![Unrest filmmaker Jen Brea](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/unrest-headshot-jennifer-brea-650x650-c-default.jpg)
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](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/armistead-and-jennifer-macondray-lane-650x650-c-default.jpg)
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](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/supergirl-naomi-and-big-lifter-650x650-c-default.jpg)
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](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/SHADOWWORLD_1920x1080_textless-650x650-c-default.jpg)
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](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/coltrane-blows-horn-chasing-trane-650x650-c-default.jpg)
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,…...
![](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/IMG_1543-650x650-c-default.png)
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](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/shaleece-haas-realboy-650x650-c-default.jpg)
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](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/suttons-hunting-rifles-farmer-veteran-650x650-c-default.jpg)
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…...
![](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/juan-window-monsters-650x650-c-default.jpg)
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](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/kadiev-and-mom-forever-pure-650x650-c-default.jpg)
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](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/brett-story-landscapes-650x650-c-default.jpg)
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](https://staging.pbs.org/independentlens/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/national-bird-soniakennebeck-650x650-c-default.jpg)
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…...