age-old stereotypes while expanding the popularity of mariachi music. In a culture and a musical tradition that has always been male-dominated, these women are true pioneers, literally giving voice to Latinas.
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For more than 50 years, the Miss Navajo Nation beauty pageant has given its contestants opportunities to showcase not only their beauty but also their skills in dance, music and sheep slaughtering. Following contestants in their quest for the crown, and featuring personal stories of recent winners, MISS NAVAJO is a celebration of womanhood.
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Following legendary teacher Robert Cazimero and the only all-male hula school in Hawaii, NA KAMALEI: The Men of Hula goes beyond deep-rooted stereotypes of "grass skirt girls" and reveals a story of Hawaiian pride through the exploration of male roles in the hula tradition—past and present.
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THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND
by Sam Green, Carrie Lozano and Bill Siegel
Co-presented by KQED/San Francisco
April 27, 2004
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During the late 1960s and early 1970s, several hundred young women and men tried to spark a socialist revolution. The Weathermen waged a low-level war against the U.S. government: bombing the Capitol building, breaking Timothy Leary out of prison and evading one of the largest FBI manhunts in history. Watch and listen as former members look back on this notorious movement, speaking candidly about their experiences. Narrated by Lili Taylor.
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Since 1933, The Hackberry Ramblers have played an infectious, toe-tapping blend of Cajun music and Western swing. Part biography, part road movie, this documentary captures the poignant and funny exploits of these “agin’ ragin’ Cajuns,” from a Bayou crawfish boil to MTV to their first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry.
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SHORT STACK 2006 features the Grand Prize winners of the first Independent Lens Online Shorts Festival: "Paris, 1951" and "Someday Flowers Bloom", as well as the animated comedy “The Zit,” in which a boy on his way to the school dance is forced to deal with his first pimple. In “My Life Disoriented,” teenage sisters struggle to find acceptance after their father uproots the family and relocates them to a town where they are among only a handful of Asian Americans.
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For over 40 years, Ralph Nader has worked tirelessly as a consumer advocate, building a legislative record to rival that of any contemporary president. Yet today, many consider him merely an egomaniac and a "spoiler." AN UNREASONABLE MAN takes an unsparing look at one of the most important and controversial political figures our time.
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IRON LADIES OF LIBERIA
by Daniel Junge, Siatta Scott-Johnson, Henry Ansbacher and Jonathan Stack
March 18, 2008
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With unprecedented access, this intimate documentary goes behind the scenes with Africa's first freely elected female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia. The film explores the challenges facing the new president and the extraordinary women surrounding her as they develop and implement policy to rebuild their ravaged country and prevent a descent back into civil war.
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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.
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the National Endowment for the Arts