Independent Lens

Indie Films Series / 8 Seasons

Authentic stories. Extraordinary people.

1h 25m / TV-14

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.

Bill's Obsession

1m 35s

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens film The Witness, Bill Genovese tells the rest of his family over dinner that he wants to reach out to their sister’s murderer, 50 years later. His siblings do not take Bill's expanding obsession well.

Reenacting the Murder of Kitty Genovese

2m 14s

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens film The Witness, Bill Genovese watches as an actress recreates the moments leading up to his sister Kitty Genovese's death in the same part of Queens, New York in 1964. The actress's screams seem to fall on deaf ears in a way they supposedly did when Kitty was murdered. Either way, it's an emotionally vivid re-enactment for Bill.

Arranging to Meet His Sister's Killer

1m

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary The Witness, Bill Genovese goes to the New York Office of Correctional Services to arrange a meeting (or confrontation) with the man -- Winston Moseley -- who murdered his sister Kitty Genovese in Queens, New York nearly 50 years ago. By meeting him, Bill wants to know what Moseley thought about in the ensuing years.

Returning to the Scene of Kitty's Murder

1m 25s

In this excerpt from Independent Lens documentary The Witness, Bill Genovese, whose sister Kitty Genovese was murdered in Queens, New York in a notorious 1964 case that became front page news, returns to scene of the crime with Charlie Skoller, the prosecutor in Kitty's trial. In a peaceful residential neighborhood, Skoller describes the brutality of the attack, bringing it vividly back to life.

The Witness - Arranging to Meet His Sister's Killer - Clip

1m

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary The Witness, Bill Genovese goes to the New York Office of Correctional Services to arrange a meeting (or confrontation) with the man -- Winston Moseley -- who murdered his sister Kitty Genovese in Queens, New York nearly 50 years ago. By meeting him, Bill wants to know what Moseley thought about in the ensuing years.

The Witness - Returning to Kitty's Murder Scene - Clip

1m 25s

In this excerpt from Independent Lens documentary The Witness, Bill Genovese, whose sister Kitty Genovese was murdered in Queens, New York in a notorious 1964 case that became front page news, returns to scene of the crime with Charlie Skoller, the prosecutor in Kitty's trial. In a peaceful residential neighborhood, Skoller describes the brutality of the attack, bringing it vividly back to life.

The Witness - Trailer

30s

After Kitty Genovese was repeatedly attacked on a street in Queens, New York in 1964, The New York Times published a front-page story asserting that 38 witnesses watched her murder from their apartment windows and did nothing to help. Genovese's death quickly became a symbol of urban apathy. The Witness follows the efforts of her brother Bill as he uncovers the truth buried beneath the story.

The Witness - Trailer

30s

After Kitty Genovese was repeatedly attacked on a street in Queens, New York in 1964, The New York Times published a front-page story asserting that 38 witnesses watched her murder from their apartment windows and did nothing to help. Genovese's death quickly became a symbol of urban apathy. The Witness follows the efforts of her brother Bill as he uncovers the truth buried beneath the story.

What Was Ours - Trailer

30s

Residents of Wyoming's isolated Wind River Indian Reservation, a young Arapaho journalist, and a teenage powwow princess travel with a Shoshone elder to search for missing artifacts in the vast archives of Chicago's Field Museum. There they discover a treasure trove of ancestral objects, setting them on a journey to recover what has been lost, and build hope for the future.

What Was Ours - Artifacts at the Field Museum - Clip

2m 5s

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary What Was Ours, members of Wyoming's Wind River Reservation's Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes visit Chicago's Field Museum to see firsthand some of the boxed-away artifacts long ago taken from their tribes. A lot of these objects were purchased for the museum by a curator, sold by Native Americans desperate for money.

What Was Ours - Museum Casino Controversy - Clip

1m 53s

This excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary What Was Ours shows a debate on the Wind River reservation over bringing Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone artifacts home for a museum to be housed inside a local casino. While an Arapaho journalist tries to get the museum established, religious and tribal elders worry about ethical and moral implications of it being in a place of gambling.

What Was Ours - Trailer

30s

Residents of Wyoming's isolated Wind River Indian Reservation, a young Arapaho journalist, and a teenage powwow princess travel with a Shoshone elder to search for missing artifacts in the vast archives of Chicago's Field Museum. There they discover a treasure trove of ancestral objects, setting them on a journey to recover what has been lost, and build hope for the future.

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