Blog

Lynching scene in Within Our Gates (by Oscar Micheaux)
Beyond the Films

February 20, 2020

As American as the Blues: Lynching in Film and TV

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Ade Adeniji Always in Season explores the history of lynching through the mysterious 2014 death of Lennon Lacy while also looking at historical reenactments of lynching, prompting some to…...

Singer Billie Holiday
Beyond the Films

February 19, 2020

Billie Holiday’s Searing “Strange Fruit” Still Has the Power to Startle

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Nick Dedina There are often false narratives we tell ourselves so that we can simplify, and beautify, the past and erase aspects of the present that we are uncomfortable…...

Painting of Matsya pulling a boat carrying Manu and Saptarishi during Pralaya
Beyond the Films

February 14, 2020

A Flood of Myths and Stories

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Lennlee Keep We Believe in Dinosaurs is an exploration of the scientific and historical veracity of the Bible and the construction of an authentic likeness of Noah's Ark in…...

Interviews

February 12, 2020

Religion, Science and Belief: Unearthing the Thorny Intersection

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

Filmmakers Monica Long Ross and Clayton Brown have long been fascinated by how science and culture mix--or don't mix--in America. In short, that relationship is complicated.  They directed and produced…...

GAI QI and her baby, in Leftover Women
Beyond the Films

February 05, 2020

The One-Child Policy Legacy on Women and Relationships in China

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Kristal Sotamayor The one-child policy was introduced to China in 1979, written into the national constitution in 1982, and subsequently ended in 2015. Over the 36 years of the…...

From First Rainbow Coalition: Young Lords members protest at 18th Ave. Police Station, Chicago
Beyond the Films

January 28, 2020

From Race Riots to Rainbow Coalitions and Heatwaves: Chicago Activism on Racial and Economic Justice

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

It would be foolhardy to try to succinctly sum up the political history of one of America's most historically politically complicated cities--Chicago--in one sweeping post. Rather, consider this a basic…...

Two dogs from Blair Braverman's crew waitin the snow
Lifestyle

December 05, 2019

Mush! One Day in the Life of a Dogsledder

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Blair Braverman Writer and dogsled racer Blair Braverman, who spent two summers working as a dogsled guide on a glacier in Alaska, also wrote the acclaimed book Welcome to…...

Lance Gumbs at the Shinnecock Pow Wow
Beyond the Films

November 15, 2019

For Tribal Communities, Battle Over Land Is Nothing New

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Jordan Dresser Sometimes, two people can look out of the same window and see two very different things.  This outlook sprang to my mind while watching Treva Wurmfeld’s Conscience…...

An African American boy looks up at burned out buildings in the Bronx, circa late 70s
Beyond the Films

November 04, 2019

How the Burning of the Bronx Led to the Birth of Hip-Hop

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, a geographer and writer who co-edited, with Rebecca Solnit, the remarkable, fascinating book Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas, helped us create a playlist to accompany both Decade of…...

Surrogate mother Shannon holds a baby, in Made in Boise (her husband Tom looks on)
Interviews

October 25, 2019

“A Scene I’ll Never Forget.” Filmmaker Intimately Captures Surrogacy Journey in Boise

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

Emmy and Peabody-winning producer/director Beth Aala has gone from a Pool Party (her first film as director) filled with amazing music, the story of how a swimming pool became the center of a…...

Sammy, David, and Todd as the nurse preps for delivery, in Made in Boise.
Beyond the Films

October 22, 2019

Surrogacy Facts and Myths: How Much Do You Know?

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Lennlee Keep In 2018, over 100 children were born in Boise, Idaho, through surrogacy. The story behind this unique baby boom is explored in the Independent Lens documentary Made…...

NASA astronaut Mae Jemison waits as her suit technician, Sharon McDougle, performs a unpressurized and pressurized leak check on her spacesuit, 1992.
Beyond the Films

July 02, 2019

Space Scientists of Color, and the “Afronauts”

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Satu Runa What drives humankind to explore? There are several factors that can embolden a person to “seek out new civilizations” or “boldly go where no one has gone…...