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Poster from the film Almost There, rendering by the artist Arthur Jones of Peter Anton
Film History
October, 27, 2016

Cats of Documentaries

Independent Lens in Film History

"I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.”—Filmmaker Jean Cocteau (Orpheus; Beauty and the Beast) International Cat Day is August 8 and National Cat Day is October 29, days designed to…
Political pundit Gore Vidal on a television monitor, 1968; courtesy Estate of Archie Lieberman
Beyond the Films
September, 27, 2016

Evolution of TV Political Pundits: The Legacy of Buckley and Vidal

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

As depicted in Best of Enemies, bitter intellectual rivals Willam F. Buckley and Gore Vidal eviscerating each other with wit on network TV in 1968 made for riveting, and sometimes jaw-dropping, television. It also laid the groundwork for the ignominious future of the…
Mel Brooks in the Last Laugh demonstrates his Hitler impression with moustache and all
September, 26, 2016

The Last Laugh

Independent Lens

The Holocaust would seem to be an absolutely off-limits topic for comedy. But is it? History shows that even victims of Nazi concentration camps used humor as a means of survival and resistance. Still, any use of comedy in connection…
Filmmaker Shirley Clarke with slate and monitor
Film History
July, 11, 2016

From Alice Guy-Blaché to Barbara Kopple: The Pioneering Women of Documentary Film

Maryann Johanson in Film History

When we talk about the early years of cinema, there is no separating “the history of women in film” from “the history of film.” Women have been there from the beginning, and have shaped the medium in transformative ways. Early Women…
From the film "The Walk"; image courtesy Tri-Star Pictures
Film History
May, 27, 2016

Based on a True Story: 8 Documentaries that Inspired Feature Films

Sean Axmaker in Film History

True stories have been a prime inspiration for movies for as long as there have been movies. Early films recreated historical events and breaking news for eager audiences and films as disparate as I Am a Fugitive from a Chain…
Still of priest standing in front of outdoor cross in Robert Bresson's 1951 film Diary of a Country Priest
Lists
May, 6, 2016

Losing Your Religion: Nine Movies about Crises of Faith

Noel Murray in Lists

Abigail Disney’s documentary The Armor of Light takes an unusual but illuminating approach to the gun control debate. In the film, Reverend Rob Schenck — an evangelical Christian who gained some cachet on the right decades ago via his leadership of…
Horst van Wächter and Niklas Frank (l-r), with Philippe Sands in background
Beyond the Films
April, 27, 2016

Blood Guilt: 12 Movies about Healing after Heinous Crimes

Sean Axmaker in Beyond the Films

Niklas Frank and Horst von Wächter are the adult children of high-ranking Nazi officers. As we learn in My Nazi Legacy, their fathers sent tens of thousands of people to their deaths, and Niklas and Horst spent decades dealing with…
magician's gloved hands conjuring up magic and iphones
Beyond the Films
March, 24, 2016

Magic in the Modern Age: Do You (Still) Believe in Magic?

Lisa Ko in Beyond the Films

Legendary stage magician and escapologist James “The Amazing” Randi broke out of 22 jails during his career, going so far as to break Harry Houdini’s record of time spent inside a coffin submerged in water (104 minutes to Houdini’s 93).…
James "The Amazing" Randi stands casting large shadow against wall
Interviews
March, 23, 2016

Tyler Measom and Justin Weinstein Unlock the Mystery of James “The Amazing” Randi

Independent Lens in Interviews

As famous a skeptic as he is a magician, James "The Amazing" Randi has led a life full of magic and mystery, as much off the stage as on it, and a naturally compelling subject for a documentary. Blessed with…
Artwork from Jodorowsky's Dune
Film History
March, 10, 2016

The Unmaking of: Stories of the Greatest Films Never Made

Sean Axmaker in Film History

The "making of" documentary has become a lively subgenre of nonfiction filmmaking, thanks in large part to the explosion of home video and the proliferation of cable channels in the past few decades. Once a purely promotional creation to run…
production of the first Wikipedia video tutorials (Hamburg, Germany)
Behind the Films
March, 4, 2016

Documentaries for Movie Geeks: Films About Films

Scott Weinberg in Behind the Films

Once you've watched a beloved movie two or three times, you start to crave a little more information about the film's conception, production, and cultural impact, among other things. So you hit the internet to read a few articles or…
Crowd of protestors cheer.
Lists
February, 9, 2016

The Black Panthers Mixtape

Independent Lens in Lists

For The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, which aired on Independent Lens, you can plug in, turn on, and get down with our curated Spotify playlist. The set joins the politically charged soul music of the '60s and 70's with…