August 28, 2019
Game On: Why We Are Playing Board Games More Than Ever
Independent Lens in Lifestyle
By Lennlee Keep It was the summer of 1979 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Everyone in my family gets a sunburn when we even think about a beach, so we are very…...
July 05, 2019
Can You Tell the Difference Between a Space Object and a Documentary Still Image?
Independent Lens in Test Your Knowledge
Are you ready to celebrate the skies above and the great beyond? So are we...Independent Lens-style. Take a time-out to space out with our visual quiz. See if you can…...
July 02, 2019
Space Scientists of Color, and the “Afronauts”
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Satu Runa What drives humankind to explore? There are several factors that can embolden a person to “seek out new civilizations” or “boldly go where no one has gone…...
June 28, 2019
Women of the Space Agency: Once Forbidden, No Longer Hidden
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Heather Archuletta In July of 1999, on Apollo 11’s 30th anniversary, at a Kennedy Space Center press conference, NASA astronaut and first moonwalker Neil Armstrong lamented, “School children used…...
June 07, 2019
Which “Tales of the City” Character Are You?
Craig Phillips in Test Your Knowledge
It's been 41 years since Armistead Maupin's first Tales of the City book was published, 26 years since the initial PBS series based on that book aired, and now with…...
May 15, 2019
Filmmakers Capture Young Men Wrestling to Succeed and Be Seen
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Wrestle may be the feature directing debut of the team of Suzannah Herbert and Lauren Belfer, but after working for industry heavyweights like Martin Scorsese and Michael Moore, they hit…...
May 14, 2019
High School Coaches Wear Many Hats to Make an Impact
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Katrina Schwartz Driving kids home from practice, taking them to visit colleges, running and lifting weights with them out of season, answering the phone in the middle of the…...
May 09, 2019
Motherhood: The Universal Story, in Films
Sharon Knolle in Lists
Motherhood is universal – none of us would be here without our moms. For some, that relationship is loving and supportive; for others, it's fraught with complications. Especially if Mom…...
May 08, 2019
Harvest Season’s Historical Roots: Latinos in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys
826chi in Beyond the Films
Bittersweet -- this is the taste you’re left with after watching Harvest Season’s central storylines come to a close. Loved ones are reunited while wineries are engulfed in flames and…...
May 07, 2019
Bernardo Ruiz Tells Story of the Central Role Latinos Play in California Wine Industry
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Two-time Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz, who was born in Guanajuato, Mexico and grew up in Brooklyn, made his directorial feature debut with the PBS film Reportero, about attacks on the press…...
April 30, 2019
Filmmaker Follows Incarcerated Native Hawaiians Discovering Their Indigenous Traditions
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Native Hawaiian filmmaker Ciara Lacy has had her work aired on PBS, ABC, TLC, Discovery, Bravo and A&E, and was an inaugural Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellow for Indigenous Artists.…...
April 26, 2019
Native Hawaiian Prisoners Learn Their Culture While Far From Home
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Christine Hitt The Independent Lens documentary Out of State follows Native Hawaiian exiting inmates, who were sent out of Hawai‘i to a private prison in Arizona, and how they…...