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.…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
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,…...
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…...
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”…...
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…...
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…...
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…...