Independent Lens curates a slate of the highest quality documentaries made by diverse filmmakers who fulfill public media’s commitment to equity and inclusion for underrepresented communities and under-served audiences.

We select projects from the ITVS Open Call co-production pipeline, films that impress on the film festival circuit, and documentaries discovered by our programming staff. When selecting documentaries, Independent Lens considers a range of factors, including the quality of the filmmaking, the timeliness of the story, and audience appeal. Documentaries should offer a fresh perspective, especially if the topic has been explored on other PBS series.

Independent Lens no longer reviews unsolicited submissions.