Blog

Claude Motley speaks to press after sentencing of the young man who shot him
Interviews

May 03, 2022

A Path to Forgiveness Complicated by Race and Justice: A Conversation with Claude Motley and Brad Lichtenstein

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Filmmaker Brad Lichtenstein was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy Award for the Independent Lens/PBS film As Goes Janesville, which was about a blue-collar town struggling to renew itself.…...

Sophia at Graduation, happy in cap and gown
Interviews

April 22, 2022

Telling Asian American Stories That Resonate: Filmmaker Explores Why These High School Students Are Stressed Out

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

During her long time living in the San Francisco Bay Area, filmmaker Debbie Lum was greatly influenced by working as an editor for documentarian Spencer Nakasako. Lum as a youth…...

Mayan healer Josefa Kirvin Kulix, in AWARE
Interviews

April 18, 2022

Investigating the Mysteries of Consciousness

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

AWARE: Glimpses of Consciousness is the fourth film collaboration between Eric Black and Frauke Sandig, who are based in San Francisco and Berlin respectively, but managed to collaborate on a…...

young man sits on the steps in Baltimore, in scene from Owned
Interviews

January 07, 2022

Owning Up to the Dark History of America’s Housing Industry

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Before stepping into film, Giorgio Angelini had quite the diverse path: After touring in indie rock bands for most of his 20s, he enrolled in the Master of Architecture program…...

Carl hugs his daughter in scene from Reckoning in Boston
Interviews

January 06, 2022

Filmmaker and Clemente Course Students Team Up to Reckon with Systemic Racism

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

A most unusual arrangement helped A Reckoning in Boston get to its final form. Three individuals with widely divergent backgrounds teamed up for what became a collaborative story about Clemente…...

Tribals members pay their respects at Little Chief's reburial at Sharp Nose Cemetery, Wind River Reservation, WY (From Left: Fay Ann Soldier Wolf, Mark Soldier Wolf, Hubert Friday, Nelson White, Crawford White, Yufna Soldier Wolf), 2017
Interviews

November 22, 2021

Northern Arapaho Tribal Members Find Hope in the Unacknowledged History That Haunts Our Present

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

The Wyoming-based team behind Home From School: The Children of Carlisle worked together to make a powerful documentary about a tribe coming together. It is the story of Northern Arapaho…...

Sian-Pierre and his mother Rebecca pose for a selfie while traveling in Europe, from Duty Free

November 10, 2021

“This film has defined me”: A Son’s Bucket List Journey with His Mother

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Sian-Pierre Regis has been many things: a journalist, an influencer in multiple social media spheres, founder of​ online cultural magazine Swagger.NYC, and contributor to outlets including CNN, CNNi, HLN, CBSN,…...

Many people in a room paying attention to a Latina caucus leader during the Iowa Caucuses in 2020.
Interviews

October 27, 2021

Going Inside the Family-Run Newspaper Keeping Local Journalism Alive

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Beth Levison is no stranger to having her films on Independent Lens. Notable producing credits include Women in Blue and the Emmy-nominated Made in Boise. For her latest film, Storm…...

Demonstrators gathered in Albany, New York, in 1971 to demand gay rights and to declare that
Interviews

September 16, 2021

Telling the Story of When LGBTQ+ Activists Fought the Establishment and Won

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

The Los Angeles-based Bennett Singer and the D.C.-based Patrick Sammon have been making widely acclaimed historical documentaries for many years. Sammon was creator and Executive Producer of Codebreaker, a “superb”…...

Tran To Nga sits with victims of Agent Orange at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Interviews

June 11, 2021

Filmmakers Show How Agent Orange Catastrophe Did Not End with the Vietnam War

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

The well-oiled, three-person machine behind The People vs. Agent Orange each brought their manifold backgrounds to the table in order to put together a film that involved equal parts investigative…...

Hanif the Muslim casketmaker featured in Two Gods works with his young protege Furquan
Interviews

June 07, 2021

Muslim Casket Maker’s Story Becomes Cinematic Portrait of Resilience and Redemption

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

The filmmaker brothers Zeshawn and Aman Ali are now based in New York City but originally hail from Columbus, Ohio. "Growing up right outside of Columbus, we were just two…...

Ted Ngoy holds his famous pink pastry box, in The Donut King
Interviews

May 21, 2021

From Cambodia to Southern California: Telling the Story of a King of Donut Shops

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

A Los Angeles native, Alice Gu began her career as a Director of Photography, working with renowned directors Werner Herzog (on his fascinating Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected…...