July 10, 2020
“Your Vote Is Your Voice”: Best Films About Voting Rights
Sharon Knolle in Film History
The right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights in a Democracy, and yet who has been allowed to vote in America has been a battle that’s been…...
May 20, 2020
Filmmakers Show the World the Real Easter Island, a Wakeup Call with Hope
Craig Phillips in Interviews
Sergio Mata'u Rapu has spent the last 15 years shooting and producing documentaries that have aired on History Channel, Travel Channel, National Geographic, and NOVA. Based in Minnesota, a very…...
May 01, 2020
Sasha Joseph Neulinger Confronts Family Trauma Head-On
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
It's been a pretty impressive run for what was someone's very first feature documentary. But then again, Rewind is no ordinary first film. After Sasha Joseph Neulinger finished film school…...
April 08, 2020
Enter to Win a Copy of “Bedlam: An Intimate Journey into America’s Mental Health Crisis”
Independent Lens in Contests
Looking for your next great read? Bedlam: An Intimate Journey into America's Mental Health Crisis by Bedlam filmmaker Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, MD, sheds light on the mental-health-care crisis in the…...
March 26, 2020
This Couple Finds Answers for Adopted Daughters From China
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
Brian and Long Lan Stuy are a Utah couple who have adopted three daughters from China: Meikina from DianBai, Meigon from Guangzhou, and Meilan from Luoyang. After discovering that documentation…...
March 25, 2020
Nanfu Wang’s Riveting Personal Story Probes Impact of One-Child Policy
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Taking risks is nothing new for Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang. Her previous documentary I Am Another You, which was a SXSW Jury Award-winner and aired on Independent Lens, involved her…...
February 05, 2020
The One-Child Policy Legacy on Women and Relationships in China
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Kristal Sotamayor The one-child policy was introduced to China in 1979, written into the national constitution in 1982, and subsequently ended in 2015. Over the 36 years of the…...
February 05, 2020
Filmmakers Follow Women in China Trying to Overcome Stigma of Being Single
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Israeli filmmakers Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia have had films air on international television as well as here in the U.S. on HBO, MTV, Sundance, and PBS (Medalia has received…...
February 03, 2020
How “Cooked” Evolved into an Investigation of the Disaster Underlying a Disaster
Craig Phillips in Interviews
Documentary filmmaker Judith Helfand is best known for her ability to take the dark worlds of chemical exposure, heedless corporate behavior and environmental injustice and make them personal, highly-charged and…...
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…...
January 22, 2020
Finding Common Ground: The Story of an Unlikely Chicago Alliance
Craig Phillips in Interviews
It takes an incredible amount of tenacity and belief in a project to stick with it for 14 years, but that's just how long it took for Ray Santisteban to…...
January 14, 2020
Filmmaker Accepts the Call to Tell Story of a Father and Son Divided
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
Filmmaker Eunice Lau, who is originally from Singapore (and boy does she have a story to tell you here about the experience of showing her film back home), was once…...