News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

INDEPENDENT LENS - PAGE 3

Independent Lens small logo


Airing weekly on PBS, the five-time Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens is an independent film festival in your living room. Each week we bring you another original documentary film, each made by one of the best independent filmmakers working today.

This season, Independent Lens returns with 22 independent films that will transport you and challenge you to experience universal human themes from unique perspectives. We will delve into issues emerging from the economic crisis in America, from job loss to wealth disparity; examine the origins of soul food, its importance in African American culture, and its serious health implications; we will examine a military culture in which female soldiers are sexually assaulted at a terrifying rate, and their attackers often left unpunished; we



Latest Articles About Independent Lens on PBS

Sundance Film Festival: Juries, Awards Night Host Announced Photo Sundance Film Festival: Juries, Awards Night Host Announced
by Tori Hartshorn - January 16, 2018

Sundance Film Festival: Juries, Awards Night Host Announced...


PBS Announces Premiere Dates for LITTLE WOMEN with Angela Lansbury, Tony Bennett Trib Photo PBS Announces Premiere Dates for LITTLE WOMEN with Angela Lansbury, Tony Bennett Tribute ft. Josh Groban & More
by Caryn Robbins - December 06, 2017

PBS today announced its Winter/Spring 2018 schedule lineup, which includes the much-anticipated second season of MASTERPIECE's hit series Victoria (Sundays, January 14-February 25),starring Jenna Coleman, Tom Hughes and, this season, Dame Diana Rigg....


PBS to Premiere Eugene Jarecki's THE KING, About Elvis and America Photo PBS to Premiere Eugene Jarecki's THE KING, About Elvis and America
by Kaitlin Milligan - December 19, 2018

Forty years after the death of Elvis Presley, two-time Sundance Grand Jury winner Eugene Jarecki takes the King's 1963 Rolls-Royce on a musical road trip across America. From Tupelo to Memphis to New York, Las Vegas, and countless points between, the journey explores the rise and fall of Elvis as a ...


New Documentary HILLBILLY Set For World Premiere at Nashville Film Festival May 19th Photo New Documentary HILLBILLY Set For World Premiere at Nashville Film Festival May 19th
by Macon Prickett - May 07, 2018

hillbilly, a new documentary film that explores the historical basis of cultural stereotypes about people from Appalachia, is set to make its worldwide debut during the Nashville Film Festival on May 19th, 7:00 pm CT at the Regal Hollywood Stadium 27 & RPX. To buy tickets for the film's world premie...


Wisconsin Inmate In Mass Incarceration Film Wins Release After Denied Parole 7 Times Photo Wisconsin Inmate In Mass Incarceration Film Wins Release After Denied Parole 7 Times
by A.A. Cristi - August 17, 2018

Baron Walker, featured in the award-winning documentary MILWAUKEE 53206, has received parole and was released today in Milwaukee, after serving more than 22 years in a Wisconsin prison, Odyssey Impact announced today. Walker grew up in zip code 53206, which incarcerates the highest proportion of Afr...


The Power of Dance & More Set for Tonight's MetroFocus on THIRTEEN
by Caryn Robbins - March 27, 2017

The award-winning series MetroFocus premieres new episodes in the New York and tri-state region weeknights at 5:30 p.m. on NJTV, 6 p.m. on THIRTEEN and 7 p.m. on WLIW21. All episodes are available at metrofocus.org following the broadcast....


VIDEO: Watch the New Trailer for Upcoming Mr. Rogers Documentary WON'T YOU BE MY NEIG Photo VIDEO: Watch the New Trailer for Upcoming Mr. Rogers Documentary WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?
by Macon Prickett - March 20, 2018

Watch the official trailer for Morgan Neville's new movie, Won't You Be My Neighbor? below!...


John Coltrane's Music and Life Explored and Honored In CHASING TRANE Documentary Photo John Coltrane's Music and Life Explored and Honored In CHASING TRANE Documentary
by Caryn Robbins - October 05, 2017

On November 17, respected filmmaker John Scheinfeld'sacclaimed feature documentary film, Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, will be released by UMe on DVD and Blu-ray with exclusive bonus features....


Documentary 'The Last Laugh' Premieres on PBS's INDEPENDENT LENS, 4/24
by BWW News Desk - April 24, 2017

The Last Laugh is a documentary based on the premise that the Holocaust would seem to be an absolutely off-limits topic for comedy. But is it?...


Documentary 'True Conviction' About Exonerated Prisoners Turned Detectives, to Premie Photo Documentary 'True Conviction' About Exonerated Prisoners Turned Detectives, to Premiere on PBS/Independent Lens
by Stephi Wild - March 29, 2018

After serving a combined 60 years in prison for crimes they did not commit, three recently exonerated Texans — Christopher Scott, Johnnie Lindsey and Steven Phillips — join forces to form the unlikeliest of investigative teams, on a mission to help wrongfully convicted prisoners obtain freedom like ...


PBS's Independent Lens Announces Winter/Spring 2019 Season Photo PBS's Independent Lens Announces Winter/Spring 2019 Season
by Kaitlin Milligan - November 20, 2018

The award-winning PBS series Independent Lens today announced its Winter and Spring 2019 slate, a series of documentary films that take viewers on a cross-country journey through modern America. From renowned film veterans including Eugene Jarecki (The King) and David Sutherland (Marcos Doesn't Live...


THE CLEANERS, About Silicon Valley's 'Content Moderators' on PBS's Independent Lens 1 Photo THE CLEANERS, About Silicon Valley's 'Content Moderators' on PBS's Independent Lens 11/12
by Tori Hartshorn - October 17, 2018

'Fake news.” Violent pornography. Terrorist propaganda. Everyone agrees that the initial dream of the internet as a utopian global community has evolved into something much more sinister. Silicon Valley leaders and lawmakers have taken steps to remove some of the internet's most hateful sites and co...


