Blog

Interviews

June 09, 2020

How Do You Sort Through 70,000 Videotapes?

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

The San Jose (CA) native, New York City-based filmmaker Matt Wolf is no stranger to having to comb through archival footage for his documentaries. His film Wild Combination, about the…...

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay
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…...

Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, MD
Interviews

April 08, 2020

“My Family’s Tragedy Is an American Tragedy”: Bedlam Filmmaker’s Journey to Depict Mental Health Crisis

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

In his film Bedlam, Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, MD follows the lives of three patients who find themselves with a chronic lack of institutional support, while he also weaves in his…...

mother and daughter hugging in hospital
Contests

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…...

Beyond the Films

April 06, 2020

Peer Support and the Complexity of Mental Health

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Lennlee Keep The film Bedlam explores mental illness from the perspectives of physicians, politicians, parents, and patients themselves. The power of documentary film is that it generates conversations about…...

Brian and Longlan Stuy at their home office for Research-China (from One Child Nation)
Beyond the Films

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…...

Nanfu wang holds her baby while interviewing her mother
Interviews

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…...

Lynching scene in Within Our Gates (by Oscar Micheaux)
Beyond the Films

February 20, 2020

As American as the Blues: Lynching in Film and TV

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Ade Adeniji Always in Season explores the history of lynching through the mysterious 2014 death of Lennon Lacy while also looking at historical reenactments of lynching, prompting some to…...

Filmmaker Jacqueline Olive
Interviews

February 20, 2020

Filmmaker Explores First Steps Toward Justice and Reconciliation

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Independent filmmaker Jacqueline Olive, who has worked in non-fiction filmmaking for years and co-directed and co-produced the award-winning hour-long documentary, Black to Our Roots (PBS WORLD), makes her feature documentary…...

Singer Billie Holiday
Beyond the Films

February 19, 2020

Billie Holiday’s Searing “Strange Fruit” Still Has the Power to Startle

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Nick Dedina There are often false narratives we tell ourselves so that we can simplify, and beautify, the past and erase aspects of the present that we are uncomfortable…...

GAI QI and her baby, in Leftover Women
Beyond the Films

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…...

Xu Min, from Leftover Women, speaks to single men at a matchmaker event in China
Interviews

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…...