June 20, 2023
Free Mom Hugs: How Mama Bears Spread Radical Love
Independent Lens in Behind the Films
By Alex Stergiou [pullquote] "These women don't go from being conservative to allies because of other people. They go because they have skin in the game. They transform. Love is…...
June 05, 2023
Celebrate Armistead Maupin for Pride and Win a Copy of “Logical Family: A Memoir”
Independent Lens in Contests
If you are a fan of the Tales of the City series and the Independent Lens documentary Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin, celebrate Armistead Maupin's wonderful life and career, and…...
May 26, 2023
From True Believer to The Help, How the White Gaze Has Shown Hollywood’s Shortsightedness
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
An Essay by Dana Verde [Sources and further reading listed at the end] They say hindsight is 20/20 and, historically, stories about real BIPOC characters in both mainstream film and…...
May 25, 2023
Book Giveaway! Storming Caesars Palace
Independent Lens in Contests
Dig deeper into our award-winning documentary Storming Caesars Palace. We're giving away ten copies of the book that inspired it, Storming Caesars Palace: How Black Mothers Fought Their War on Poverty, by Annelise Orleck. Enter for…...
May 16, 2023
From Mothers’ Pensions to Welfare Queens, Debunking Myths about Welfare
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Lennlee Keep A common mindset through modern American history is that people living in poverty simply don't want to work.¹ For decades, politicians have used programs like food stamps, unemployment,…...
May 04, 2023
Home Movies and Heartbreak: Brothers Bond Over Decades of Filmmaking
Independent Lens in Beyond the Films
By Brian Darr Sam Now is filled with the unexpected twists and turns of a family undergoing great upheaval, filmed over the course of a quarter-century by one of its…...
April 27, 2023
“Laughter Is My Outlet”: How Michele Stellato is Living and Coping with ALS
Craig Phillips in Beyond the Films
After being diagnosed as a young woman with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), Michele “Shelly” Stellato said, "We had to decide what to do with the time we had left.” Part…...
April 18, 2023
What Happened to Chol Soo Lee?
Independent Lens in Behind the Films
By Bedatri D. Choudhury Chol Soo Lee was a Korean American immigrant wrongfully convicted in 1974 of murdering a Chinatown gang leader in San Francisco. After a decade of being…...
March 27, 2023
Telling the Story of Keeping the Secret Nüshu Language Alive
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
"Besides a well, one does not thirst. Besides a sister, one does not despair." — Nüshu poem Inspired by a bestselling book that featured Nüshu, filmmaker Violet Du Feng was…...
February 23, 2023
How Vancouver Finds Hope and Love Amid Fentanyl Crisis
Independent Lens in Behind the Films
By Ivonne Spinoza One of the more horrible legacies we are left with from the war on drugs is the lack of compassion toward those who struggle with addiction.…...
February 23, 2023
6 Documentaries About the Black Experience
Independent Lens in Independent Film
Add these Independent Lens docs to your must-watch list. The Big Payback Directed by Erika Alexander and Whitney Dow Outta The Muck Directed by Ira McKinley and Bhawin Suchak The Picture…...
February 15, 2023
Beyond Football: Pahokee, Florida’s History of Black Resilience
Craig Phillips in Behind the Films
This community and the surrounding area around the southern shores of Lake Okeechobee, Florida, has a rich history, but the people of Pahokee's past has often been skipped over, even…...