INDEPENDENT LENS to Launch New season of Indie Lens Pop-Up Featuring Over 100 Screenings

INDEPENDENT LENS is launching the new season of Indie Lens Pop-Up, the long-running screening series that brings people together for community-driven conversations around its thought-provoking documentaries. The event series will feature both in-person and virtual screenings in more than 100 cities across the U.S.

Through its roster of five documentary projects this season, Indie Lens Pop-Up will ignite conversations on a range of topics, including a Cambodian American basketball prodigy, the American institution of public libraries, and the history of funk music. This season's topics also aim to expand perspectives through deeply personal stories, like what it means to live with Alzheimer's disease and the bond between father and son. Each film will make its television debut on INDEPENDENT LENS, PBS's award-winning documentary anthology series, and will be available to stream on the PBS app.

The 2024-2025 Indie Lens Pop-Up lineup includes the following documentaries:

● Eric D. Seals' "Bike Vessel" chronicles a portrait of familial love following a long-distance cycling trip between father and son.

● "Home Court" from filmmaker Erica Tanamachi sheds light on a basketball prodigy whose life intensifies amid recruitment, injury, and triumph.

● "We Want the Funk" from filmmaker Stanley Nelson examines the history of funk music, spanning its African and early jazz roots.

● In the documentary "Free for All: The Public Library," filmmakers Dawn Logsdon and Lucie Faulknor turn the cameras on America's beloved public institution-the library-and the dramatic human stories unfolding within it.

● To close out the Indie Lens Pop-Up season, "Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer's" from filmmakers Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green is an exploration of how three families confront the challenges of Alzheimer's, focusing on how the disease transforms identities and relationships.

"We're so excited to continue these Indie Lens Pop-Up screenings that not only advance independent stories, but continue to bring together local communities across the U.S.," said Beatriz Castillo, senior director of engagement operations at ITVS.

Indie Lens Pop-Up events provide a space to watch and discuss timely issues explored in its award-winning documentaries. Hundreds of these screenings are hosted in-person and virtually by partners across the nation. Since its inception in 2005, more than 7,200 Indie Lens Pop-Up events have brought an estimated 430,000 participants together to discuss issues that impact local communities.

Locally, The Teaneck International Film Festival will be partnering with The Teaneck Public Library and The Puffin Cultural Forum on presenting this five-month series which kicks off with "Bike Vessel" on Wednesday, January 29th at 7:30 pm EST and continues monthly through May 21st. The film screenings will all include a moderated talkback featuring the filmmakers, subjects of the documentaries, producers, community leaders and more to be announced. Viewers will have the choice of attending the film screenings virtually from the comfort of their own home anywhere in the United States or participating in two in-person screenings to be held at Teaneck's Puffin Cultural Forum. The two live in-person screenings will feature "We Want the Funk" held on Sunday, March 23rd at 4 pm and "Free for All: The Public Library" held on Sunday, April 27th at 4 pm.

Jeremy Lentz, Executive Director of the Teaneck International Film Festival "is proud to launch our fifth season of Indie Lens Pop-Up. These films continue to empower our community to come together and talk about topics that might be otherwise difficult to discuss with one another. With this continued partnership, we're not only able to share films from the award-winning INDEPENDENT LENS series, but we also create open, safe forums to talk about important issues affecting our neighborhoods today, hopefully providing useful resources for those who need them."

Below is more info on the Indie Lens Pop-Up 2025 lineup.

"Bike Vessel" by Eric D. Seals

In this portrait of familial love, Donnie Seals Sr. undergoes a transformation after several medical crises and, at age 70, embarks on a long-distance cycling trip with his son.

Virtual screening date: Wed., Jan. 29th at 7:30 PM (EST)

"Home Court" by Erica Tanamachi

"Home Court" traces the ascent of Ashley Chea, a Cambodian American basketball prodigy whose life intensifies amid recruitment, injury, and triumph throughout her high school career.

Virtual screening date: Wed., Feb. 26th at 7:30 PM (EST)

"We Want the Funk" by Stanley Nelson

"We Want the Funk" is a syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, spanning its African and early jazz roots.

In-person screening held at Puffin Cultural Forum (20 Puffin Way, Teaneck, NJ 07666): Sunday, March 23rd at 4:00 PM (EDT)

Virtual screening date: Wed., April 2nd at 7:30 PM (EDT)

"Free for All: The Public Library" by Dawn Logsdon and Lucie Faulknor

"Free for All: The Public Library" tells the story of the U.S. public library system-a simple idea that shaped a nation and the quiet revolutionaries who made it happen.

In-person screening held at Puffin Cultural Forum (20 Puffin Way, Teaneck, NJ 07666): Sunday, April 27th at 4:00 PM (EDT)

Virtual screening date: Wed., May 7th at 7:30 PM (EDT)

"Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer's" by Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green

"Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer's" explores how three families confront the challenges of Alzheimer's, focusing on how the disease transforms identities and relationships.

Virtual screening date: Wed., May 21st at 7:30 PM (EDT)

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