Independent Lens Episode: A Sad Flower in the Sand

Independent Lens Episodes

1999, TV Show

Seasons:

1
- I Can't Believe I Married a Lesbian (Original Airdate Oct 11, 1999)
- Secret People (Original Airdate Oct 4, 1999)
- Sing Faster: The Stagehand's Ring Cycle (Original Airdate Sep 27, 1999)
- And Baby Makes Two (Original Airdate Sep 20, 1999)
- Holy Tortilla; Lock and Key (Original Airdate Sep 13, 1999)
- The Jew in the Lotus (Original Airdate Sep 6, 1999)
- The Man Who Drove with Mandela (Original Airdate Aug 30, 1999)
- Visas and Virtues; I Am Viet Hung (Original Airdate Aug 23, 1999)
- Nothing but the Truth (Original Airdate Aug 16, 1999)
- Wannabe: Life and Death in a Small Town Gang (Original Airdate Aug 9, 1999)
2
- A Wok in Progress (Original Airdate Dec 4, 2000)
- In Harm's Way; Carved from the Heart (Original Airdate Nov 27, 2000)
- Music in Their Bones (Original Airdate Nov 20, 2000)
- The Return of Navajo Boy (Original Airdate Nov 13, 2000)
- Passing Through; Graham's Diner (Original Airdate Nov 6, 2000)
- Girl Gone Bad (Original Airdate Oct 30, 2000)
- Born in the USA (Original Airdate Oct 23, 2000)
- Short Stories (Original Airdate Oct 16, 2000)
- No Hair Day (Original Airdate Oct 9, 2000)
- Now & Then: From Frosh to Seniors (Original Airdate Oct 2, 2000)
3
- Romancing the Throne (Original Airdate Nov 9, 2001)
- Undetectable (Original Airdate Oct 19, 2001)
- The Split Horn (Original Airdate Oct 12, 2001)
- Open Outcry (Original Airdate Oct 6, 2001)
- Who Owns the Past? (Original Airdate Oct 5, 2001)
- Good Kurds, Bad Kurds (Original Airdate Sep 28, 2001)
- Gibtown (Original Airdate Sep 21, 2001)
- Abandoned: The Betrayal of America's Immigrants (Original Airdate Sep 21, 2001)
- Secrets of Silicon Valley (Original Airdate Sep 14, 2001)
- Confederacy Theory (Original Airdate Sep 7, 2001)
4
- Daddy & Papa (Original Airdate Jun 3, 2003)
- Hansel Mieth: Vagabond Photographer (Original Airdate May 27, 2003)
- Razing Appalachia (Original Airdate May 20, 2003)
- Guns and Mothers (Original Airdate May 13, 2003)
- Heart of the Sea: Kapolioka'ehukai (Original Airdate May 6, 2003)
- Sisters in Resistance (Original Airdate Apr 29, 2003)
- Bird by Bird with Annie: A Portrait of Anne Lamott (Original Airdate Apr 22, 2003)
- Strange Fruit (Original Airdate Apr 8, 2003)
- Chiefs (Original Airdate Apr 1, 2003)
- Los Trabajadores/The Workers (Original Airdate Mar 25, 2003)
- Downside Up (Original Airdate Feb 25, 2003)
- On This Island (Original Airdate Feb 18, 2003)
- Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story (Original Airdate Feb 11, 2003)
- Maggie Growls (Original Airdate Feb 4, 2003)
5
- The Amasong Chorus: Singing Out (Original Airdate Jun 15, 2004)
- Sumo East and West (Original Airdate Jun 8, 2004)
- Cosmopolitan (Original Airdate Jun 1, 2004)
- Death of a Shaman (Original Airdate May 27, 2004)
- Refugee (Original Airdate May 11, 2004)
- One Night at the Grand Star; Double Exposure (Original Airdate May 4, 2004)
- The Weather Underground (Original Airdate Apr 27, 2004)
- Ram Dass: Fierce Grace (Original Airdate Apr 20, 2004)
- Love Inventory (Original Airdate Apr 13, 2004)
- Every Child Is Born a Poet: The Life and Work of Piri Thomas (Original Airdate Apr 6, 2004)
- T-Shirt Travels (Original Airdate Mar 23, 2004)
- Sentencing the Victim (Original Airdate Mar 2, 2004)
- Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew (Original Airdate Feb 24, 2004)
- A Place of Our Own (Original Airdate Feb 17, 2004)
- Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property (Original Airdate Feb 10, 2004)
- Why Can't We Be a Family Again?; Downpour Resurfacing (Original Airdate Jan 27, 2004)
- Life Matters (Original Airdate Jan 20, 2004)
- Make 'Em Dance: The Hackberry Ramblers' Story (Original Airdate Jan 13, 2004)
- Man Bites Shorts (Original Airdate Dec 30, 2003)
- Get the Fire! Young Mormon Missionaries Abroad (Original Airdate Dec 23, 2003)
- Loaded Gun: Life and Death and Dickinson (Original Airdate Dec 16, 2003)
- Eroica! (Original Airdate Dec 9, 2003)
- Livermore (Original Airdate Nov 25, 2003)
- Be Good, Smile Pretty (Original Airdate Nov 11, 2003)
- A Wedding in Ramallah (Original Airdate Nov 4, 2003)
- Shaolin Ulysses: Kungfu Monks in America (Original Airdate Oct 28, 2003)
- Foto-Novelas 2: 'Junkyard Saints' and 'Broken Sky' (Original Airdate Oct 21, 2003)
- Worst Possible Illusion: The Curiosity Cabinet of Vik Muniz (Original Airdate Oct 14, 2003)
6
- Brother to Brother (Original Airdate Jun 14, 2005)
- Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story (Original Airdate Jun 7, 2005)
- Double Dare; Piki and Poko: Taking the Dare! (Original Airdate May 31, 2005)
- Red Hook Justice (Original Airdate May 24, 2005)
- Vietnam: The Next Generation (Original Airdate May 17, 2005)
- Imelda (Original Airdate May 10, 2005)
- The Last Letter; Zyklon Portrait; The Walnut Tree (Original Airdate May 3, 2005)
- End of the Century: The Ramones; Joe Strummer Rocks Again (Original Airdate Apr 26, 2005)
- Keeping Time: The Life, Music & Photographs of Milt Hinton (Original Airdate Apr 12, 2005)
- A Lion's Trail (Original Airdate Apr 5, 2005)
- Let the Church Say Amen (Original Airdate Mar 29, 2005)
- Sunset Story (Original Airdate Mar 22, 2005)
- Sisters of '77 (Original Airdate Mar 1, 2005)
- Thunder in Guyana/Unites States of Poetry (Original Airdate Feb 22, 2005)
- On a Roll: Family, Disability and the American Dream (Original Airdate Feb 15, 2005)
- February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four (Original Airdate Feb 1, 2005)
- Power Trip (Original Airdate Jan 25, 2005)
- A Touch of Greatness (Original Airdate Jan 11, 2005)
- A Hard Straight (Original Airdate Jan 4, 2005)
- Short, Not Sweet (Original Airdate Dec 28, 2004)
- Fine; Doki-Doki (Original Airdate Dec 21, 2004)
- Girl Wrestler (Original Airdate Dec 14, 2004)
- The Day My God Died (Original Airdate Nov 30, 2004)
- Los Angeles Now (Original Airdate Nov 23, 2004)
- Afghanistan Unveiled (Original Airdate Nov 16, 2004)
- Polka Time (Original Airdate Nov 9, 2004)
- The Political Dr. Seuss (Original Airdate Oct 26, 2004)
7
- A Lion in the House (Original Airdate Jun 22, 2006)
- A Lion in the House (Original Airdate Jun 21, 2006)
- The Real Dirt on Farmer John (Original Airdate Jun 13, 2006)
- The Great Pink Scare (Original Airdate Jun 6, 2006)
- The Devil's Miner (Original Airdate May 23, 2006)
- Frozen Angels (Original Airdate May 16, 2006)
- Fishbowl; American Made (Original Airdate May 9, 2006)
- Music from the Inside Out (Original Airdate May 2, 2006)
- A League of Ordinary Gentlemen (Original Airdate Apr 25, 2006)
