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…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
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,…...
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…...
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…...
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…...