Independent Lens

Indie Films Series / 8 Seasons

Authentic stories. Extraordinary people.

1h 16m / TV-PG

Ovarian Psycos - Trailer

30s

Ovarian Psycos is about a new generation of fierce, unapologetic and feminist women of color from the Eastside of Los Angeles who confront injustice, build community, and redefine identity through a raucous, irreverently named bicycle crew: The Ovarian Psycos Cycle Brigade.

Ovarian Psycos - East L.A. & Chicano Civil Rights - Clip

2m 13s

In this excerpt from Independent Lens documentary Ovarian Psycos, Andi Xoch, one of the members of the Ovas bike brigade, talks about growing up as the child of Mexican immigrants in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, where Mexican culture was everywhere. This was the birthplace of the Chicano civil rights movement, in which women were respected core community organizers.

Ovarian Psycos - Returning to Childhood Home of Abuse - Clip

3m 51s

In this excerpt from Independent Lens documentary Ovarian Psycos, Xela de la X, founder of the Ovas bicycling brigade, returns to her childhood home in L.A. Xela was the only girl in a home full of boys in what she deemed a "post-colonized traditional Mexican home" where, her brother points out, she was beaten and often not allowed out of her room while her brothers played outside.

Ovarian Psycos - Recruiting for Sisterhood of Ovas - Clip

1m 26s

In this excerpt from Independent Lens documentary Ovarian Psycos, the nine core members of the East Los Angeles-based Ovas bicycling brigade meet to debate the best ways to bring in new members. This includes founding member Xela having to let go, to delegate and trust her team as they learn how to be confident recruiters.

Ovarian Psycos - Women Find Strength in Numbers - Clip

2m

In this excerpt from Independent Lens documentary Ovarian Psycos, Xela, Andi Xoch, "Joss the Boss," and other East Los Angeles cyclists talk about how empowering it is to ride as part of a group of women of color, to claim a safe space in otherwise dangerous areas. One of the most important parts of these rides is the dialogue the women have together, to educate and support each other.

The Bad Kids - Principal Viland Goes the Extra Mile - Clip

1m 26s

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens film The Bad Kids, Black Rock Continuation High School principal Vonda Viland goes the extra mile (or many miles) to go find missing student Lee, who was stuck at home after his mom and stepdad threatened to kick him out because he has a baby and no diploma.

The Bad Kids - Black Rock School's 29th Graduate - Clip

1m 56s

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens film The Bad Kids, we glimpse a few moments that make Black Rock Continuation High School principal Vonda Viland's job worth it: Caitlin becomes the school's 29th graduate of the year (honored with an announcement and a "Pomp & Circumstance" march down the halls), while another student is just a few credits shy of becoming proud graduate number 30.

The Bad Kids - Breaking the Cycle - Clip

1m 29s

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens film The Bad Kids, students at Black Rock Continuation High explore feelings they've had when in a romantic relationship. Some describe their relationships as "horrible," or even lonely. But others feel they've become better people, learned from their mistakes and those of their parents and grandparents. They see a pattern, a cycle, that they can break.

The Bad Kids - Trailer

30s

Located in an impoverished Mojave Desert community, Black Rock Continuation High School is a last-chance alternative for students who've fallen so far behind they have no hope of earning a diploma at a traditional school. But extraordinary educators believe empathy and life skills give these so-called "bad kids" command of their own futures to combat the crippling effects of poverty.

Like a Battle Scene

1m 57s

This excerpt from Independent Lens documentary TOWER captures the chaos that took place at The University of Texas on August 1, 1966 as a gunman continues his rampage, firing with a high-powered rifle indiscriminately down to the campus below.

TOWER - Trailer

30s

Combining archival footage with rotoscopic animation in a dynamic, never-before-seen way, TOWER reveals the action-packed, untold stories of the witnesses, heroes, and survivors of America’s first mass school shooting, at the University of Texas, 1966, when the worst in one man brought out the best in so many others.

Accidental Courtesy - Trailer

30s

Renowned musician Daryl Davis has an unusual, controversial hobby: meeting and befriending members of KKK, many of whom have never met a black person. When some decide to leave the Klan, Daryl keeps their robes and hoods, a collection built piece by piece, story by story. Accidental Courtesy captures Daryl's search for answers to the question, "How can you hate me when you don't even know me?"

Keith Maitland and Claire Wilson James Talk About TOWER

2m

Keith Maitland's TOWER reveals the untold stories of the witnesses, heroes, and survivors of America’s first mass school shooting, at the University of Texas, 1966. Here Maitland talks about the film's unique production which combined archival footage with rotoscope animation, while survivor Claire Wilson James, the first person shot that day, talks about being able to finally tell her story.

Birth of a Movement - D.W. Griffith: Son of the South - Clip

1m 39s

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Birth of a Movement, we learn about the childhood of iconic silent filmmaker D.W. Griffith, director of Birth of a Nation, who was born 10 years after the end of the Civil War. He grew up in a South that was romanticized for him through folklore despite the fact that he grew up in poverty and was basically considered "white trash."

Independent Lens: Birth of a Movement - Trailer

30s

In 1915, African American newspaper editor and activist William M. Trotter waged a battle against D.W. Griffith’s notoriously Ku Klux Klan-friendly blockbuster The Birth of a Nation, which unleashed a fight still raging today about race relations and representation, and the power and influence of Hollywood. The Birth of a Movement features Spike Lee, Reginald Hudlin, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and DJ

Officer Martinez Makes It to the Tower

2m 31s

In this excerpt from Independent Lens documentary TOWER, two Austin police officers, Ray Martinez and Houston McCoy, who arrived on scene during the August 1, 1966 University of Texas mass shooting, give their firsthand accounts of the tense and terrible moments. Martinez used his army training to know to establish a command post and an assault team when under fire.

Pregnant Freshman Recalls the Moment She Was Shot

1m 34s

In this excerpt from Independent Lens documentary TOWER, Claire, a pregnant, 18-year-old freshman at the time, gives us a sense of the moments on the University of Texas campus on August 1, 1966, when her and her boyfriend, were hit by a sniper's bullet.

Accidental Courtesy - A Collection of Robes - Clip

1m 38s

In this excerpt from Independent Lens documentary Accidental Courtesy, musician Daryl Davis reveals his shocking hobby: collecting robes and hoods of former Klan members, including those who were Grand Dragons and Imperial Wizards (the top ranking member) in the KKK. Davis says as shameful as they may be, he keeps these garments because they're a part of American history.

Birth of a Movement - Racial Pornography - Clip

53s

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Birth of a Movement, the concept of "racial pornography" is discussed alongside startling scenes from D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation. The danger of racial pornography is that it "makes people's fantasies [about race] literal," fantasies that in Griffith's film involve exaggerated scary caricatures of blackness.

Birth of a Movement - The Clansman - Clip

1m 22s

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Birth of a Movement, director D.W. Griffith, "at the top of his game," is introduced to the book The Clansman by Thomas Dixon. When The Clansman became a stage play, its pro-KKK, "viciously racist" point of view resulted in protests and race riots -- foreshadowing what was to come when Griffith adapted it into the film The Birth of a Nation.

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