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
PBS Unveils 2025 Veterans Day Programming Lineup Including AMERICAN HEART Musical Tribute
by Josh Sharpe - November 07, 2025
Beginning Monday, November 10, PBS will air a special lineup of programs to commemorate Veterans Day with historical explorations, musical tributes, and the annual Veterans Day special....
OH, MARY, WICKED Movie & More Receive GLAAD Award Nominations
by Josh Sharpe - January 22, 2025
GLAAD has announced the nominees for the 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, including five Broadway shows, Mean Girls, Wicked, Agatha All Along, the 77th Tony Awards. Check out the full list of nominees here!...
INDEPENDENT LENS to Launch New season of Indie Lens Pop-Up Featuring Over 100 Screenings
by Chloe Rabinowitz - December 12, 2024
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. Learn more! ...
Mosaic Theater Company to Present Workshop of POSTMORTEM
by Chloe Rabinowitz - August 13, 2024
Mosaic Theater Company will present a workshop for POSTMORTEM, a new play that combines true crime with family drama to tell a story about one woman’s reckoning with her difficult childhood. Learn how to purchase tickets....
Berkshire Theatre Group Announces Cast of 4000 MILES At The Unicorn Theatre
by A.A. Cristi - May 14, 2024
Berkshire Theatre Group (BTG) and Kate Maguire have announced casting for its upcoming production of 4000 Miles, a play redefining family, loss and healing. ...
A THOUSAND PINES Set To Premiere On Independent Lens in April
by Michael Major - March 04, 2024
“A Thousand Pines,” the intimate documentary following a season of Oaxacan tree planters traveling the United States, directed and produced by Noam Osband and Sebastián Díaz, explores the hidden world of guest workers regrowing America's forests and the challenges the workers and their familie...
A THOUSAND PINES Adds Film Festival Dates Before PBS Broadcast On Independent Lens
by Michael Major - February 26, 2024
Directed by Noam Osband and Sebastián Díaz, A Thousand Pines is set in the beautiful and sometimes unforgiving landscape of the United States' national forests. The first documentary to tell the story of workers in the US timber industry follows Raymundo Morales, the foreman of a crew of migrant w...
GREENER PASTURES To Premiere On Independent Lens
by Michael Major - February 21, 2024
From first-time feature director/producer Samuel-Ali Mirpoorian and producer Ian Robertson Kibbe, the documentary follows the daily lives of four Midwestern farm families in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin over five years, as a combination of climate change, the pandemic, and the domi...
PBS Shines Spotlight On Vital Ocean-Focused Programming Complementing Ongoing Initiative
by Michael Major - February 12, 2024
PBS shines a spotlight on vital ocean-focused programming complementing ongoing environmental and climate initiatives. The article explores a mix of new and returning series showcasing titles such as Hope in the Water, Nature: Patrick and the Whale, Dynamic Planet, Independent Lens: One with the Wha...
RAZING LIBERTY SQUARE to Premiere On Independent Lens
by Michael Major - December 29, 2023
Three contemporary issues – climate change, housing insecurity, and economic inequity – become a unifying force driving redevelopment in Liberty City, Miami. Until recently, it was home to the oldest segregated public housing project in the United States, Liberty Square. Now, it is ground zero f...
Confronting Palm Springs' Problematic Past, RACIST TREES Premieres On Independent Lens Next Month
by Michael Major - December 27, 2023
The documentary captures an inside look at the frustrations of residents of the historically Black Lawrence Crossley Tract neighborhood, who are cut off from the glitz and glamour of Palm Springs, due to the planting of 60-foot tamarisk trees that overshadow the community and are viewed as a symbol ...
Oscar Contenders Air On Independent Lens In January
by Michael Major - December 27, 2023
Two Oscar-contender documentaries will debut on INDEPENDENT LENS. “Beyond Utopia,” the story of families who risk everything escaping North Korea, and the documentary short “If Dreams Were which explores the lives of people living in the rural South with limited or no access to healthcare, bot...
Art at a Time Like This Launches 8X5 HOUSTON Exhibition
by Stephi Wild - October 25, 2023
In early November, Art at a Time Like This will launch 8x5 Houston, a public intervention with artworks responding to the mass incarceration crisis. 8x5 Houston is named for the size of the average prison cell and encourages artists to speak out about issues of criminal injustice. ...
