Independent Lens

Explore the life of jazz great John Coltrane; Denzel Washington speaks the words of Coltrane.

Explore the billion-dollar global arms trade through those who perpetrate and investigate it.

Meet Naomi, an Orthodox Jewish girl with a surprising talent: breaking world powerlifting records.

Follow filmmaker Jennifer Brea's struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in this intimate film.

Explore James Baldwin's unfinished book about race in America in this Oscar-nominated documentary.

Go deep inside the long-troubled Oakland Police Department as it struggles with demands for reform.

Join Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang and a charming young drifter as they explore freedom and America.

Explore the life of Winnie Mandela and her struggle to bring down apartheid.

The rich history of America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) began before the end of slavery, flourished in the 20th century, and profoundly influenced the course of the nation for over 150 years — yet remains largely unknown. With Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities, the latest documentary from Stanley Nelson (Black Panthers, Freedom Riders) and Marco Williams, the powerful story of the rise, influence, and evolution of HBCUs comes to life.  

A haven for Black intellectuals, artists, and revolutionaries — and a path of promise toward the American dream — HBCUs have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field while remaining unapologetically Black for more than 150 years. These institutions have nurtured some of the most influential Americans of our time, from Booker T. Washington to Martin Luther King, Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois to Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison to Oprah Winfrey, Alice Walker to Spike Lee to Common. A key driver of Black social, political, and economic progress, HBCUs were also a place of unprecedented freedom for African American students and a refuge from the rampant racism raging outside the campus walls. Tell Them We Are Rising captures this important history to tell the dynamic story of Americans who refused to be denied a higher education and — in their resistance — created a set of institutions that would influence and shape the landscape of the country for centuries to come.

Trace Baltimore's history through a film that uses rats to chronicle oppression in poor communities.

Meet the indomitable Dolores Huerta, who has tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice.

Explore the journey of Iranian musician Shahin Najafi after clerics issue a fatwa for his death.

Meet the unforgettable people who are turning the job of shoe shiner into an art form.

Travel to West Virginia to uncover the truth behind a massive chemical spill.

Look & See: Wendell Berry's Kentuckyis a portrait of the changing landscapes and shifting values of rural America through the voice of writer, farmer, and activist Wendell Berry. Centered in his native Henry County, Kentucky,Look & Seeis an elegy to a lost way of life that was once the bedrock of America–the culture of agriculture.

There's a new detective agency in Dallas, run by three exonerated men who all spent decades in prison. Their mission: to free other innocent people still behind bars.

After serving a combined 60 years in prison for crimes they did not commit, three recently exonerated Texans — Christopher Scott, Johnnie Lindsey and Steven Phillips — join forces to form the unlikeliest of investigative teams, on a mission to help wrongfully convicted prisoners obtain freedom like they did. Scott, a dad and grandfather, formed House of Renewed Hope to help fight for the gift of "a second chance at life." In True Conviction, brotherly bonds are formed out of shared hardships — lengthy prison sentences in a state that executes more inmates than any other.

Go inside the 2016 standoff at Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Explore the charged battle to take down ACORN, a controversial national community-organizing group.

Join five women rebuilding their lives with humor and heart in the Ms. Veteran America Competition.