Blog

Beyond the Films

June 16, 2017

Transgender People Trying to Find Love

826chi in Beyond the Films

In the Independent Lens film Real Boy, transgender nineteen-year-old Bennett is touched to find his reluctant mother by his side as he undergoes a double mastectomy as part of his…...

Joe Stevens and his band Coyote Grace, on stage (courtesy the film Real Boy)
Beyond the Films

June 09, 2017

Trans Musicians Carving Their Own Identities [Updated June 2022]

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Craig Phillips and Independent Lens Staff ​​Real Boy is the portrait of Bennett, who is undergoing gender reassignment surgery, and his mom's struggle to process the change. But it's…...

Beyond the Films

May 17, 2017

Teachers Beat the “Macho Culture” in Prisons through Art Programs

826chi in Beyond the Films

In the early 2000s, Hollywood invested in the urban fairy tale where a teacher is called into the principal’s office of a school in a low-income, broken part of town…...

Guard tower at an American prison
Beyond the Films

May 05, 2017

The Prison Economy: How Do Prisons Affect the Places We Live?

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

The Independent Lens film The Prison in Twelve Landscapes examines the effect prisons have on the communities around them in both positive and negative ways. Prisons can stimulate the economy and…...

A Navy X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration aircraft takes off and flies for the first time Feb. 4, 2011, at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The Northrop Grumman-built aircraft flew for 29 minutes during the flight test. (Via Wikimedia commons)
Beyond the Films

April 27, 2017

A Drone by Any Other Name: The Different Kinds of Drones

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

Drones are at the center of the Independent Lens film National Bird, though the documentary puts a very human face behind military drone operations, focusing on the post-traumatic stress stemming from participating…...

Bricks and a Mic at a comedy club (From
Beyond the Films

April 21, 2017

Comedians Talk About Pushing Boundaries and Crossing Lines

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

Defining what is taboo in comedy is the central question of The Last Laugh: What is out of bounds to talk about in comedy? The film features performers who are no strangers…...

Marijuana seeds
Beyond the Films

April 20, 2017

Growing Industry: Why Weed Seeds Are Giving Way to Pot Clones

826chi in Beyond the Films

In the Independent Lens doc SEED: The Untold Story, biodiversity evangelists travel the globe in search of as many seed varieties as they can bank in their vaults before they…...

(From the film SEED) Heirloom corn seed is one of lost seeds we have reclaimed and is being saved by farmers across the country.
Beyond the Films

April 13, 2017

Banking on Seeds: Rare, Diverse, and Endangered

Jennie Z. Rose in Beyond the Films

When National Geographic Magazine reported that about 94% of the world’s vegetable seeds circa 1903 are now missing from the Earth, Taggart Siegel and Jon Betz promptly started work on…...

The new Sandy Hook school (Robert Benson Photography, courtesy Svigals + Partners)
Beyond the Films

March 31, 2017

Healing Places: Rebuilding After a Community Tragedy

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

"The only thing tragedy gives us is the opportunity to rebuild our life." -writer Paulo Coelho The film Newtown asks, "What remains after all is lost?" Some have said that it…...

The Ovas bike brigade pose with bikes in front of a warehouse in East Los Angeles
Lists

March 27, 2017

Girl Power: The Original #SquadGoals (and Just #Goals in General)

826chi in Beyond the Films

In the Independent Lens documentary Ovarian Psycos, we're introduced to The Ovas — a chicanx (xicanx) feminist group who bike through the streets of East L.A. in honor of sisterhood. While…...

Black Rock School Principal Vonda Viland gives advice to student Lee, in The Bad Kids
Beyond the Films

March 16, 2017

Principal Vonda Viland and 10 of the Most Unforgettable “Bad Kids”

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

The following is by Vonda Viland, principal of Black Rock Continuation High School in Yucca Valley in California's Mojave Desert, and subject of the documentary The Bad Kids. Viland's tireless work to…...

1966 Dodge Monaco Dashboard and Radio
Beyond the Films

February 13, 2017

TOWER Playlist: 1966 Music Soundscape

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

Pure and simple, 1966 was considered by many critics as one of the greatest years for popular music ever [see the Guardian’s “Was 1966 pop music greatest’s year?” and the…...