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May 27, 2016

Based on a True Story: 8 Documentaries that Inspired Feature Films

Sean Axmaker in Film History

True stories have been a prime inspiration for movies for as long as there have been movies. Early films recreated historical events and breaking news for eager audiences and films…...

Still of priest standing in front of outdoor cross in Robert Bresson's 1951 film Diary of a Country Priest
Lists

May 06, 2016

Losing Your Religion: Nine Movies about Crises of Faith

Noel Murray in Lists

Abigail Disney’s documentary The Armor of Light takes an unusual but illuminating approach to the gun control debate. In the film, Reverend Rob Schenck — an evangelical Christian who gained some…...

Horst van Wächter and Niklas Frank (l-r), with Philippe Sands in background
Lists

April 27, 2016

Blood Guilt: 12 Movies about Healing after Heinous Crimes

Sean Axmaker in Beyond the Films

Niklas Frank and Horst von Wächter are the adult children of high-ranking Nazi officers. As we learn in My Nazi Legacy, their fathers sent tens of thousands of people to…...

production of the first Wikipedia video tutorials (Hamburg, Germany)
Behind the Films

March 04, 2016

Documentaries for Movie Geeks: Films About Films

Scott Weinberg in Behind the Films

Once you've watched a beloved movie two or three times, you start to crave a little more information about the film's conception, production, and cultural impact, among other things. So…...

Crowd of protestors cheer.
Lists

February 10, 2016

The Black Panthers Mixtape

Independent Lens in Lists

For The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, which aired on Independent Lens, you can plug in, turn on, and get down with our curated Spotify playlist. The set joins the…...

Irina Nistor watches a film being projected, for censorship review, in dramatic recreation scene from Chuck Norris vs. Communism
Lists

January 01, 2016

Nine Movies about the Power of Cinema

Noel Murray in Film History

In Ilinca Calugareanu’s documentary Chuck Norris vs. Communism, a handful of Romanians who endured the Cold War reminisce about congregating surreptitiously in cramped apartments to watch American action films on…...

A solider holds his head in his hand with cigarette smoke curling in the air.
Lists

November 11, 2015

Eight Gripping Documentaries (and Five Feature Films) to Watch on Veterans Day

Christine Kwon in Lists

Established in 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson, Veterans Day (which is always November 11, to commemorate the date when WWI armistice was signed) has become a tradition to “honor America's veterans…...

The Nightmare (2015)
Lists

October 28, 2015

Five Seriously Scary Documentaries for Halloween

Scott Weinberg in Lists

It's often said that truth is stranger than fiction, and while that may be accurate in some cases, it's also true that truth can be a lot scarier than fiction. As…...

Still frame from The Epic of Everest (1924), men exploring an ice cave on the mountain.
Film History

October 21, 2015

Early Silent Documentaries: Real-Life Adventure Cinema

Sean Axmaker in Film History

This piece is part of an ongoing Independent Lens series exploring documentary film history. Stay tuned for more installments. Since the dawn of cinema, cameras have been taken around the world to…...

African American sound recorder on the streets
Lists

August 11, 2015

Black Power Playlist: Music is the Message

Independent Lens in Lists

The soundtrack to America’s civil rights movement before the mid-1960s was predominantly made up of gospel standards and spirituals, with a smattering of popular folk. But by the late 1960s,…...

June 26, 2015

19 Memorable Faces of Independent Lens’ 2014-15 Season

Craig Phillips in Lists

As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, so rather than unleash many more words on you, here's a photo gallery reminding you of some of the memorable…...

June 19, 2015

POV 2015: More Great Docs to Get You Through Summer

Craig Phillips in Lists

[caption id="attachment_7008" align="alignnone" width="600"] Out in the Night[/caption] Our friends at POV are ready to grab the baton for thought-provoking docs airing Mondays on PBS, with a new slate of films about…...