World Channel Celebrates Juneteenth With 19 Films
by Michael Major - June 14, 2022
Selections from its curated playlist by noted filmmakers including Stanley Nelson, Ken Burns, Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster, Sam Pollard and Yoruba Richen run all month on a variety of platforms, including WORLD Channel, WorldChannel.org, WORLD Channel’s YouTube Channel and Facebook page, PBS ...
Joe Wong's RUSSIAN DOLL Season One & Two Soundtrack Sets Release
by Michael Major - April 19, 2022
Composed by Joe Wong – who has worked on some of Netflix's biggest hits including Master Of None and the To All the Boys… franchise, and their critically lauded The Midnight Gospel -- the album consists of his dream-like original score with highlights from the breakout first season and the highl...
MOVE ME to Play at Full Frame Doc and ReelAbilities Film Festivals
by Marissa Tomeo - April 01, 2022
MOVE ME is the directorial debut of dancer / choreographer Kelsey Peterson. Co-directed by Daniel Klein, a former NYC / London chef (Bouchon, Craft, The Fat Duck) turned award-winning filmmaker and television creator who has created over 170 international short films. He is a founder of the acclaim...
PBS's INDEPENDENT LENS Wins Award for Best Curated Series
by Marissa Tomeo - March 05, 2022
The award-winning documentary anthology series INDEPENDENT LENS, which airs weekly on PBS and is presented by ITVS, was awarded Best Curated Series at the 37th Annual IDA Documentary Awards at a virtual ceremony held this evening (March 4). An additional ITVS-backed title, “Whirlybird,” was p...
THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN, COMPANY & More Nominated for 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards
by Chloe Rabinowitz - January 19, 2022
GLAAD, the world's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, today announced the nominees for the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards. RuPaul's Drag Race Season 13 finalist Gottmik announced nominees in select GLAAD Media Awards categories live via GLAA...
31st Annual GOTHAM AWARDS Winners Announced
by Gigi Gervais - November 30, 2021
The Gotham Film & Media Institute (The Gotham) announced the winners of the 31st Annual Gotham Awards at a ceremony held at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on November 29....
31st Annual Gotham Awards Nominations Announced
by Michael Major - October 21, 2021
The Gotham Film & Media Institute announced today the nominations for the 31st Annual Gotham Awards, singling out 29 feature films, 16 series, and 32 performances for recognition in twelve award categories. 'Passing' and 'The Lost Daughter' led this year's nominations....
STORM LAKE Will Screen at the Majestic Theatre
by Stephi Wild - October 15, 2021
Storm Lake, the new documentary film about an independent newspaper’s fight to serve their small Iowa community, will be shown at Gettysburg College’s Majestic Theater on Sunday, November 14 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $9 each and are now on sale at the Majestic Theater Box Office, 25 Carlisle St., Ge...
Kelli O'Hara, Melissa Errico & More to Perform at Feinstein's/54 Below Next Week
by Chloe Rabinowitz - September 24, 2021
Next week, FEINSTEIN’S/54 BELOW, Broadway’s Supper Club & Private Event Destination, will present some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond....
Liz Callaway, Sierra Boggess, Kelli O'Hara, WRITE OUT LOUD and More Announced for September at Feinstein's/54 Below
by Chloe Rabinowitz - September 03, 2021
Next month, FEINSTEIN’S/54 BELOW, Broadway’s Supper Club & Private Event Destination, will present some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond....
MR. SOUL Launches August 1st on HBO Max
by Sarah Jae Leiber - July 22, 2021
'Mr. SOUL!” was also shortlisted at the 93rd Academy Awards in the category of Best Original Song, for “Show Me Your Soul” by Grammy Award-winning composer Robert Glasper and Grammy Award-winning singer Lalah Hathaway. ...
Sundance Institute Announces 10 Producers Lab Fellows
by TV News Desk - July 22, 2021
Sundance Institute today announced the participants for its weeklong Producers Lab, taking place July 25 - 29, and the participants in the Producers Summit, August 2 - 5, both taking place digitally on Sundance Co//ab....
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