- La Sierra (Original Airdate Apr 18, 2006)
- Trudell (Original Airdate Apr 11, 2006)
- Taking the Heat: The First Women Firefighters of New York City (Original Airdate Mar 28, 2006)
- Troop 1500 (Original Airdate Mar 21, 2006)
- The Loss of Nameless Things (Original Airdate Feb 28, 2006)
- Almost Home (Original Airdate Feb 20, 2006)
- July '64 (Original Airdate Feb 14, 2006)
- Negroes With Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power (Original Airdate Feb 7, 2006)
- Girl Trouble (Original Airdate Jan 17, 2006)
- Sheriff (Original Airdate Jan 3, 2006)
- Short Stack: Lost & Found (Original Airdate Dec 27, 2005)
- Sisters: Portrait of a Benedictine Community (Original Airdate Dec 20, 2005)
- Seoul Train (Original Airdate Dec 13, 2005)
- Maid in America (Original Airdate Nov 29, 2005)
- Race Is the Place (Original Airdate Nov 22, 2005)
- Mirror Dance (Original Airdate Nov 15, 2005)
- A Family at War (Original Airdate Nov 8, 2005)
- The Last Cowboy (Original Airdate Oct 25, 2005)
- En Route to Baghdad (Original Airdate Oct 18, 2005)
- Parliament Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove (Original Airdate Oct 11, 2005)
8
- La Lupe: Queen of Latin Soul (Original Airdate Jun 5, 2007)
- The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (Original Airdate May 29, 2007)
- Knocking (Original Airdate May 22, 2007)
- Sentenced Home (Original Airdate May 15, 2007)
- The Cats of Mirikitani (Original Airdate May 8, 2007)
- Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Original Airdate Apr 24, 2007)
- Black Gold (Original Airdate Apr 10, 2007)
- China Blue (Original Airdate Apr 3, 2007)
- Race to Execution (Original Airdate Mar 27, 2007)
- Stolen (Original Airdate Mar 20, 2007)
- Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? (Original Airdate Feb 27, 2007)
- Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes (Original Airdate Feb 20, 2007)
- Motherland Afghanistan (Original Airdate Feb 13, 2007)
- Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life (Original Airdate Feb 6, 2007)
- Twisted (Original Airdate Jan 30, 2007)
- Beyond the Call (Original Airdate Jan 23, 2007)
- Shadya (Original Airdate Jan 16, 2007)
- A Fish Story (Original Airdate Jan 2, 2007)
- Short Stack 2006 (Original Airdate Dec 26, 2006)
- Revolucion: Five Visions (Original Airdate Dec 19, 2006)
- A Sad Flower in the Sand (Original Airdate Dec 12, 2006)
- Two Square Miles (Original Airdate Nov 28, 2006)
- Democracy on Deadline (Original Airdate Nov 21, 2006)
- Paul Conrad: Drawing Fire (Original Airdate Nov 7, 2006)
- Muskrat Lovely (Original Airdate Oct 31, 2006)
- Still Life With Animated Dogs (Original Airdate Oct 24, 2006)
- The World According to Sesame Street (Original Airdate Oct 24, 2006)
9
- Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story (Original Airdate Jun 19, 2008)
- Deep Water (Original Airdate Jun 15, 2008)
- The Cool School (Original Airdate Jun 10, 2008)
- Writ Writer (Original Airdate Jun 3, 2008)
- New Year Baby (Original Airdate May 27, 2008)
- A Dream in Doubt (Original Airdate May 20, 2008)
- Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula (Original Airdate May 6, 2008)
- King Corn (Original Airdate Apr 15, 2008)
- Water Flowing Together (Original Airdate Apr 8, 2008)
- Compañeras (Original Airdate Apr 1, 2008)
