June 11, 2021
Filmmakers Show How Agent Orange Catastrophe Did Not End with the Vietnam War
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
The well-oiled, three-person machine behind The People vs. Agent Orange each brought their manifold backgrounds to the table in order to put together a film that involved equal parts investigative…...
April 19, 2021
How the Team Behind “Philly D.A.” Captured History for Epic Docuseries
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Philadelphia-based filmmakers Ted Passon and Yoni Brook, and producer Nicole Salazar, had to work as a well-oiled machine team to make an epic docuseries like Philly D.A. happen. Each one…...
February 05, 2021
Telling the Story of Gender, Politics, and Violence in America Through the Eyes of Women Police Officers
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
In addition to her documentaries Still Doing It: The Intimate Lives of Women Over 65, and Suicide On Campus, a web documentary produced in conjunction with The New York Times…...
January 13, 2021
The Story of 9to5: A Movement that Changed the American Workplace
Craig Phillips in Interviews
Julia Reichert and her filmmaking partner and life partner Steve Bognar, have been making documentaries for a long while. Most recently, in 2020, the team won the Academy Award for…...
January 06, 2021
How Jared Leto and 92 Film Crews Captured 24 Hours in America
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
In some ways, you'd think Jared Leto, Oscar-winning actor, movie star, and frontman for Platinum-selling band (with his brother Shannon) 30 Seconds to Mars, would not need much of an…...
December 28, 2020
Battling a Male-Dominated World for Recognition and a Raise
Craig Phillips in
Filmmaker Yu Gu was born in Chongqing, China, raised in Vancouver, Canada, and found her way to the University of Southern California film program. Her films, like the feature documentary…...
November 18, 2020
Filmmaker Exposes Shocking Pattern of Illegal Sterilizations in Women’s Prisons
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Erika Cohn has made powerful documentaries for Independent Lens before and is no stranger to telling intimate, surprising stories in tense environments: her Peabody Award-winning film The Judge showed Shari’a…...
November 06, 2020
Jonathan Scott Investigates Who Controls Our Power
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
In some ways Jonathan Scott should need no introduction—or so you'd think as co-host with his brother Drew of the hugely popular HGTV shows Property Brothers and Brother vs. Brother,…...
October 02, 2020
How a Cartoon Frog Became a Symbol for a “Confounding Moment in Our History”
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Filmmakers Arthur Jones and Giorgio Angelini both bring very unique artistic backgrounds to the drawing table that led to the fruitful collaboration for Feels Good Man, which is Jones' feature…...
May 01, 2020
Sasha Joseph Neulinger Confronts Family Trauma Head-On
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
It's been a pretty impressive run for what was someone's very first feature documentary. But then again, Rewind is no ordinary first film. After Sasha Joseph Neulinger finished film school…...
April 23, 2020
Making a Film About the Necessity of Science and Commitment to the Truth
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Bill Haney brought all the hats he's worn into play in making the documentary Jim Allison: Breakthrough. The award-winning filmmaker (he counts a Silver Hugo, an IDA Pare Lorentz Award,…...
April 16, 2020
Filmmaker Asks New Yorkers, What Does the Future Look Like?
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Toronto-based filmmaker Brett Story, whose previous film The Prison in Twelve Landscapes aired on Independent Lens in 2017, holds a PhD in geography and her unconventional storytelling style reflects both…...