Blog

April, 12, 2011

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Independent Lens

Centered on a rare interview that director and friend Tamra Davis shot with Jean-Michel Basquiat more than 20 years ago, this film chronicles the meteoric rise and fall of the young artist. In the crime-ridden New York City of the…
April, 5, 2011

The Desert of Forbidden Art

Independent Lens

How did a treasure trove of banned Soviet art worth millions of dollars end up stashed in the far-off desert of Uzbekistan in a communist-funded museum? Thanks to the passion and daring of one man, Igor Savitsky, who loved the…
February, 22, 2011

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within

Independent Lens

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within investigates the life of the legendary beat author and American icon. Born the heir of the Burroughs' adding machine estate, he struggled throughout his life with addiction, control systems, and self. He was forced…
Interviews
February, 8, 2011

Live Chat with Best Doc Oscar Nominee Lucy Walker

Independent Lens in Interviews

Filmmaker Lucy Walker joined us for a live chat on Wednesday, February 9 to talk about her film Waste Land. The documentary, which airs April 19 on Independent Lens has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.…
February, 8, 2011

When I Rise

Independent Lens

A gifted black music student at the University of Texas is thrust into a civil-rights storm that changes her life forever. Barbara Smith Conrad is cast in an opera to co-star with a white male classmate, fueling a racist backlash…
A man sings into a microphone.
February, 1, 2011

For Once in My Life

Independent Lens

Meet the Spirit of Goodwill band — a unique assembly of singers and musicians who live with varying degrees of physical and mental disability. They bond over their mutual love of music, and their fierce drive to improve and play…
January, 18, 2011

Between the Folds

Independent Lens

Origami may seem an unlikely medium for understanding and explaining the world. But around the globe, several fine artists and theoretical scientists are abandoning more conventional career paths to forge lives as modern-day paper folders. Through origami, these offbeat and…
January, 4, 2011

Men Who Swim

Independent Lens

Men Who Swim is a humorous and poignant look at a group of men of a certain age in Stockholm who have found unlikely fellowship as members of Sweden’s all-male synchronized swim team. What began as a weekly escape from…
November, 2, 2010

Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian

Independent Lens

Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond takes a look at the Hollywood Indian, exploring the portrayal of North American Natives through a century of cinema. Traveling through the heartland of America, and into the Canadian North, Diamond looks at how the myth…
Man sits in office surrounded by vintage transistor radios.
October, 26, 2010

Art & Copy

Independent Lens

You may thank (or curse) the creative people in Art & Copy for such familiarly evocative slogans as "Just Do It," "I ♥ NY," "Where's the Beef?" "Got Milk?" "Think Different," and brilliant campaigns for everything from cars to presidents. Love…
A parking attendant reclines in his booth.
October, 19, 2010

The Parking Lot Movie

Independent Lens

The Parking Lot Movie is a documentary about a singular parking lot in Charlottesville, Virginia. The film follows a select group of parking lot attendants and their strange rite of passage. The eccentric brotherhood of attendants consists of grad students,…
February, 9, 2010

P-Star Rising

Independent Lens

Rapper Priscilla Diaz was dazzling New York nightclub crowds at age nine. But chasing music stardom isn’t child’s play when you live in a shelter, your mom’s an addict, and your dad’s struggling to keep the family afloat.