Filmmaker John Scheinfeld is no stranger to taking on challenging subjects for documentaries. The Emmy®, Grammy® and Writers Guild Award nominee and writer/director/producer's other films include The U.S. vs. John Lennon,…...
By Nick Dedina, Guest Contributor Drop a needle on a John Coltrane record, hit play on one of his digital playlists, or watch Chasing Trane and it’s easy to understand…...
Season premiere! Set against the social, political and cultural landscape of the times, Chasing Trane brings saxophone great John Coltrane to life, as a man and an artist. The film is the definitive look at the boundary-shattering musician whose influence continues to this day. Chasing… Read More
By Craig Phillips and Independent Lens Staff Real Boy is the portrait of Bennett, who is undergoing gender reassignment surgery, and his mom's struggle to process the change. But it's…...
In the Independent Lens documentary Ovarian Psycos, we're introduced to The Ovas — a chicanx (xicanx) feminist group who bike through the streets of East L.A. in honor of sisterhood. While…...
Pure and simple, 1966 was considered by many critics as one of the greatest years for popular music ever [see the Guardian’s “Was 1966 pop music greatest’s year?” and the…...
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…...
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, music was changing right along with the political landscape. Just as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X parted ways… Read More
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,…...
Editor's note: While these aren't Independent Lens films of course, the Decline films are some of our very favorite music docs, make for perfect summertime viewing, and are finally all out together…...
[caption id="attachment_6841" align="alignnone" width="600"] Hina performing with some of her students, from Kumu Hina[/caption] In tandem with the PBS film Kumu Hina, we created this Spotify playlist compiling some of the greatest…...
The word “magic” is mentioned a lot in Muscle Shoals, a mesmerizing documentary that tries to explain, or at least place in context, the extraordinary success of FAME (founded by…...