- Iron Ladies of Liberia (Original Airdate Mar 18, 2008)
- Hard Road Home (Original Airdate Feb 26, 2008)
- Banished (Original Airdate Feb 19, 2008)
- How Is Your Fish Today? (Original Airdate Jan 29, 2008)
- American Made (Original Airdate Jan 22, 2008)
- A Son's Sacrifice (Original Airdate Jan 22, 2008)
- Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita (Original Airdate Jan 15, 2008)
- Today's Man (Original Airdate Jan 8, 2008)
- An Unreasonable Man (Original Airdate Dec 18, 2007)
- The Paper (Original Airdate Dec 11, 2007)
- Sisters in Law (Original Airdate Nov 27, 2007)
- The Creek Runs Red (Original Airdate Nov 20, 2007)
- Miss Navajo (Original Airdate Nov 13, 2007)
- Red White Black & Blue (Original Airdate Nov 6, 2007)
- Storm of Emotions (Original Airdate Oct 30, 2007)
- Please Vote for Me (Original Airdate Oct 23, 2007)
- Wordplay (Original Airdate Oct 16, 2007)
10
- Our Disappeared/Nuestros Desaparecidos (Original Airdate Sep 21, 2009)
- Ask Not (Original Airdate Jun 16, 2009)
- Stranded: The Andes Plane Crash Survivors (Original Airdate May 19, 2009)
- Crips and Bloods: Made in America (Original Airdate May 12, 2009)
- Wings of Defeat (Original Airdate May 5, 2009)
- At Home in Utopia (Original Airdate Apr 28, 2009)
- Steal a Pencil for Me (Original Airdate Apr 21, 2009)
- Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai (Original Airdate Apr 14, 2009)
- Milking the Rhino (Original Airdate Apr 7, 2009)
- Recycle (Original Airdate Mar 31, 2009)
- Lakshmi and Me (Original Airdate Mar 24, 2009)
- Arusi Persian Wedding (Original Airdate Mar 17, 2009)
- The Order of Myths; Bi-Racial Hair (Original Airdate Feb 24, 2009)
- Tulia, Texas (Original Airdate Feb 10, 2009)
- Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene (Original Airdate Feb 3, 2009)
- Helvetica (Original Airdate Jan 6, 2009)
- Operation Filmmaker (Original Airdate Dec 30, 2008)
- Grey Gardens: From East Hampton to Broadway (Original Airdate Dec 23, 2008)
- Wonders Are Many: The Making of "Doctor Atomic" (Original Airdate Dec 16, 2008)
- Doc (Original Airdate Dec 9, 2008)
- Atom Smashers (Original Airdate Nov 25, 2008)
- March Point (Original Airdate Nov 18, 2008)
- Lioness (Original Airdate Nov 13, 2008)
- Knee Deep (Original Airdate Nov 6, 2008)
- Dinner With the President: A Nation's Journey (Original Airdate Oct 28, 2008)
- Chicago 10 (Original Airdate Oct 22, 2008)
11
- Goodbye Solo (Original Airdate Jun 1, 2010)
- A Village Called Versailles (Original Airdate May 25, 2010)
- Project Kashmir (Original Airdate May 18, 2010)
- The Horse Boy (Original Airdate May 11, 2010)
- Sunshine (Original Airdate May 4, 2010)
- Garbage Dreams (Original Airdate Apr 27, 2010)
- DIRT! The Movie (Original Airdate Apr 20, 2010)
- Blessed Is the Match (Original Airdate Apr 13, 2010)
- Unmistaken Child (Original Airdate Apr 7, 2010)
- Whatever It Takes (Original Airdate Mar 30, 2010)
- Lost Souls (Animas Perdidas) (Original Airdate Mar 23, 2010)
- The Eyes of Me (Original Airdate Mar 2, 2010)
- Behind the Rainbow (Original Airdate Feb 23, 2010)
- Mine; Home (Original Airdate Feb 16, 2010)
- P-Star Rising (Original Airdate Feb 9, 2010)
- Herskovits at the Heart of Blackness (Original Airdate Feb 2, 2010)
- Copyright Criminals (Original Airdate Jan 19, 2010)
- Young@Heart (Original Airdate Jan 12, 2010)
