Blog

The Masumoto family farmers on a tractor in the Central Valley California peach farm
Beyond the Films

April 18, 2018

Organic Farmer, Writer Mas Masumoto Shares Sense of Place with Wendell Berry

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

by Mas Masumoto [pullquote]"The two of us have something often overlooked in today's fast-paced world: history on the land and a sense of place."[/pullquote]I dream of Wendell Berry visiting my…...

Cartoon insects freaking out, from
Watch Video

April 11, 2018

Pollution (and Other Environmental) Public Service Announcements: A Look Back

Jennie Z. Rose in Beyond the Films

In conjunction with the Independent Lens film What Lies Upstream, which is an exposé about what led to a major source of water becoming poisoned after a disastrous chemical spill…...

Director Cullen Hoback (at right) takes secret charter up West Virginia river to collect water samples under the cover of night.
Interviews

April 10, 2018

Filmmaker Cullen Hoback Digs Into Political Cover-Ups and Chemical Spills in Americans Water

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Filmmaker Cullen Hoback's previous film Terms and Conditions May Apply (2013), a humorous but chilling documentary about the erosion of online privacy and what info governments and corporations are legally…...

Watch Video

April 04, 2018

Watch The Seven-Part Series “Sentencing Children”:

Independent Lens in Watch Video

Watch our seven-part, Webby Award-nominated series on juvenile sentencing laws, "Sentencing Children." "Sentencing Children" was produced by Dan Birman and Independent Lens. This series is part of Independent Lens‘s commitment to…...

Interviews

April 04, 2018

Shoes Wisely: Stacey Tenenbaum Shines a Light on an Age-Old Profession

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Award-winning filmmaker Stacey Tenenbaum co-created a critically acclaimed series in Canada, The Beat, which followed a team of beat police officers patrolling the streets of Downtown Vancouver. Exchanging the police beat…...

a big pile of worn sneakers, free image courtesy of Pixabay
Beyond the Films

April 02, 2018

The Art of the Sneaker

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

One of the many quiet revelations for me in the documentary The Art of the Shine is that despite being in what seems like a casual and disposable culture, many…...

Shahin Najafi in a public performance, from When God Sleeps
Beyond the Films

March 30, 2018

Censored Iranian Artists, Poets and Musicians Threatened with Exile

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

[Note: Please enjoy this guest essay on Iranian artists and censorships, in conjunction with the broadcast premiere of When God Sleeps, by artist and game creator Kurosh ValaNejad. See more…...

Shahin Najafi resting before concert, in ultraviolet light
Interviews

March 28, 2018

Filmmaker Till Schauder Had Many Sleepless Nights Telling Shahin Najafi’s Story

Craig Phillips in Interviews

The German-born, New York-based filmmaker Till Schauder's previous film The Iran Job was about an American basketball player who went with great trepidation to play professionally in Iran, a winning…...

Dolores Huerta talking into megaphone while in a crowd

March 27, 2018

Dolores – Young Dolores Huerta Takes on Sacramento – Clip

Independent Lens in

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Dolores Huerta, with Cesar Chavez, in public speech from the 60s, in a film strip image
Beyond the Films

March 21, 2018

Screenwriter Josefina López on how Dolores Huerta is the Mother of Inspiration

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

by Josefina López The award-winning screenwriter (Real Women Have Curves), playwright, and activist López writes her own personal perspective on her connection to and parallels with Dolores Huerta's story. I…...

Dolores Huerta, black and white photo, from
Interviews

March 13, 2018

Peter Bratt Feels the Calling to Tell Dolores Huerta’s Story

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Filmmaker Peter Bratt's first feature Follow Me Home, a San Francisco International Film Festival Audience Award winner, was produced with his brother Benjamin Bratt, which they followed with the heartfelt indie film La…...

Dolores Huerta at a press conference, as seen in the movie Dolores
Independent Film

March 08, 2018

From Jane to Dolores, Agnès to Elsa, Documentaries on Unheralded Women Who Made History

Sharon Knolle in Independent Film

In celebration of Women's History Month (every March), we focus on great recent documentaries about great women, all who forged their own path in times and places where that wasn't expected…...