Bike Vessel

Independent Lens

Indie Films Series / 8 Seasons

Authentic stories. Extraordinary people.

Watch Latest: S26 E13

1h 24m

Precious Knowledge: Connecting to Community and Self Through

4m 58s / TV-PG

Nacho Vejar, an ethnic studies student in a Tucson high school, describes how Mexican American Studies classes encourage critical thinking, community involvement, and the pursuit of new talents in this companion video the Independent Lens documentary, Precious Knowledge.

Precious Knowledge: Closing the Achievement Gap in Tucson Sc

4m 48s / TV-PG

As teachers in Tucson's Mexican American Studies Program, teachers Curtis Acosta and Jose Gonzalez successfully engaged students in the classroom, helping to close the achievement gap between white students and students of color. However, a group of lawmakers and politicians saw thing differently, and launched a campaign to end the program.

Precious Knowledge: The Case Against Ethnic Studies

2m 58s / TV-PG

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary, Precious Knowledge, Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne, holds a press conference calling for the end of the Mexican American Studies Program. He believes ethnic studies emphasize ethnic solidarity, rather than assimilation with American ideas, and should be abolished.

Precious Knowledge: Ethnic Studies Empower One Tucson Teen

5m 2s / TV-PG

Tucson ethnic studies student, Mariah Harvey, describes how Mexican American Studies classes at Tucson High School enriched both her understanding of racial difference in her community as well as her own sense of self-identity as a biracial LGBT teen in this companion video the Independent Lens documentary, Precious Knowledge.

Precious Knowledge: Planting the Seeds

4m 17s / TV-PG

In 1997, community activism led the Tucson city council to set up a study committee to look at ways of boosting Latino student achievement and reducing dropout rates. Based on its findings, the school board unanimously voted to create what would become the Mexican American Studies Program.

Ethnic Chauvinism or Modern Civil Rights Struggle?

1m 59s / TV-PG

When a highly successful Mexican American Studies program at a high school in Tucson comes under fire for teaching ethnic chauvinism, teachers and students fight back. This modern civil rights struggle is born at the epicenter of the immigration debate in the age of identity politics.

Summer Pasture: Catching Up With the Summer Pasture Family

9m 11s / TV-PG

In this update with the subjects of the Independent Lens documentary, Summer Pasture, we catch up with Locho and Yama and their two daughters to see how their lives have changed since they were first filmed. Now they have certain modern amenities, like a cell phone and a television, on which they view the documentary about themselves. Afterwards, they share their thoughts about the film.

Summer Pasture: Hardship and Heartbreak Threaten the Bonds o

5m 24s / TV-PG

Despite a philandering husband, costly medical problems, and the loss of a child, nomadic herder Yama remains stoic when she describes life for her and her family in this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary, Summer Pasture.

Summer Pasture: Education is a Priority

6m 26s / TV-PG

In this update with the subjects of the Independent Lens documentary, Summer Pasture, we see Locho and Yama's daughter Tsering Tsomo -- now 5 years old -- and her 3 year old sister, Drolkar Lhamo. Both parents agree that sending their girls to school is a high priority for the family, so that they will have greater opportunities and an appreciation for their Tibetan heritage.

Tibetan Nomads Negotiate the Crossroads Between Tradition...

1m 54s / TV-PG

Locho and Yama are nomadic herders in Tibet's high grasslands, who carve their existence from the land as their ancestors have for generations. As traditional nomadic life confronts rapid modernization, Summer Pasture captures a family at a crossroads, ultimately revealing the profound sacrifice they will make to ensure their daughter's future.

Summer Pasture: All Seasons Define the Lives of Tibetan Noma

2m 32s / TV-PG

Tibetan nomad Locho explains that, while summer is welcome as a much-needed reprieve for herders, all seasons -- even the hard ones -- define who he and his fellow nomads are in this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary, Summer Pasture.

Summer Pasture: Connected by Karma, Two Tibetan Nomads Becom

2m 49s / TV-PG

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary, Summer Pasture, Tibetan herder, Locho, describes how he met his wife, Yama. While womanizing and carousing may not be entirely behind him, these two have started a family together and share the hardships and pleasures of nomadic life as two connected by karma.

Circo: For One Filmmaker, the Sideshow Became the Main Event

4m 5s / TV-PG

In this video companion to the Independent Lens documentary, Circo, filmmaker Aaron Schock describes how he accidentally stumbled upon the subjects of his film while making a completely different documentary in Mexico. He also realized after commencing the project, that the film would be the story not just of a struggling family business, but of also of a troubled marriage.

Circo: Making the Music with Celexico

11m 15s / TV-PG

In this video companion to the Independent Lens documentary, Circo, members of the band Calexico, Joey Burns and John Convertino, describe the creative process behind scoring the film, including finding a musical voice for each personality onscreen. Also featured in the video is a performance at the Tucson premiere of the film.

Meet the Ponce Family Circus!

2m 13s / TV-PG

For generations the Ponce family has run one of Mexico's traditional family circuses. Ringmaster Tino struggles to keep the family business alive as life on the road and mounting debts threaten to pull his marriage apart.

Circo: From the Big Top to the Silver Screen

7m 52s / TV-PG

In this video update to the Independent Lens documentary, Circo, we learn that Ivonne agreed to return to the family circus on one condition: that they break away from her husband Tino's parents and form their own circus. Here, the Ponce family attends the premiere of the film at the Morelia International Film Festival.

Circo: For a Circus Family, Life is a Balancing Act

2m 14s / TV-PG

In this scene from the Independent Lens documentary, CIrco, Tino and Ivonne Ponce struggle with the challenges of raising a family of their own while running a touring circus in Mexico started by Tino's parents.

Circo: The Everyday Enchantment of Circus Children

2m 50s / TV-PG

During some downtime during the Ponce Family Circus's tour of the Mexican countryside, the children explore a nearby campground and palatial estate in this excerpt from the documentary, Circo.

Circo: Remembering the Ringmaster Who Started It All

5m 7s / TV-PG

For the Ponces, circuses literally run in the family from generation to generation. In this scene from the Independent Lens documentary, Circo, we follow Tino and his family to a Day of the Dead reunion at his grandmother's home and pay tribute to the late grandfather, his family's original ringmaster.

Facing the Storm: Appreciating the Animal That Symbolizes th

49s / TV-PG

Watch an excerpt from the Independent Lens film, Facing the Storm, in which the American Bison is described as a window looking out onto a vanished world and a living symbol of the American West.

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