Independent Lens

Go inside the lives of four surrogates and the intended parents whose children they carry.

Discover why the Bronx burned in the 1970s and meet those who chose to resist, remain and rebuild.

The Interpreters is a poignant but tense portrayal of a very human and high-stakes side of war's aftermath. It's the story of how Afghan and Iraqi interpreters risked their lives aiding American troops--but then became the people we left behind and are now in danger themselves.

A Somalian father living in the U.S. strives to understand why his son would try to join ISIS.

Notable community groups in 1960s Chicago bridge race and ethnicity to form a surprising alliance.

Cooked: Survival by Zip Code tells the story of the tragic 1995 Chicago heatwave, the most traumatic in U.S. history, in which 739 citizens died over the course of just a single week, most of them poor, elderly, and African American. Cooked is a story about life, death, and the politics of crisis in an American city that asks the question: Was this a one-time tragedy, or an appalling trend?

Witness Creationism and science collide aboard an enormous Noah's Ark in rural Kentucky.

Always in Season follows the tragedy of African American teenager Lennon Lacy, who in August 2014, was found hanging from a swing set in North Carolina. His death was ruled a suicide, but Lennon's mother and family believe he was lynched. The film chronicles her quest to learn the truth and takes a closer look at the lingering impact of more than a century of lynching African Americans.

Explore the untold history and rippling impact of China's former one-child policy.

A psychiatrist visits ERs, jails and homeless camps to tell poignant stories behind mental illness.

Brett Story's critically acclaimed documentary The Hottest August raises the specter of climate change without ever mentioning it, spotlighting ordinary New Yorkers as they share their anxieties about what the future holds while bracing for what could be one of the hottest months on record.

The story of one warmhearted, stubborn man's visionary quest to find a cure for cancer, Jim Allison: Breakthrough is an homage to an unconventional superhero — a pioneering, harmonica-playing scientist from a small town in Texas who triumphed over a doubtful medical establishment to save innumerable lives around the world and win the Nobel Prize.

See how Easter Island provides a climate change and globalization wake-up call for the world.

Look inside the life of a radical activist who videotaped everything on television for 30 years.

Follow four ultra-talented young people playing in the Canadian International Organ Competition.