- Scenes From a Parish (Original Airdate Dec 29, 2009)
- Between the Folds (Original Airdate Dec 8, 2009)
- Objectified (Original Airdate Nov 24, 2009)
- No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos (Original Airdate Nov 17, 2009)
- D Tour (Original Airdate Nov 10, 2009)
- Power Paths (Original Airdate Nov 3, 2009)
- Journals of a Wily School (Original Airdate Oct 27, 2009)
- Butte, America (Original Airdate Oct 20, 2009)
- Herb and Dorothy (Original Airdate Oct 13, 2009)
12
- Two Spirits (Original Airdate Jun 14, 2011)
- Welcome to Shelbyville (Original Airdate May 24, 2011)
- Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo (Original Airdate May 17, 2011)
- Bhutto (Original Airdate May 10, 2011)
- A Film Unfinished (Original Airdate May 3, 2011)
- Marwencol (Original Airdate Apr 26, 2011)
- Waste Land (Original Airdate Apr 19, 2011)
- Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (Original Airdate Apr 12, 2011)
- Desert of Forbidden Art (Original Airdate Apr 5, 2011)
- Pushing the Elephant (Original Airdate Mar 29, 2011)
- Me Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story (Original Airdate Mar 1, 2011)
- William S. Burroughs: A Man Within (Original Airdate Feb 22, 2011)
- When I Rise (Original Airdate Feb 8, 2011)
- For Once in My Life (Original Airdate Feb 1, 2011)
- Children of Haiti (Original Airdate Jan 11, 2011)
- Men Who Swim (Original Airdate Jan 4, 2011)
- The Calling (Original Airdate Dec 21, 2010)
- The Calling (Original Airdate Dec 20, 2010)
- 45365 (Original Airdate Dec 14, 2010)
- Deep Down (Original Airdate Nov 23, 2010)
- Lost Sparrow (Original Airdate Nov 16, 2010)
- The Longoria Affair (Original Airdate Nov 9, 2010)
- Reel Injun (Original Airdate Nov 2, 2010)
- Art & Copy (Original Airdate Oct 26, 2010)
- The Parking Lot Movie (Original Airdate Oct 19, 2010)
13
- Strong! (Original Airdate Jul 26, 2012)
- We Were Here (Original Airdate Jun 14, 2012)
- Hell and Back Again (Original Airdate May 28, 2012)
- Left by the Ship (Original Airdate May 24, 2012)
- Precious Knowledge (Original Airdate May 17, 2012)
- Summer Pasture (Original Airdate May 10, 2012)
- Circo (Original Airdate May 3, 2012)
- Facing the Storm: Story of the American Bison (Original Airdate Apr 26, 2012)
- Revenge of the Electric Car (Original Airdate Apr 19, 2012)
- When the Drum Is Beating (Original Airdate Apr 12, 2012)
- Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (Original Airdate Apr 5, 2012)
- You're Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don't (Original Airdate Mar 29, 2012)
- More Than a Month (Original Airdate Feb 16, 2012)
- The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (Original Airdate Feb 9, 2012)
- Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock (Original Airdate Feb 2, 2012)
- Have You Heard From Johannesburg? Free at Last (Original Airdate Jan 26, 2012)
- Have You Heard From Johannesburg? The Bottom Line (Original Airdate Jan 19, 2012)
- Have You Heard From Johannesburg? From Selma to Soweto (Original Airdate Jan 19, 2012)
- Have You Heard From Johannesburg? The New Generation (Original Airdate Jan 12, 2012)
- Have You Heard From Johannesburg? Road to Resistance (Original Airdate Jan 12, 2012)
- These Amazing Shadows (Original Airdate Dec 29, 2011)
- The Woodmans (Original Airdate Dec 22, 2011)
