Blog

In Milwaukee, a 15-year-old attempted to carjack law student Claude Motley and shot him in the face. Through multiple surgeries and catastrophic health care bills, the effects of gun violence upends Claude’s life. Yet he still finds himself torn between…

Illustration of Michael Brown Sr., father of Michael Brown, looking into the distance. He has a long beard and wears a baseball hat.

July, 12, 2021

Ferguson Rises

How does a father find purpose in pain? In 2014, Michael Brown Sr.’s son was killed by white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, an event that fueled the global Black Lives Matter movement. But his personal story seeking…

Methodist minister Charles Moore who set himself on fire in Grand Saline, Texas

July, 10, 2021

Man on Fire

June 23, 2014: A 79-year-old white Methodist minister named Charles Moore drove to an empty parking lot in his old hometown of Grand Saline, Texas, and set himself on fire. He left a note on his car’s windshield explaining that…

Tribals members pay their respects at Little Chief's reburial at Sharp Nose Cemetery, Wind River Reservation, WY (From Left: Fay Ann Soldier Wolf, Mark Soldier Wolf, Hubert Friday, Nelson White, Crawford White, Yufna Soldier Wolf), 2017

July, 2, 2021

Home From School: The Children of Carlisle

"Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.” This was the guiding principle that removed thousands of Native American children and placed them in Indian boarding schools. Among the many who died at Carlisle Indian Industrial School were three…

Black and white photograph of a man with dark skin tone helping a young boy use a drill while making a coffin.

June, 7, 2021

Muslim Casket Maker’s Story Becomes Cinematic Portrait of Resilience and Redemption

The filmmaker brothers Zeshawn and Aman Ali are now based in New York City but originally hail from Columbus, Ohio. "Growing up right outside of Columbus, we were just two kids who didn’t really see people who looked like us…

A smiling Cambodian-American man in a suit offers a pink box of donuts through a drive-thru window.

May, 21, 2021

From Cambodia to Southern California: Telling the Story of a King of Donut Shops

A Los Angeles native, Alice Gu began her career as a Director of Photography, working with renowned directors Werner Herzog (on his fascinating Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World) and Stacy Peralta. Take Every Wave: The Life of…

Philly D.A. team, Ted Passon, Nicole Salazar, Yoni Brook (l-r)

April, 19, 2021

How the Team Behind “Philly D.A.” Captured History for Epic Docuseries

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 is an award-winning producer in their own right: Brook has…

Filmmaker Ursula Liang with camera on location in New York

April, 7, 2021

“Nobody Was Listening”: Finding Light in a Dark Stairwell

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

Filmmaker Ursula Liang's previous documentary 9-Man was about the fascinating titular sport that originated among Chinese immigrant communities in the United States and Canada, and was set in mostly Boston, Washington and Toronto. Her new film Down a Dark Stairwell…

A person scanning their face on smartphone on city street, in a Still from Coded Bias, directed by Shalini Kantayya

Beyond the Films

April, 5, 2021

Coded Bias” Asks: Are Our Faces Being Used Against Us?

By Christina Sturdivant Sani Coded Bias begins with MIT researcher Joy Boulamwini’s quest to find out why facial recognition technology inaccurately viewed her beautifully-hued brown face. After viewing the documentary with my friend India, a UX designer, and my husband Hamzat,…

MIT researcher Joy Buolamwini in Coded Bias

April, 3, 2021

“Coded Bias” Explores Blurring of Real and Imagined Artificial Intelligence