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Watch Video

April 04, 2018

Watch The Seven-Part Series “Sentencing Children”:

Independent Lens in Watch Video

Watch our seven-part, Webby Award-nominated series on juvenile sentencing laws, "Sentencing Children." "Sentencing Children" was produced by Dan Birman and Independent Lens. This series is part of Independent Lens‘s commitment to…...

Naomi Kutin gets make-up before her Bat Mitzvah, in Supergirl
Beyond the Films

December 12, 2017

On Supergirls, Sasha Fierce, Slim Shady and Having an Alter Ego

Independent Lens in Beyond the Films

By Michelle Konstantinovsky Naomi Kutin is technically the central subject of the new Independent Lens documentary Supergirl. But as the film unfolds, viewers learn fairly quickly that there are actually two equally important…...

Naomi Kutin and a slightly bigger male powerlifter, from Supergirl
Interviews

December 07, 2017

Jessie Auritt Explores the World of an Unorthodox Girl in Orthodox World

Craig Phillips in Interviews

"Showcasing a normal girl doing extraordinary things, Supergirl is a health tonic for this cramping climate of resurgent sexism underway where girls everywhere are struggling to understand their worth," wrote…...

From Paul Fierlinger's Still Life with Animated Dogs, his dog Spinnaker
Lists

August 24, 2017

Dogumentary Now: 7 Docs About Urban Dogs

Sharon Knolle in Lists

Just like the human population, dogs in the city can live a life of luxury or — sadly — roam the streets looking for food, shelter and the occasional kind…...

Jiro and son Takashi, in Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Lists

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…...

Beyond the Films

June 16, 2017

Transgender People Trying to Find Love

826chi in Beyond the Films

In the Independent Lens film Real Boy, transgender nineteen-year-old Bennett is touched to find his reluctant mother by his side as he undergoes a double mastectomy as part of his…...

Real Boy filmmaker Shaleece Haas
Interviews

June 16, 2017

Real Boy Director Shaleece Haas on Filming a Family in Flux

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Documentary filmmaker Shaleece Haas has made several acclaimed shorts, worked as an editorial photographer and radio producer, and was a founding staff member of the national oral history project StoryCorps.…...

Beyond the Films

May 17, 2017

Teachers Beat the “Macho Culture” in Prisons through Art Programs

826chi in Beyond the Films

In the early 2000s, Hollywood invested in the urban fairy tale where a teacher is called into the principal’s office of a school in a low-income, broken part of town…...

L-R: Gabe Cowan (teacher/producer), Jarad, Antonio, Juan all look at footage from their film
Where Are They Now?

May 17, 2017

Juan and Jarad Write From Prison

Independent Lens in Where Are They Now?

We thought viewers of Ben Lear's They Call Us Monsters may be interested in hearing from the young men featured in the film. Yes, they have a lot of free…...

Mark Barden's son Daniel Barden races the school bus in Newtown
Interviews

April 03, 2017

Kim A. Snyder Tells Newtown Families’ Deeply Intimate Story

Craig Phillips in Interviews

Filmmaker Kim Snyder is no stranger to having to patiently and empathetically ingratiate herself with a community. Her film Welcome to Shelbyville, which was nationally broadcast on Independent Lens, spent time in a…...

The new Sandy Hook school (Robert Benson Photography, courtesy Svigals + Partners)
Beyond the Films

March 31, 2017

Healing Places: Rebuilding After a Community Tragedy

Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films

"The only thing tragedy gives us is the opportunity to rebuild our life." -writer Paulo Coelho The film Newtown asks, "What remains after all is lost?" Some have said that it…...

Joey McGee walks down a road in the Mojave Desert.
Interviews

March 17, 2017

Filmmakers Lou Pepe and Keith Fulton Tell Story of At-Risk Youth Getting Last Chance

Craig Phillips in Behind the Films

Filmmakers Lou Pepe and Keith Fulton have gone from the deserts of Spain (for their acclaimed film Lost in La Mancha about Terry Gilliam's ill-fated attempt to make a Don Quixote…...