Independent Lens

Indie Films Series / 8 Seasons

Authentic stories. Extraordinary people.

52m 3s / TV-PG

These Amazing Shadows: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

2m 12s / TV-PG

The film adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" has become a mythical and cultural touchstone for generations of filmgoers. In this excerpt from "These Amazing Shadows" we hear from both filmmakers and actors who describe the personal impact this film had on their own lives.

The Woodmans: A Family Reflects Through a Glass Darkly

2m 39s / TV-14

Soon after starting a family of their own, Betty and George moved to Boulder, Colorado. First Charles, and then also Francesca grew up immersed in art. They learned to think of art as a serious business, something that required constant, committed work.

The Woodmans: Art Was a Way of Life

4m 4s / TV-14

The family spent summers in Florence, Italy, where young Francesca wandered museums. Precocious and uncommonly determined, she left home and taught herself photography, a form she would come to revolutionize.

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Francesca Woodman

1m 29s / TV-14

The Woodmans were a family of well-known artists bonded in their belief that making art was the highest form of expression. For their daughter Francesca - one of the late 20th century's most recognized and influential photographers - fame came only after her suicide at 22. Her family was broken apart by - and in a sense healed by - art.

The Woodmans: Self-portrait of the Artist as a Young Student

3m 11s / TV-14

After college, she moved to New York, working odd jobs and serving as a photography assistant, and gaining recognition for her work in fashion photography. But she struggled to survive, was unhappy in love, and stricken with serious depression. The psychic costs of being an artist proved to be too great, and she was gone before her 23rd birthday.

Girl Scout Troop Unites Daughters With Imprisoned Mothers

35s / TV-PG

At the Gatesville Prison in Texas, a unique Girl Scout troop unites daughters with mothers who have been convicted of serious crimes. Facing steep sentences from the courts and tough questions from their children, the mothers struggle to rebuild relationships with the daughters who endure a childhood without them.

We Still Live Here: Making Peace With a Future Mentor

4m 15s / TV-PG

After making a bad first impression with MIT linguist Ken Hale during an early meeting about bringing the Wampanoag language back to life, Jessie Little Doe and Professor Hale became close collaborators and lifelong friends.

Are You an Indian?

5m 25s / TV-PG

In this companion piece to the documentary film We Still Live Here - As Nutayunean, Wampanoag tribal members discuss how their multicultural heritage both complicates and enriches their identities as Native American people.

We Still Live Here: Songs From the End of the Island

3m 11s / TV-PG

Martha's Vineyard has long been known as Aquinnah -- or "the end of the island" -- in Wampanoag. Thanks to the efforts of Jessie Little Doe and her colleagues, tribal members are now able to sing songs in their original language.

We Still Live Here: A Language Is Not Just Words

3m 18s / TV-PG

Through special learning camps, the Wampanoag are helping each other to recover their triabl language, stories, and connection to one another. They have realized that a language is not just words: it's a culture, tradition, and what creates what a community is.

We're the People Who Met the Pilgrims

46s / TV-PG

We Still Live Here - As Nutayunean tells the remarkable story of the recent cultural and linguistic revival of the Wampanoag tribe of Southeastern Massachusetts. Their ancestors ensured the survival of the Pilgrims -- and lived to regret it. Now they are bringing their language home again.

Deaf Jam: What Do You Love About Being Deaf?

1m 43s / TV-PG

Aneta Brodski and her classmates at the Lexington School for the Deaf discuss what they love -- and what they hate -- about being deaf. While her best friend, Shiran, loves the culture and expressiveness of ASL, Aneta has apprehensions about what she will face after graduating from school and whether she will fit in among hearing people.

Sign Language is Who I Am

2m 26s / TV-PG

Deaf Jam is the story of Aneta Brodski's discovery of American Sign Language Poetry while a student at the Lexington School for the Deaf in Queens, NY. Her enthusiasm and strong character lead her to embrace the performance form, and step into the established slam poetry scene.

Deaf Jam: ASL Poets in the Spotlight

3m 3s / TV-PG

Aneta Brodski and her classmates perform in their first ASL Poetry Performance at Lexington School for the Deaf. Aneta wows everyone with an animated description of her own conception and birth.

Fred and Trish: Passionately-Abled

4m 28s / TV-PG

Trish Irons, Fred Fay's companion for 29 years, talks about their shared passions ... and passionate relationship. Fred Fay survived a devastating spinal cord injury when he was only 16, and turned his misfortune into a movement for equality, spearheading the disability rights movement and changing the face of American society. He passed away on August 20, 2011.

Like an Emancipation Proclamation for the Disabled

2m 36s / TV-PG

Fred Fay survived a devastating spinal cord injury when he was only 16, and turned his misfortune into a movement for equality. With a small group of dedicated activists, he spearheaded the disability rights movement and changed the face of American society.

Donor Unknown: Uncanny Similarities Between Newfound Sibling

2m 45s / TV-PG

From their big toes, affection for animals, and, of course, their eyebrows, the offspring of Donor 150 were amazed to discover what they had in common both in their appearances and personalities, raising intriguing questions about our understanding of parenthood and the strange power of our genetic connections.

Donor Unknown: On the Road with Donor 150

3m / TV-PG

With his dog as a co-pilot, Jeffrey sets out to seize the day. However, when his camper breaks down, he shifts gears to meditate on the meaning of life, though his mechanic friend has a less optimistic take on the world.

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