- We Still Live Here - As Nutayunean (Original Airdate Nov 17, 2011)
- Deaf Jam (Original Airdate Nov 3, 2011)
- Lives Worth Living (Original Airdate Oct 27, 2011)
- Donor Unknown (Original Airdate Oct 20, 2011)
- Wham! Bam! Islam (Original Airdate Oct 13, 2011)
14
- The Waiting Room; Let Me Down Easy (Original Airdate Oct 21, 2013)
- Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey (Original Airdate Sep 30, 2013)
- The Revolutionary Optimists (Original Airdate Jun 17, 2013)
- Detropia (Original Airdate May 27, 2013)
- The Invisible War (Original Airdate May 13, 2013)
- Seeking Asian Female (Original Airdate May 6, 2013)
- The Undocumented (Original Airdate Apr 29, 2013)
- The Island President (Original Airdate Apr 22, 2013)
- Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines (Original Airdate Apr 15, 2013)
- The House I Live In (Original Airdate Apr 8, 2013)
- Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (Original Airdate Feb 25, 2013)
- The Powerbroker: Whitney Young's Fight for Civil Rights (Original Airdate Feb 18, 2013)
- The Revisionaries (Original Airdate Jan 28, 2013)
- Beauty Is Embarrassing (Original Airdate Jan 21, 2013)
- Soul Food Junkies (Original Airdate Jan 14, 2013)
- Park Avenue: Money, Power & the American Dream (Original Airdate Nov 12, 2012)
- Solar Mamas (Original Airdate Nov 5, 2012)
- Love Free or Die (Original Airdate Oct 29, 2012)
- As Goes Janesville (Original Airdate Oct 8, 2012)
15
- Muscle Shoals (Original Airdate Apr 21, 2014)
- The Trials of Muhammad Ali (Original Airdate Apr 14, 2014)
- Brothers Hypnotic (Original Airdate Apr 7, 2014)
- Medora (Original Airdate Mar 31, 2014)
- All of Me: A Story of Love, Loss, and Last Resorts (Original Airdate Mar 24, 2014)
- Las Marthas (Original Airdate Feb 17, 2014)
- Spies of Mississippi (Original Airdate Feb 10, 2014)
- The State of Arizona (Original Airdate Jan 27, 2014)
- Blood Brother (Original Airdate Jan 20, 2014)
- At Berkeley (Original Airdate Jan 13, 2014)
- How to Survive a Plague (Original Airdate Dec 30, 2013)
- Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Original Airdate Dec 23, 2013)
- Playwright: From Page to Stage (Original Airdate Dec 16, 2013)
- Young Lakota (Original Airdate Nov 25, 2013)
- Indian Relay (Original Airdate Nov 18, 2013)
- The Graduates/Los Graduados (Original Airdate Nov 4, 2013)
- The Graduates/Los Graduados (Original Airdate Oct 28, 2013)

Independent Lens Episode: "A Sad Flower in the Sand"

Season 8, Episode 7

Episode Synopsis: A profile of writer John Fante (1909-83), whose credits include the 1939 novel “Ask the Dust” and the screenplay for “Walk on the Wild Side” (1962).

Original Air Date: Dec 12, 2006

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Premiered: August 09, 1999, on PBS

Rating: TV-PG

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Premise: Independent filmmakers are spotlighted in this anthology, which concentrates on documentaries, but occasionally features artist profiles and offbeat fictional films.

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Stanley Tucci Host

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Independent Lens Episodes

1999, TV Show

Independent Lens Episodes

1999, TV Show

Independent Lens Episode: "A Sad Flower in the Sand"

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