February 20, 2019
Is This Real Life: The Live Streaming Craze Explained
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Siyi Chen When my dad, a small businessman from Southeast China, asked me, his social media-savvy daughter, how to utilize the internet to help sell his agricultural products, the…...
February 11, 2019
Hale County This Morning, This Evening – Clip
Independent Lens in
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February 07, 2019
RaMell Ross Charts “the Visual Story of Blackness” in Oscar-Nominated Doc
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Just one year after RaMell Ross' Hale County This Morning, This Evening won a Special Jury Award at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, the filmmaker will follow his film's television debut…...
February 01, 2019
Five Questions About Fred Rogers with Morgan Neville
Craig Phillips in Interviews
"When I met Joanne Rogers, I told her I wanted to make a film not about Fred Rogers’ story but about his ideas," filmmaker Morgan Neville wrote about Won't You Be…...
January 30, 2019
The Challenge of Making a Film About Racist Relics
Craig Phillips in Interviews
Filmmaker and teacher Chico Colvard's first feature doc, Family Affair, premiered at Sundance and was the first film acquired by Oprah Winfrey for her cable channel, OWN. The searingly personal documentary explored…...
January 24, 2019
Three Things About “The King,” with Eugene Jarecki and Steven Soderbergh
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Documentary filmmaker Eugene Jarecki's pedigree is impressive. He has twice won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and the Peabody Award for: The House I Live In, his 2013 film…...
January 23, 2019
Elvis and the Death of the American Dream, Through Movies
Sean Axmaker in Beyond the Films
Elvis Presley is ostensibly the subject of The King, Eugene Jarecki's expansive road movie of a documentary. The award-winning director drives Presley's 1963 Rolls-Royce across the US, from Mississippi and…...
January 22, 2019
Independent Lens Film “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” Honored with Oscar Nomination
Independent Lens in Announcements
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced the nominations for the 91st Oscars and Independent Lens was elated that Hale County This Morning, This Evening received a…...
January 22, 2019
RUMBLE – Charley Patton, Grandfather of Delta Blues
Independent Lens in
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January 11, 2019
RUMBLE Filmmakers Go Deep into the Indigenous Foundations of Rock
Craig Phillips in Interviews
The making of RUMBLE was a team effort, all of them passionate about bringing an important story to the world. Director-producer Catherine Bainbridge and co-director Alfonso Maiorana worked with Executive Producer…...
January 10, 2019
11 Questions for 3 Filmmakers About a Million Swamp Rats
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
The trio of filmmakers behind the Independent Lens film Rodents of Unusual Size -- Jeff Springer, Chris Metzler and Quinn Costello -- have previously captured unique environmental stories with a very…...
January 04, 2019
Invasive Species Turned into Sustainable Delicacies
826chi in Beyond the Films
by Claralyse Palmer Vegetarianism has become synonymous with environmentalism, the idea being that going meat-free saves not just animals but the planet (which certainly has some truth to it, especially…...