April 02, 2015
How Arson Investigation Has Changed
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
Theo Love’s film Little Hope Was Arson explores a linked series of suspicious fires set in East Texas in 2010. In the “buckle of the Bible Belt,” ten churches burned…...
March 23, 2015
I Identify: What Forces Determine Your Identity?
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
In Little White Lie, filmmaker Lacey Schwartz uncovers an identity-altering family secret, and then embarks on a journey of discovery as she contends with her new sense of self. The film challenges us…...
October 13, 2014
Kelby Johnson Speaks Out Against Bullying
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
Kelby Johnson was one of several students featured in Lee Hirsch's powerful film Bully. After coming out as a lesbian as a teenager, Kelby and Kelby's family were treated as pariahs in their small town…...
February 10, 2014
Uncle Sam Wants (to Spy on) You: Domestic Surveillance in the USA
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="270"] Edward Snowden in Moscow, October 2013 (picture via Wikimedia)[/caption] Spies of Mississippi, about a previously little-known chapter in the civil rights movement, comes at a time…...
January 10, 2013
‘Green Book’ Helped Keep African Americans Safe on the Road
826chi in Beyond the Films
In Soul Food Junkies, filmmaker Byron Hurt briefly describes what it used to be like for African Americans to travel in the United States. He talks about how blacks would take…...