'Friends' & 'Grace And Frankie' Co-Creator And Producer Marta Kauffman To Be Honored Photo 'Friends' & 'Grace And Frankie' Co-Creator And Producer Marta Kauffman To Be Honored At Big Sunday's 3rd Annual Gala
by A.A. Cristi - February 28, 2018

Leaders in entertainment, business, philanthropy, and the arts will gather at the 3rd Annual Big Sunday Gala on Thursday evening, March 8th to celebrate two distinguished honorees - Marta Kauffman and Kaiser Permanente.  Big Sunday, one of the USA's foremost organizations connecting people through h...


RAT FILM To Premiere On Independant Lens On PBS Photo RAT FILM To Premiere On Independant Lens On PBS
by Macon Prickett - February 07, 2018

In his critically-acclaimed directorial debut, Theo Anthony uses the rat to burrow into the dark, complicated history of Baltimore. A unique blend of history, science and sci-fi, poetry and portraiture, Rat Film explores how racial segregation, discriminatory lending practices known as “redlining,” ...


FREE SOLO, MINDING THE GAP Lead Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominations Photo FREE SOLO, MINDING THE GAP Lead Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominations
by Kaitlin Milligan - October 15, 2018

The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) have announced the nominees for the third annual Critics' Choice Documentary Awards. The winners will be presented their awards at a gala event, hosted by science educator and television persona...


Outstanding Student Productions Showcased at the 52nd Annual California Student Media Photo Outstanding Student Productions Showcased at the 52nd Annual California Student Media Festival
by Macon Prickett - June 04, 2018

Top student producers, and their teachers and schools were celebrated at the 52nd Annual California Student Media Festival (CSMF) awards Saturday, June 2 at Harmony Gold Preview House in Los Angeles. The festival, a partnership between PBS SoCal and CUE, is the oldest student media festival in the c...


VIETNAM Documentary & More Among PBS's Fall 2017 Schedule
by Caryn Robbins - July 12, 2017

PBS today announced its fall 2017 lineup, as well as the January 2018 broadcast of TONY BENNETT: THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GERSHWIN PRIZE, a PBS music special taping this fall to honor the singer, this year's recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song....


Lost Bayou Ramblers Releasing Original Score To Film Doc Premiering On PBS 1/14 Photo Lost Bayou Ramblers Releasing Original Score To Film Doc Premiering On PBS 1/14
by Tori Hartshorn - January 09, 2019

This coming Monday January 14, 10:00-11:00PM EST will see the television premier of RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE - the documentary by award winning film-making team Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer (Plagues and Pleasures of the  Salton Sea and Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone) and co-director Quin...


Chasing Trane Opens INDEPENDENT LENS New Season on PBS This November Photo Chasing Trane Opens INDEPENDENT LENS New Season on PBS This November
by BWW News Desk - November 06, 2017

The award-winning PBS series INDEPENDENT LENS opens its new season on Monday, November 6 with Chasing Trane, John Scheinfeld's portrait of jazz great John Coltrane, featuring Denzel Washington speaking the words of Coltrane....


WHEN GOD SLEEPS Documentary to Premiere on Independant Lens on PBS 4/2 Photo WHEN GOD SLEEPS Documentary to Premiere on Independant Lens on PBS 4/2
by Macon Prickett - March 09, 2018

Directed by Till Schauder, When God Sleeps is a rap-punk-rock documentary about Iranian musician Shahin Najafi, who is forced into hiding after hardline clerics issue a fatwa for his death, incensed by a rap song that focuses on the oppression of women and human rights abuses. Shahin's frantic escap...


PBS/Independent Lens to Air Acclaimed Documentary NEWTOWN, 4/3
by BWW News Desk - April 03, 2017

On December 14, 2012, a disturbed young man committed a horrific mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that took the lives of 20 elementary school children and six educators....


THEY CALL US MONSTERS Premieres on PBS' Independent Lens 5/22
by Caryn Robbins - May 10, 2017

They Call Us Monsters goes behind the walls of the Compound, a high-security facility where Los Angeles houses its most violent juvenile criminals. To their advocates, they're kids. To the system, they're adults....


Missi Pyle and Sally Jo Fifer to Participate in 'State of the Union' Panel at the Hot Photo Missi Pyle and Sally Jo Fifer to Participate in 'State of the Union' Panel at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
by Kaitlin Milligan - October 25, 2018

The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (HSDFF), presented by Mountain Valley Spring Water, announced today that actress and HSDFF Honorary Chair Missi Pyle and Sally Jo Fifer, producer and CEO of ITVS and recipient of the 2018 “HSDFF Impact Award” will participate in a panel titled “State of the ...


LOOK & SEE: Wendell Berry's Kentucky Premieres on Independent Lens 4/23 on PBS Photo LOOK & SEE: Wendell Berry's Kentucky Premieres on Independent Lens 4/23 on PBS
by Macon Prickett - March 22, 2018

Look & See: Wendell Berry's Kentucky is a cinematic portrait of the changing landscapes and shifting values of rural America in an era of industrial agriculture, as seen through the mind's eye of writer, farmer, and activist Wendell Berry. Through his poetic and prescient words and the testimonies o...


PBS's INDEPENDENT LENS to Premiere THE JUDGE Photo PBS's INDEPENDENT LENS to Premiere THE JUDGE
by Kaitlin Milligan - October 30, 2018

Religious courts in the Middle East, including the Shari'a courts of Islam which adjudicate domestic and family matters, have traditionally banned women from serving as judges – until Kholoud Al-Faqih dared to challenge that history. In 2009, with the support of a progressive Sheikh, Kholoud became ...






Videos

Recommended For You