Independent Lens, which recently won the IDA’s Best Curated Series Award for the third consecutive year, announced its 2016 Winter-Spring season lineup today.
“These films amplify conversations happening across the country on issues like the rise of gun violence, racial unrest, and the delicate balance between civil liberties and national security,” said Independent Lens executive producer Lois Vossen. “Remarkable people are at the core of these stories. Some are famous, like the ‘Amazing’ Randi and ballerina Misty Copeland; others have done extraordinary things living seemingly ordinary lives, including a South Carolina grandmother whose family represents the new face of HIV/AIDS — African Americans in the rural south, as well as young Polynesian American football players dreaming of a career in the NFL, Latina immigrant mothers who were unwillingly sterilized in 1970s Los Angeles, and young people on the autism spectrum looking for love. Independent Lens’ films explore the diversity of our world and our common humanity.”
Below is the season lineup for January 11 through May 2016. Additional summer specials will be announced at a later date (stay tuned to this space or you can look here on our list of upcoming films).
Monday, January 11, 2016
Autism in Love by Matt Fuller
Finding love can be hard enough for anyone, but for those with an autism spectrum disorder, the challenges may seem overwhelming. The disorder can jeopardize the core characteristics of a successful relationship — communication and social interaction. Autism in Love offers a warm and stereotype-shattering look at four people as they pursue and manage romantic relationships.
Monday, January 25, 2016
In Football We Trust by Tony Vainuku and Erika Cohn
An insightful and moving documentary that transports viewers deep inside the tightly-knit and complex Polynesian community in Salt Lake City, one of the chief sources for the NFL’s influx of Pacific Islander players. Shot over a four-year period with unprecedented access, the film follows four young Polynesian men striving to overcome gang violence and near poverty through the promise of American football.
Monday, February 1, 2016
No Más Bebés by Renee Tajima-Peña
The film recounts how a small group of Mexican immigrant mothers and activists sued county doctors, the state, and the U.S. government after they were sterilized while giving birth at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center during the late 1960s and ‘70s. Many of the mothers spoke no English, and charged that they had been forced to consent to having their tubes tied by doctors and nurses during the late stages of labor — often based on little more than the question “More babies?”
Monday, February 8, 2016
A Ballerina’s Tale by Nelson George
Few dancers make it to the highest levels of classical ballet; of that already small number only a fraction are black women. But Misty Copeland has risen to the highest level, making history as the first African American female principal dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre. Get an intimate look at this groundbreaking artist during a crucial period in her life.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at 9:00 PM
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution by Stanley Nelson
Stanley Nelson’s acclaimed film is the first feature-length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails. Nelson goes straight to the source, weaving a treasure trove of rare archival footage with the voices of the people who were there: police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, and Black Panthers who remained loyal to the party and those who left it.
Monday, February 22, 2016
T(ERROR) by Lyric Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe
Winner of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival Break Out Documentary award, T(ERROR) is the gripping story of a 62-year-old former black revolutionary turned counter-terrorism informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This unprecedented documentary goes deep inside the world of an active terror sting, without FBI consent, with a plot that unfolds with the drama and intrigue of an espionage thriller.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Wilhemina’s War by June Cross
HIV/AIDS is one of the leading causes of death for black women in the rural South. This powerful film follows South Carolina grandmother Wilhemina Dixon as she struggles to care for her daughter and granddaughter who are living with HIV.
Monday, March 28, 2016
An Honest Liar by Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom
For the last half-century, James “The Amazing Randi” has entertained millions of people around the world with his remarkable feats of magic, escape, and trickery. But when he saw faith healers, fortunetellers, and psychics using his beloved magician’s tricks to steal money from innocent people and destroy lives, he dedicated his life to exposing frauds, with the wit and style of the great showman that he is.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Welcome to Leith by Michael Nichols and Christopher Walker
Welcome to Leith chronicles the attempted takeover of a small North Dakota town by notorious white supremacist Craig Cobb and his followers. As their behavior becomes more threatening, tensions soar and longtime Leith residents desperately look for ways to expel their unwanted neighbors.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Democrats by Camilla Nielsson
Democrats is a film about the creation of a new constitution in Zimbabwe. The film follows two top politicians who have been appointed to lead the country through the reform process — political opponents, but united in their ambition to make history by giving the nation a new founding document that could give birth to a future Zimbabwe.
Monday, May 2, 2016
Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did by David Evans
This powerful film explores the relationship between two men, each the child of Nazi war criminals who were responsible for thousands of deaths. Through frank interviews, the men reflect on the crimes of their fathers and the price of forgiveness.
Monday, May 9, 2016 at 9:00PM
Peace Officer by Brad Barber and Scott Christopherson
Peace Officer explores the increasingly tense relationship between law enforcement and the public as seen through the eyes of a man who’s been on both sides. Former sheriff William “Dub” Lawrence established Utah’s first SWAT team, only to witness the same unit kill his son-in-law in a controversial standoff 30 years later. Now a private investigator, Dub seeks the truth in his son-in-law’s case and other officer-involved shootings.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 9:00PM
The Armor of Light by Abigail Disney
Two people of faith come together to explore the contradictions of a nation rife with gun violence: a famously anti-abortion evangelical minister who risks losing followers when he questions the morality of gun ownership and a grieving mother dedicated to creating change after the shooting of her unarmed teenage son.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Dogtown Redemption by Amir Soltani
For a number of residents in Dogtown, one of Oakland’s poorest neighborhoods, collecting and recycling trash is a primary source of income. To other residents, however, recycling only adds to the dirt and noise in the community. Dogtown Redemption explores the complex dynamics of race, class, and systemic poverty as it tells the story of four recyclers who struggle to survive in a neighborhood already decimated by unemployment, addiction, and violence.
Full season trailer:
