April 21, 2020
Meet the Mavericks of Science and Medicine
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
by Heather Archuletta [caption id="" align="alignright" width="500"] Ignaz Semmelweis[/caption] In 1847, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis proposed a simple tactic: wash your hands. It’s difficult to imagine this as a medical “breakthrough,”…...
April 16, 2020
Filmmaker Asks New Yorkers, What Does the Future Look Like?
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Toronto-based filmmaker Brett Story, whose previous film The Prison in Twelve Landscapes aired on Independent Lens in 2017, holds a PhD in geography and her unconventional storytelling style reflects both…...
April 12, 2020
Rural Perspective on Mental Health Care in a Time of Crisis
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
by Rooney Elmi Kenneth Paul Rosenberg MD’s Bedlam profiles of one of the most pervasive and stigmatized public health crises: mental illness. Taking its titular inspiration from the infamous English…...
April 08, 2020
“My Family’s Tragedy Is an American Tragedy”: Bedlam Filmmaker’s Journey to Depict Mental Health Crisis
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
In his film Bedlam, Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, MD follows the lives of three patients who find themselves with a chronic lack of institutional support, while he also weaves in his…...
April 08, 2020
Enter to Win a Copy of “Bedlam: An Intimate Journey into America’s Mental Health Crisis”
Independent Lens in Contests
Looking for your next great read? Bedlam: An Intimate Journey into America's Mental Health Crisis by Bedlam filmmaker Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, MD, sheds light on the mental-health-care crisis in the…...
April 06, 2020
Peer Support and the Complexity of Mental Health
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Lennlee Keep The film Bedlam explores mental illness from the perspectives of physicians, politicians, parents, and patients themselves. The power of documentary film is that it generates conversations about…...
March 26, 2020
This Couple Finds Answers for Adopted Daughters From China
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
Brian and Long Lan Stuy are a Utah couple who have adopted three daughters from China: Meikina from DianBai, Meigon from Guangzhou, and Meilan from Luoyang. After discovering that documentation…...
March 25, 2020
Nanfu Wang’s Riveting Personal Story Probes Impact of One-Child Policy
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Taking risks is nothing new for Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang. Her previous documentary I Am Another You, which was a SXSW Jury Award-winner and aired on Independent Lens, involved her…...
March 25, 2020
Next on PBS: 8 Stories About the People Shaping Our World
Independent Lens in Announcements
"You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming," wrote poet Pablo Neruda. Spring has indeed come, and with it an amazing set of documentaries that…...
March 06, 2020
“Is Attraction Different in the Absence of Sight?”
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Kemberlie Spivey Australian-born independent filmmaker Patricia Zagarella has been creating documentaries for over ten years and co-produced the Emmy-award winning documentary Baring It All. That film followed fashion photographer…...
February 20, 2020
As American as the Blues: Lynching in Film and TV
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Ade Adeniji Always in Season explores the history of lynching through the mysterious 2014 death of Lennon Lacy while also looking at historical reenactments of lynching, prompting some to…...
February 20, 2020
Filmmaker Explores First Steps Toward Justice and Reconciliation
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Independent filmmaker Jacqueline Olive, who has worked in non-fiction filmmaking for years and co-directed and co-produced the award-winning hour-long documentary, Black to Our Roots (PBS WORLD), makes her feature documentary…...