Blog

Tony Vainuku and Erika Cohn, In Football We Trust filmmakers
Behind the Films

January 21, 2016

Tony Vainuku and Erika Cohn Tell the Story of a Unique Football Culture

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Utah-based filmmakers Tony Vainuku and Erika Cohn come from different professional backgrounds - Tony, who comes from a culture of Polynesian traditions and a family of athletes, once played football himself…...

Filmmaker Matt Fuller, director of Autism in Love, in black and white portrait
Behind the Films

January 07, 2016

Matt Fuller Explores the Autism Spectrum with Intimate Film

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Filmmaker Matt Fuller began his career in Hollywood, working for Sony Pictures in various capacities (on such films as Vacancy, Prom Night, and The Stepfather), and went on to supervise the development and production…...

Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond
Interviews

January 07, 2016

From the Archive: Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond Talks Motion Picture Making

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

In memory of Vilmos Zsigmond, the legendary cinematographer who died New Years Day, we reached into the Independent Lens archive for an interview Mr. Zsigmond gave us in June 2010…...

Irina Nistor (played by an actress here) dubs American films into Romanian), in Chuck Norris vs. Communism
Interviews

January 01, 2016

Ilinca Calugareanu Returns to Her 1980s Romania Roots

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Chuck Norris vs Communism may not literally be the retro action film the title implies, it's a shorthand way of reflecting how this new documentary captures the giddy way Romanians in…...

East of Salinas filmmakers Laura Pacheco and Jackie Mow (l-r), in front of a sea-themed mural.
Interviews

December 26, 2015

Laura Pacheco and Jackie Mow Tell the Story of a Farmworker’s Studious Son

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Not just a filmmaker but a trained anthropologist, Laura Pacheco has traveled the world to tell the stories of people overcoming the odds of their rough circumstances, including for the Emmy…...

Mimi and Dona filmmaker Sophie Sartain
Interviews

November 20, 2015

Sophie Sartain Finds Resonance in Her Family’s Caregiving Story

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Longtime documentary film writer, editor, and fundraiser Sophie Sartain decided to go personal for her directorial debut. Her film Mimi and Dona enters the world of Sophie's grandmother and developmentally disabled aunt, who after…...

India's Daughter filmmaker Leslee Udwin
Interviews

November 13, 2015

India’s Daughter Director Leslee Udwin on the Rape Case that Shocked a Nation

Craig Phillips in Interviews

[caption id="attachment_11517" align="alignnone" width="813"] Candle-lit vigils were held throughout India to mourn the death of Jyoti Singh[/caption] It should go without saying that documentary filmmakers put their hearts and souls…...

Ron
Interviews

November 09, 2015

“Stray Dog” Updates: Ron Advises Veterans and His Stepsons Check In

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Stray Dog filmmaker Debra Granik, on our behalf, checked back in with the subjects of her film, Ron "Stray Dog" Hall, and his Mexican-born stepsons, Angel and Jesús, to see how…...

Stray Dog director Debra Granik with the film's subject, Ron
Interviews

November 07, 2015

Debra Granik Goes Back to Missouri for Stray Dog

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Filmmaker Debra Granik helped bring actresses Vera Farmiga and Jennifer Lawrence much-deserved fame with her two acclaimed feature films Down to the Bone and Winter’s Bone, respectively. Winter’s Bone in particular,…...

Clela Rorex, Richard Adams, and Tony Sullivan re-united decades after Clela issues the couple's groundbreaking marriage license.
Interviews

June 12, 2015

Bringing the Same-Sex Marriage Debate Full Circle

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

Tony Sullivan is no stranger to practicing the art of patience. He navigated through decades of legal fights with the U.S. government over both his own legal status as an…...

American Denial filmmakers Llewellyn Smith, Christine Herbes-Sommers, and Kelly Thomson.

February 23, 2015

Christine Herbes-Sommers Talks about Film on Racial Bias in America, Then and Now

Craig Phillips in Interviews

[caption id="attachment_6486" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Gunnar Myrdal with Ralph Bunche in Washington D.C., 1942[/caption] American Denial tells the the story of Swedish researcher Gunnar Myrdal, whose landmark 1944 study, An American…...

Filmmaker Dan Krauss films the Winfield family during hearing
Interviews

January 15, 2015

Dan Krauss Investigates The Kill Team

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Filmmaker Dan Krauss, who was nominated for an Academy Award and two Emmys for his first feature, The Death of Kevin Carter, was on the Oscar shortlist for his latest documentary The…...