Blog

April, 12, 2012

When the Drum Is Beating

Independent Lens

In Haiti, there is one band that’s seen it all: Septentrional. For six decades, this 20-piece band has been making beautiful music – a fusion of Cuban big band and Haitian vodou beats – that turns out thousands of fans…
Kevin Clash performs with Elmo puppet.
April, 5, 2012

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey

Independent Lens

Every day, millions tune in to Sesame Street to see one of the world’s most adored and recognizable characters — a furry red three-and-a-half year-old monster named Elmo. Yet, with all of Elmo’s fame, the man behind the icon is…
December, 29, 2011

These Amazing Shadows

Independent Lens

What do the films Casablanca, Blazing Saddles, and West Side Story have in common? Besides being popular, they have also been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and listed in The National Film Registry, a…
Photographer Francesca Woodman
December, 22, 2011

The Woodmans

Independent Lens

The Woodmans are a family of well-known artists bonded in their belief of art-making as the highest form of expression. But for their daughter Francesca — one of the late 20th century's most recognized and influential photographers — fame came…
Aneta Brodski performs poetry using sign language.
November, 3, 2011

Deaf Jam

Independent Lens

Aneta Brodski is an Israeli-born teenager living in Queens, New York. She is passionate and driven and well liked by her high school classmates. Unique among her classmates, Aneta longs to fully participate in the hearing world. (more…)
A woman in headscarf reads the 99 comic book.
October, 13, 2011

Wham! Bam! Islam!

Independent Lens

In 2003, Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa — Kuwaiti psychologist, graduate of Columbia Business School and father of four young boys — had an idea: create a comic book series with roots in Islam and Islamic culture. Al-Mutawa came up with the…
Uncategorized
October, 10, 2011

R.I.P. Mikey Welsh: Musician, Artist, Friend of Independent Lens

Independent Lens in Uncategorized

[caption id="attachment_6828" align="alignleft" width="300"] Mikey Welsh in his studio. (He called this image "Light mood.")[/caption] I met Mikey Welsh by way of the internet last winter, as we prepared our special project for Artists Month, featuring outsider artists. In my…
May, 17, 2011

Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo

Independent Lens

Imagine cramming 128 million people onto an island the size of Montana — that's the density of Japan. Not surprisingly, space is at a premium and ergonomic design is right up there next to godliness. Yet even in Tokyo, the…
May, 3, 2011

A Film Unfinished

Independent Lens

At the end of WWII, 60 minutes of raw film was discovered intact in an East German archive. Shot by the Nazis in Warsaw in May 1942, and labeled simply "Das Ghetto," this footage quickly became a resource for historians…
April, 26, 2011

Marwencol

Independent Lens

On April 8, 2000, Mark Hogancamp was attacked outside a bar in Kingston, New York, by five men who beat him literally to death. Revived by paramedics, Mark had suffered brain damage and physical injuries so severe even his own…
Director Jeff Malmberg and Mark Hogancamp with their Marwencol alter egos. (Photo by Chris Shellen)
April, 25, 2011

Marwencol Director Reflects on a Man, His Dolls, and the Touch of Genius

Independent Lens

Jeff Malmberg, director of Marwencol, took on much more than just a film project when he decided to shoot a documentary about Mark Hogancamp. Intrigued by a magazine article about Mark and his imaginary backyard universe, Jeff had to earn…
Vik Muniz portrait of man in a bathtub with shawl on his head with garbage dump in background, recreating Jacques-Louis David's famous painting, "The Death of Marat."
April, 19, 2011

Waste Land

Independent Lens

Filmed over nearly three years, Waste Land follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de…