February 03, 2022
“Death Valley for Migrants”: The Invisible Cost of Border Crossing
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Ivonne Spinoza What is more important: laws or lives? This is the question at the center of the immigration debate and its ramifications. Conversations around illegal border crossings often…...
December 22, 2020
Leveling Up Representation: Depictions of People of Color in Video Games
Independent Lens in Lifestyle
By Nadine Dornieden The $100+ billion video game industry is big. So big, in fact, that it dwarfs both the film and music industry combined. Gaming as a hobby has become…...
June 16, 2020
Do You Live in a News Bubble?
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Brooke Shelby Biggs Whether you think of her as a visionary or a kook, Marion Stokes was far ahead of her time in addressing a problem in American media…...
January 28, 2020
From Race Riots to Rainbow Coalitions and Heatwaves: Chicago Activism on Racial and Economic Justice
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
It would be foolhardy to try to succinctly sum up the political history of one of America's most historically politically complicated cities--Chicago--in one sweeping post. Rather, consider this a basic…...
April 04, 2019
New Efforts to Improve Rural Healthcare Crisis
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Suzanne Gordon The three caregivers we meet in The Providers face daunting challenges as they try to deliver medical and mental healthcare to patients in rural New Mexico. Sadly,…...
February 15, 2018
HBCU Grads Share Their Stories of Campus Life
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
Graduates of Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are proud alums, and in connection with the Independent Lens film Tell Them We Are Rising, which tells the 170 years—and rising—history of…...
June 18, 2017
12 Father’s Day Docs: Stepping Out of Dad’s Shadow
Craig Phillips in Lists
Relationships with our dads can be complicated, as reflected in a collection of diverse, very worthy documentary films we've selected for Father's Day viewing consideration. All of the dads depicted…...
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…...
April 27, 2017
A Drone by Any Other Name: The Different Kinds of Drones
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
Drones are at the center of the Independent Lens film National Bird, though the documentary puts a very human face behind military drone operations, focusing on the post-traumatic stress stemming from participating…...
April 26, 2016
Independent Lens Wins 2016 Peabody Award for India’s Daughter
Independent Lens in Awards
Independent Lens is proud to announce that Leslee Udwin’s India’s Daughter, which premiered on the PBS series in November 2015, is the winner of a 2016 Peabody Award. The Peabody…...
April 08, 2016
Independent Lens Nominated for Webby Awards
Independent Lens in Announcements
Three projects from Independent Lens have been recognized by the Webby Awards, the leading international awards for excellence on the Internet, which were called “the Internet’s highest honor” by The…...
January 30, 2016
Renee Tajima-Peña on the Women of the Madrigal vs Quilligan Case
Craig Phillips in Interviews
Filmmaker Renee Tajima-Peña was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary for her film Who Killed Vincent Chin?, which aired on PBS back in 1989. She's hardly sat still since then;…...