June 08, 2016
United States Officially Recognizes Tony Sullivan and Richard Adams’s Marriage
Craig Phillips in Where Are They Now?
For those of you who remember the dear story told in the Independent Lens film Limited Partnership, longtime partners Tony Sullivan and Richard Adams became one of the first same sex couples…...
May 27, 2016
Based on a True Story: 8 Documentaries that Inspired Feature Films
Sean Axmaker in Film History
True stories have been a prime inspiration for movies for as long as there have been movies. Early films recreated historical events and breaking news for eager audiences and films…...
May 13, 2016
Seven Years Filming the Homeless of Oakland
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
The filmmaking team of Amir Soltani and Chihiro Wimbush both come from incredibly varied backgrounds, and bring an abundance of talents and interests to the table for the first feature…...
May 13, 2016
How Homeless Recyclers Make a Living Redeeming Recyclables
Carolyn Abate in Beyond the Films
It is 7 a.m. on a clear spring morning in San Francisco and the lines at Our Planet Recycling SF are already 25 people deep. The customers, queued up in…...
May 09, 2016
Armed in America: Faith & Guns
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyEk0YiiRwQ Join PBS for a town hall conversation about gun violence and the moral obligation to prevent it. Armed in America: Faith & Guns, a one-hour special event moderated by award-winning journalist Michel…...
May 09, 2016
Armed in America: Police & Guns
Independent Lens in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTgZbHEh4oI Join PBS for a town hall conversation examining the militarization of police and the nation's gun violence epidemic. Armed in America: Police & Guns, a one-hour special event moderated by award-winning…...
May 09, 2016
Abigail Disney Wields the Power of Dialogue with The Armor of Light
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Abigail Disney (her grandfather was Roy O. Disney, Walt's brother and co-founder of the Walt Disney Company, just to get that out of the way) has long been a producer…...
May 06, 2016
Scott Christopherson and Brad Barber Capture a Man on a Mission
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Utah-based filmmakers Scott Christopherson and Brad Barber found a supremely compelling story right in their own backyard for their film Peace Officer. The film is several things at once: a personal…...
May 06, 2016
Losing Your Religion: Nine Movies about Crises of Faith
Noel Murray in Lists
Abigail Disney’s documentary The Armor of Light takes an unusual but illuminating approach to the gun control debate. In the film, Reverend Rob Schenck — an evangelical Christian who gained some…...
May 04, 2016
The Evolution of SWAT Team Equipment: From WWII Rifles to BearCats
826chi in Beyond the Films
When former Davis County Sheriff William "Dub" Lawrence, the subject of the Independent Lens film Peace Officer, established one of Utah's first SWAT teams in 1975 he initially required a four-officer unit, but…...
May 03, 2016
PBS to Present “Armed in America” Town Halls, a Special Two-Night Event After Independent Lens
Independent Lens in Announcements
PBS will present ARMED IN AMERICA, a special two-night television event exploring the nation’s rising gun violence. Armed in America centers around two acclaimed documentaries presented by Independent Lens: Peace Officer,…...
April 28, 2016
Human Rights Lawyer Philippe Sands Confronts Children of Nazis with Painful Past
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
While some might call Philippe Sands the on-screen host of My Nazi Legacy, the new film by David Evans that is based on Sands' new book, he's actually the probing,…...