April 11, 2018
Pollution (and Other Environmental) Public Service Announcements: A Look Back
Jennie Z. Rose in Beyond the Films
In conjunction with the Independent Lens film What Lies Upstream, which is an exposé about what led to a major source of water becoming poisoned after a disastrous chemical spill…...
April 02, 2018
The Art of the Sneaker
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
One of the many quiet revelations for me in the documentary The Art of the Shine is that despite being in what seems like a casual and disposable culture, many…...
March 30, 2018
Censored Iranian Artists, Poets and Musicians Threatened with Exile
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
[Note: Please enjoy this guest essay on Iranian artists and censorships, in conjunction with the broadcast premiere of When God Sleeps, by artist and game creator Kurosh ValaNejad. See more…...
March 21, 2018
Screenwriter Josefina López on how Dolores Huerta is the Mother of Inspiration
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
by Josefina López The award-winning screenwriter (Real Women Have Curves), playwright, and activist López writes her own personal perspective on her connection to and parallels with Dolores Huerta's story. I…...
February 16, 2018
10 Questions with “Rat Film” Composer Dan Deacon: On Baltimore, Rats, Player Pianos and Theremins
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
Baltimore-based composer/musician Dan Deacon did the music for Theo Anthony's Rat Film. The film, which uses the urban rat as a way to explore a deeper story of urbanization and…...
February 15, 2018
HBCU Grads Share Their Stories of Campus Life
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
Graduates of Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are proud alums, and in connection with the Independent Lens film Tell Them We Are Rising, which tells the 170 years—and rising—history of…...
January 30, 2018
For “Winnie”: Anti-Apartheid Songs of Protest
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Miriam Makeba and Dizzy Gillespie, 1991[/caption] By Sarah Bardeen, guest contributor Modern South Africa was forged in apartheid. The struggle defined life for generations of South…...
December 18, 2017
Take the Armistead Maupin and Tales of the City Pop Quiz!
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
How much do you know about Armistead Maupin and about his beloved Tales of the City series? Are you a Maupin superfan? Take this quiz we created for both for longtime…...
December 12, 2017
On Supergirls, Sasha Fierce, Slim Shady and Having an Alter Ego
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Michelle Konstantinovsky Naomi Kutin is technically the central subject of the new Independent Lens documentary Supergirl. But as the film unfolds, viewers learn fairly quickly that there are actually two equally important…...
November 18, 2017
Meet Your Guides to the Shady Global Arms Trade of Shadow World
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
Shadow World is in many senses an epic film, that (as Ian McQuaid wrote in The Ransom Note) "draws together a sordid tale of corruption, violence, and greed that sprawls across decades…...
November 10, 2017
Global Arms Expert Andrew Feinstein Explores Shadow World of Weapons Trade
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
Andrew Feinstein is one of the world's leading experts on political corruption and the global arms trade. A frequent commentator on BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, and The Guardian, his writing…...
October 31, 2017
Chasing Trane Playlist: Coltrane and His Disciples
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Nick Dedina, Guest Contributor Drop a needle on a John Coltrane record, hit play on one of his digital playlists, or watch Chasing Trane and it’s easy to understand…...