![Archival shot of Jim Allison on a beach, wearing hat](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/jim-allison-at-beach-650x650-c-default.jpg)
April 23, 2020
Making a Film About the Necessity of Science and Commitment to the Truth
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Bill Haney brought all the hats he's worn into play in making the documentary Jim Allison: Breakthrough. The award-winning filmmaker (he counts a Silver Hugo, an IDA Pare Lorentz Award,…...
![Sandcastle building on beach in New York](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/hottest-august-sandcastle-650x650-c-default.jpg)
April 16, 2020
Filmmaker Asks New Yorkers, What Does the Future Look Like?
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Toronto-based filmmaker Brett Story, whose previous film The Prison in Twelve Landscapes aired on Independent Lens in 2017, holds a PhD in geography and her unconventional storytelling style reflects both…...
![Nanfu wang holds her baby while interviewing her mother](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/nanfu-with-baby-OCN-2-650x650-c-default.jpg)
March 25, 2020
Nanfu Wang’s Riveting Personal Story Probes Impact of One-Child Policy
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Taking risks is nothing new for Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang. Her previous documentary I Am Another You, which was a SXSW Jury Award-winner and aired on Independent Lens, involved her…...
![Filmmaker Jacqueline Olive](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/jackie-olive-ais-650x650-c-default.jpg)
February 20, 2020
Filmmaker Explores First Steps Toward Justice and Reconciliation
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Independent filmmaker Jacqueline Olive, who has worked in non-fiction filmmaking for years and co-directed and co-produced the award-winning hour-long documentary, Black to Our Roots (PBS WORLD), makes her feature documentary…...
![Xu Min, from Leftover Women, speaks to single men at a matchmaker event in China](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/LEFTOVERWOME_3f_PubStills_07-650x650-c-default.jpg)
February 05, 2020
Filmmakers Follow Women in China Trying to Overcome Stigma of Being Single
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Israeli filmmakers Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia have had films air on international television as well as here in the U.S. on HBO, MTV, Sundance, and PBS (Medalia has received…...
![Yusuf on the phone in Accept the Call](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/yusuf-on-phone-accept-the-call-650x650-c-default.jpg)
January 14, 2020
Filmmaker Accepts the Call to Tell Story of a Father and Son Divided
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Filmmaker Eunice Lau, who is originally from Singapore (and boy does she have a story to tell you here about the experience of showing her film back home), was once…...
![Joe Bifelt holding his lead dog, Happy, before the start of the 2015 Open North American sled dog race, from ATTLA](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/attla-joe-dog-tempsig-cropped-650x650-c-default.jpg)
December 11, 2019
Still Mushing: An Update from Joe, George Attla’s Grandnephew
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
We are pleased that we could get Joe Bifelt, the grandnephew of legendary dogsled racer George Attla, to send us an update on his life since the film about George's…...
![Decade of Fire, kids skating in the Bronx 1970s](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/decadeoffire-skateboard-650x650-c-default.jpg)
October 30, 2019
Decade of Fire Filmmakers Change the Narrative About the South Bronx
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
The three-headed team as it were, of co-directors Vivian Vázquez Irizarry and Gretchen Hildebran, and producer Julia Steele Allen, each brought something different and special to the table in the…...
![The JO Johnson High wrestling team comes in for a hug](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/wrestle-team-sig2-650x650-c-default.jpg)
May 15, 2019
Filmmakers Capture Young Men Wrestling to Succeed and Be Seen
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Wrestle may be the feature directing debut of the team of Suzannah Herbert and Lauren Belfer, but after working for industry heavyweights like Martin Scorsese and Michael Moore, they hit…...
![Winemaker Vanessa Robledo control-burning her dry grapevines](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/vanessa-robledo-burning-grapevines-harvestseason-650x650-c-default.jpg)
May 07, 2019
Bernardo Ruiz Tells Story of the Central Role Latinos Play in California Wine Industry
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Two-time Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz, who was born in Guanajuato, Mexico and grew up in Brooklyn, made his directorial feature debut with the PBS film Reportero, about attacks on the press…...
![Native Hawaiian prisoners perform a ritual ceremony using conch shells as instruments](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/out-of-state-conch-shells-ceremony-650x650-c-default.jpg)
April 30, 2019
Filmmaker Follows Incarcerated Native Hawaiians Discovering Their Indigenous Traditions
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Native Hawaiian filmmaker Ciara Lacy has had her work aired on PBS, ABC, TLC, Discovery, Bravo and A&E, and was an inaugural Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellow for Indigenous Artists.…...
![Filmmaker David Sutherland (center) with Marcos and Elizabeth](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/davidsutherland-marcos-elizabeth-650x650-c-default.jpg)
April 12, 2019
Acclaimed Filmmaker David Sutherland Tells the Story of a Family Torn Apart by Deportation
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
David Sutherland takes his time to tell a story, both in the years he spends with his subject, the amount of footage he shoots, and the ultimate running time --…...