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
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
CHARLIE'S WAITING By Mêlisa Annis Starring Tony-Nominee Xanthe
by A.A. Cristi - March 01, 2019
Parity Productions, the New York based theater company dedicated to producing new work and filling at least 50% of the creative positions (playwrights, directors, and designers) with women and/or trans and gender nonconforming (TCNG) artists, has announced the full cast and crew for their world prem...
TRE MAISON DASAN to Premiere on Independent Lens
by Kaitlin Milligan - February 19, 2019
Told directly through the children's perspective, Tre Maison Dasan is an up-close and unfiltered look at the lives of three Rhode Island boys, each navigating childhood and adolescence with a parent behind bars. Each boy faces the pressure of growing up in a society that often demonizes their pare...
Free Screening Of HILLBILLY Presented At Musco Center
First Run Features Presents U.S. Theatrical Premiere of JOSEPH PULITZER: VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
by Tori Hartshorn - January 28, 2019
First Run Features is pleased to announce that Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the Peoplewill open at the Quad Cinema in New York on March 1 and in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Theaters on March 8 after sold out festival screenings in New York, Washington and across the country. At a time of daily...
HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING to Premiere on Independent Lens on PBS
by Kaitlin Milligan - January 22, 2019
An inspired and intimate portrait of a place and its people, Hale County This Morning, This Evening looks at the lives of two young African American men from rural Alabama over the course of five years. Daniel Collins attends college in search of opportunity while Quincy Bryant becomes a father to...
PBS to Honor the Legacy of Black History Month
by Kaitlin Milligan - January 10, 2019
PBS today announced special programming to commemorate Black History Month, as part of its commitment to celebrating the diversity of America year-round....
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...
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 ...
INDEPENDENT LENS on PBS to Air 'Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World'
by Kaitlin Milligan - December 12, 2018
A musical celebration of how Native American musicians transformed blues, jazz and rock, RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World, will premiere on Independent Lens Monday, January 21, 2019, 10:00-11:30 PM ET (check local listings) on PBS, and will also be available simultaneously for online stre...
Acclaimed Documentary WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? Debuts 2/9 On HBO
by Tori Hartshorn - December 10, 2018
WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?, the acclaimed documentary from Morgan Neville (the Oscar®-winning “20 Feet from Stardom”), will debut SATURDAY, FEB. 9 (8:00-9:35 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO. In addition, HBO will honor Fred Rogers' contribution and commitment to public television with a special presentation ...
MY COUNTRY NO MORE Premieres on Independent Lens 1/7 on PBS
by Tori Hartshorn - December 03, 2018
Between 2011 and 2016, oil drilling in rural North Dakota reached its peak, setting off a modern-day gold rush in Trenton, North Dakota, population less than 1000. With billions of dollars to be gained in an industry-friendly state with a “reasonable regulation” climate, small towns like Trenton...
ITVS Reaches Milestone with Over 100 Sundance Acceptances
by Tori Hartshorn - December 03, 2018
ITVS announced today that, with four new films premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019, the organization has now funded and co-produced more than 100 Sundance premieres. Mandated by Congress in 1988 to address the lack of diverse voices in public media, ITVS has served as an incubat...
Independent Lens to Premiere MAN ON FIRE
by Kaitlin Milligan - November 26, 2018
On June 23, 2014, a 79-year-old white Methodist minister named Charles Moore drove to an empty parking lot in his old hometown of Grand Saline, Texas, and set himself on fire. He left a note on his car's windshield explaining that this act was his final protest against the virulent racism of the c...
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 Li...
PBS Announces Winter-Spring 2019 Primetime Schedule
by Kaitlin Milligan - November 14, 2018
PBS today announced its Winter-Spring 2019 primetime schedule, featuring a season brimming with new drama, music, arts, history, science, nature and more, as well as returning seasons of favorite series....
Megumi Sasaki's A WHALE OF A TALE Released on iTunes in US, Canada, UK
by Kaitlin Milligan - October 30, 2018
In 2010, Taiji, a sleepy fishing town in Japan, suddenly found itself in the worldwide media spotlight. THE COVE, a documentary denouncing the town's longstanding whale and dolphin hunting traditions, won an Academy Award and almost overnight, Taiji became the go-to destination and battleground for...
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 becam...
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 o...
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 ...
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 per...
DAWNLAND to Premiere on PBS' Independent Lens
by Kaitlin Milligan - October 10, 2018
Dawnland reveals the untold story of Indigenous child removal in the United States through the first government-endorsed truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) in the nation, tasked with investigating the devastating impact of Maine's child welfare practices on Native American communities. With e...
WILDLAND Kicks Off New Season of PBS's INDEPENDENT LENS
by Kaitlin Milligan - October 03, 2018
Filmed during two recent wildfire seasons, Wildland is a sweeping yet deeply personal account of a single wildland firefighting crew as they struggle with fear, loyalty, dreams, and demons. What emerges is a rich story of working-class men — their exterior world, their interior lives and the fire ...
11th Hour Theatre Company To Present Concert Of GREY GARDENS
by A.A. Cristi - September 10, 2018
11th Hour Theatre Company brings its consistently sold out concert series back home and as the series begins its 2018-2019 season it has grown. 11th Hour's Next Step Concert Series is now set to run over two weekends. They begin their season with a concert performance of Grey Gardens. Grey Gardens f...
BWW Previews: AJ Lambert's IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS 09/08 at The Rrazz Room
by BWW News Desk - September 08, 2018
BWW Previews: AJ LAMBERT'S 'IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS' SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 8, 2018 at The RRAZZ ROOM New Hope PA...
Netflix Acquires Global Rights to THE LEGEND OF COCAINE ISLAND
by Kaitlin Milligan - September 06, 2018
Netflix has announced that they have acquired the global rights to director Theo Love's documentary feature, The Legend of Cocaine Island. The film, previously titled White Tide: The Legend of Culebra, premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival where it was enthusiastically embraced by audiences an...
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