Brother
A filmmaker’s intimate phone calls with her brother explore his fragile recovery from opioid addiction. Read More
Hazing
Interviews
April 27, 2022
How Today’s High School Students Face High Pressure in a Grind Culture
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Gail Cornwall Christina Zhang, 16, averages a couple hours of free time a day, but it’s hard to watch Netflix. “The whole time you’re thinking about, ‘Oh, what if…...
Interviews
February 08, 2022
What Americans Will Do to Feel Safe in Schools
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
What is the cost of feeling "safe" in American classrooms in an era when mass shootings have become more commonplace? The documentary Bulletproof takes a unique vérité approach in exploring…...
Beyond the Films
October 08, 2021
The Damage from Gay Conversion Therapy Still Lingers for Many LGBTQ+ People
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Caitlin Cruz In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the list of diagnosable mental illnesses, a monumental victory for early queer activists. Despite this successful effort, queer…...
Interviews
September 16, 2021
Telling the Story of When LGBTQ+ Activists Fought the Establishment and Won
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
The Los Angeles-based Bennett Singer and the D.C.-based Patrick Sammon have been making widely acclaimed historical documentaries for many years. Sammon was creator and Executive Producer of Codebreaker, a “superb”…...
Scenes From the Glittering World
Three… Read More
Beyond the Films
August 27, 2020
The Science of Kindness: It’s Not Easy Being Nice
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
Author Josh Kurz is a science communicator and filmmaker, and the co-creator of the audio program Shabam, which uses a zombie apocalypse to talk about real science. By Josh Kurz…...
The People vs. Agent Orange
Nearly 60 years following the use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War—the deadliest use of chemical warfare in history—the devastating aftereffects of the toxin remain lethal, demanding attention both in Vietnam and at home in America. The People vs. Agent Orange closely follows two activists… Read More
Where Are They Now?
May 21, 2020
The Island, the Tourist, and the Pandemic
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Sergio Rapu Don’t you wish you were living out the pandemic on a beautiful secluded island right about now? What I have learned is that, though enjoyable in the…...
Beyond the Films
April 21, 2020
Meet the Mavericks of Science and Medicine
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
by Heather Archuletta [caption id="" align="alignright" width="500"] Ignaz Semmelweis[/caption] In 1847, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis proposed a simple tactic: wash your hands. It’s difficult to imagine this as a medical “breakthrough,”…...
Beyond the Films
April 12, 2020
Rural Perspective on Mental Health Care in a Time of Crisis
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
by Rooney Elmi Kenneth Paul Rosenberg MD’s Bedlam profiles of one of the most pervasive and stigmatized public health crises: mental illness. Taking its titular inspiration from the infamous English…...