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A Flogger for Christmas

2m 29s
In this excerpt from the Independent Lens film Best and Most Beautiful Things, the legally blind Michelle gets more comfortable with her new boyfriend Michael, who gets her a flogger for Christmas. This is part of their adventurous exploration of BDSM and alternative lifestyles.
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"It's Not You, It's the Autism Speaking"

2m 40s
In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Best and Most Beautiful Things, Michelle Smith, a legally blind young woman on autism spectrum, confronts a former teacher who meant well but had low expectations for Michelle's future. From her perspective the teacher saw her as someone with a disability who needed to be "fixed," who treated her as a child rather than a quirky individual.
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Online vs. Offline When You're Blind

1m 58s
In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Best and Most Beautiful Things, Michelle Smith, a precocious young woman who is legally blind, shows how communicating in online communities makes her feel more equal, but going out into the real world is a lot more stressful — as she demonstrates when having a panic attack when she briefly can't find her favorite backpack.
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Best and Most Beautiful Things - Autism Speaking - Clips

2m 40s
In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Best and Most Beautiful Things, Michelle Smith, a legally blind young woman on autism spectrum, confronts a former teacher who meant well but had low expectations for Michelle's future. From her perspective the teacher saw her as someone with a disability who needed to be "fixed," who treated her as a child rather than a quirky individual.
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Best and Most Beautiful Things - Blind Online vs IRL - Clip

1m 58s
In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Best and Most Beautiful Things, Michelle Smith, a precocious young woman who is legally blind, shows how communicating in online communities makes her feel more equal, but going out into the real world is a lot more stressful — as she demonstrates when having a panic attack when she briefly can't find her favorite backpack.
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Best and Most Beautiful Things - Trailer

30s
Michelle, a precocious 20-year-old woman living in rural Maine with her mother, is legally blind and on the autism spectrum. With big dreams and varied passions, she explores love and empowerment outside the limits of “normal” through a provocative sex-positive community. Best and Most Beautiful Things tells Michelle’s joyful story of self-discovery as a celebration of outcasts everywhere.
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Independent Lens: Best and Most Beautiful Things - Trailer

30s
Michelle, a precocious 20-year-old woman living in rural Maine with her mother, is legally blind and on the autism spectrum. With big dreams and varied passions, she explores love and empowerment outside the limits of “normal” through a provocative sex-positive community. Best and Most Beautiful Things tells Michelle’s joyful story of self-discovery as a celebration of outcasts everywhere.
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The Most Unnecessary Pep Speech

1m 32s
In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Meet the Patels, Ravi Patel attends a wedding with his parents, who, much to Ravi's embarrassment, try to discretely (but not discretely) set him up with someone's daughter.
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Patels Must Marry Patels

36s
In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Meet the Patels, Ravi Patel arrives in India for a trip with his parents, who are very eager for him to marry, and not so eager for him to date a white woman. As Ravi explains, everyone in his huge family have the last name Patel. "Patels must marry Patels," meaning that all come from same region of India, not literally related.
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Meet the Patels - Patel Matrimonial Convention - Clip

1m 32s
This excerpt from the Independent Lens film Meet the Patels sees Ravi Patel finally agree, after trying online dating and biodating and weddings, to attend a Patel Matrimonial Convention, where people get together to meet other Patels. "It's just like a business expo," Ravi's dad assures him.
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Meet the Patels - Patels Must Marry Patels - Clip

36s
In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Meet the Patels, Ravi Patel arrives in India for a trip with his parents, who are very eager for him to marry, and not so eager for him to date a white woman. As Ravi explains, everyone in his huge family have the last name Patel. "Patels must marry Patels," meaning that all come from same region of India, not literally related.
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Meet the Patels - Trailer

30s
Ravi Patel is almost 30, an actor, and, worst of all to his traditional Hindu parents, still unmarried. After he breaks up with his white girlfriend, Ravi submits to his parents' wishes and allows them to play matchmaker. The true-life romantic comedy Meet the Patels explores the influences of culture and identity on the most intense, personal, and important part of one's life — love.
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Meet the Patels - Trailer

30s
Ravi Patel is almost 30, an actor, and, worst of all to his traditional Hindu parents, still unmarried. After he breaks up with his white girlfriend, Ravi submits to his parents' wishes and allows them to play matchmaker. The true-life romantic comedy Meet the Patels explores the influences of culture and identity on the most intense, personal, and important part of one's life — love.
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Gore Vidal: Revolutionary or Degenerate?

1m 25s
This excerpt from the Independent Lens film Best of Enemies takes a closer look at Gore Vidal, iconoclastic writer and intellectual, who was picked to represent the left in debates with right-wing William F. Buckley on ABC News in 1968. While Buckley basically saw Vidal as an evil degenerate, others saw him as revolutionary. Vidal here quotes Thomas Jefferson about the "tree of liberty."
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America Split at the Seams

2m 16s
In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Best of Enemies, on the eve of the first of a series of TV debates between conservative William F. Buckley and liberal Gore Vidal, we learn that for all their bitter differences, one thing both agree on is America of 1968 was severely divided. We also hear the men's personal thoughts as read by Kelsey Grammer and John Lithgow.
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"Crypto-Nazi" and Other Insults

1m 16s
This excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Best of Enemies shows the ninth in a series of 1968 debates between famed intellectuals William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal. In this edgy encounter yet, they squared off over the issue of police use of force during the Democratic Convention. Seething with contempt for each other, they almost come to physical blows after devolving into name calling.
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Best of Enemies - Trailer

30s
Best of Enemies captures the legendary 1968 debates between two famed intellectuals and ideological opposites: leftist Gore Vidal and neoconservative William F. Buckley. Their televised sparring shaped a new era of public discourse in the media, marking the moment TV’s political ambition shifted from narrative to spectacle.
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(T)ERROR: The Conflicted Ideologies of a Black Panther

5m 53s
In this short excerpt we follow “Shariff,” a 62-year-old-former Black Panther who has worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation as an informant for decades, helping foil several suspected terrorist plots and becoming involved in one particularly murky case.
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