Blog

Unrest filmmaker Jen Brea
Interviews

January 04, 2018

Filmmaker with M.E./Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Investigates Her Own Medical Mystery in Unrest

Craig Phillips in Interviews

To say filmmaker Jen Brea has made the most of her challenging situation would be a vast understatement. Burdened with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), she produced her film Unrest…...

Filmmaker Jennifer Kroot interviews Maupin at steps to the real-life inspiration for Barbary Lane in Tales of the City
Interviews

December 15, 2017

From North Carolina to San Francisco: Jennifer Kroot Tells the Tales of Maupin

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Jennifer Kroot brings a background in underground filmmaking to her documentaries and uses that sensibility to create surprises within her stories. The San Francisco-based filmmaker first caught the eye of…...

Naomi Kutin and a slightly bigger male powerlifter, from Supergirl
Interviews

December 07, 2017

Jessie Auritt Explores the World of an Unorthodox Girl in Orthodox World

Craig Phillips in Interviews

"Showcasing a normal girl doing extraordinary things, Supergirl is a health tonic for this cramping climate of resurgent sexism underway where girls everywhere are struggling to understand their worth," wrote…...

money-paper airplane fighters, in graphic for Shadow World created by Independent Lens
Interviews

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…...

John Coltrane in concert; credit: Don Schlitten
Interviews

October 31, 2017

Filmmaker John Scheinfeld Chases Coltrane’s Legacy

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Filmmaker John Scheinfeld is no stranger to taking on challenging subjects for documentaries. The Emmy®, Grammy® and Writers Guild Award nominee and writer/director/producer's other films include The U.S. vs. John Lennon,…...

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…...

Real Boy filmmaker Shaleece Haas
Interviews

June 16, 2017

Real Boy Director Shaleece Haas on Filming a Family in Flux

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Documentary filmmaker Shaleece Haas has made several acclaimed shorts, worked as an editorial photographer and radio producer, and was a founding staff member of the national oral history project StoryCorps.…...

Alex and Jessica Sutton, doing some hunting, in Farmer/Veteran
Interviews

May 25, 2017

Filmmakers Capture a Troubled Veteran’s Farm Life

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Farmer/Veteran was made by a trio of talented young filmmakers: Alix Blair documented the lives of women in southwestern Uganda for her Master’s work at Duke University; Jeremy Lange has been…...

Interviews

May 17, 2017

Ben Lear Shows Reality and Human Face of Juvenile Justice System

Craig Phillips in Interviews

They Call Us Monsters is Ben Lear's first film as director, but he's not new to the business. Yes, Ben is the son of trailblazing TV producer-writer Norman Lear of All…...

Young Muslim-Chechen player Dzhabrail Kadiev sits with his mom, in moment from Forever Pure
Interviews

May 11, 2017

Maya Zinshtein Explores How Soccer and Racism Intersected in Israel

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Israeli journalist-filmmaker Maya Zinshtein is in many ways the perfect person to make a film about the combustible story of Beitar Jerusalem FC, the Israeli soccer club which imploded when…...

Prison in Twelve Landscapes filmmaker Brett Story
Interviews

May 05, 2017

Canadian Filmmaker Explores American Prison System’s Long Reach

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Canadian filmmaker Brett Story was recently awarded the inaugural New Visions Award from Canada's DOC Institute, who wrote of her, "Watching Story’s socially engaged but visually driven work provides ample evidence…...

National Bird director Sonia Kennebeck
Interviews

April 28, 2017

Sonia Kennebeck Makes Film About the Human Cost of Drone Wars and Whistleblowing

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Sonia Kennebeck's film National Bird, which was executive produced by renowned filmmakers Errol Morris and Wim Wenders, takes a risk just by making it in the first place. It tells the…...