August 27, 2020
The Science of Kindness: It’s Not Easy Being Nice
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
Author Josh Kurz is a science communicator and filmmaker, and the co-creator of the audio program Shabam, which uses a zombie apocalypse to talk about real science. By Josh Kurz…...
April 21, 2020
Meet the Mavericks of Science and Medicine
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
by Heather Archuletta [caption id="" align="alignright" width="500"] Ignaz Semmelweis[/caption] In 1847, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis proposed a simple tactic: wash your hands. It’s difficult to imagine this as a medical “breakthrough,”…...
February 12, 2020
Religion, Science and Belief: Unearthing the Thorny Intersection
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
Filmmakers Monica Long Ross and Clayton Brown have long been fascinated by how science and culture mix--or don't mix--in America. In short, that relationship is complicated. They directed and produced…...
July 02, 2019
Space Scientists of Color, and the “Afronauts”
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Satu Runa What drives humankind to explore? There are several factors that can embolden a person to “seek out new civilizations” or “boldly go where no one has gone…...
June 28, 2019
Women of the Space Agency: Once Forbidden, No Longer Hidden
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Heather Archuletta In July of 1999, on Apollo 11’s 30th anniversary, at a Kennedy Space Center press conference, NASA astronaut and first moonwalker Neil Armstrong lamented, “School children used…...
October 27, 2014
Is Time Itself Brakeless?
Craig Phillips in Uncategorized
The Nature of Time “I know this much: that there is objective time, but also subjective time, the kind you wear on the inside of your wrist, next to where…...
January 29, 2013
Hundreds of Voucher Schools Teach Creationism in Science Classes
Maria Goodavage in
Zack Kopplin, a student at Rice University and a science education advocate, learned about the Independent Lens film The Revisionaries and contacted us. Kopplin, a winner of the Hugh M.…...
January 25, 2013
Filmmaker Scott Thurman on the Texas Textbook Wars
Maria Goodavage in Uncategorized
We sat down with filmmaker Scott Thurman to discuss what went on behind the scenes of his documentary, The Revisionaries, which chronicles the oft-rancorous battle over Texas textbooks. The Revisionaries…...
December 18, 2012
Filmmaker Q&A: Vanessa Gould’s Path from Origami to Obituaries
Rebecca Huval in Uncategorized
[caption id="attachment_2715" align="alignright" width="300"] Filmmaker Vanessa Gould[/caption] A small square of origami paper can be folded into an infinite number of complicated shapes. Similarly, Vanessa Gould’s documentary career has become…...