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Independent Lens Season 10 Episodes
Season 10 Episode Guide
26 Episodes 2008 - 2009
Episode 1
Chicago 10
Wed, Oct 22, 2008 117 mins
The Season 10 opener features "Chicago 10," which blends archival footage with animation to recall the troubled events surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention and the subsequent trial of the Chicago 7, who were charged with conspiracy and inciting to riot. Written and directed by Brett Morgen, the film features the voice talent of Hank Azaria, Roy Scheider, Jeffrey Wright, Mark Ruffalo, Dylan Baker, Nick Nolte and Liev Schreiber.
Episode 2
Dinner With the President: A Nation's Journey
Tue, Oct 28, 2008 57 mins
An interview with former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf highlights this look at challenges facing the country, where clashes between religious fundamentalism and secularism threaten the nation's future. The documentary also travels the country to gauge sentiments of Pakistanis of all stripes, including North-West Frontier Province tribal chiefs and resort beachgoers.
Episode 3
Knee Deep
Thu, Nov 6, 2008 87 mins
The story of a sixth-grade dropout in rural Maine who attempts to kill his mother after she decides to sell the family dairy farm, which had been promised to him.
Episode 4
Lioness
Thu, Nov 13, 2008 87 mins
The experiences of "Team Lioness," female soldiers in Iraq who took part in house raids and patrols in order to interact with Iraqi women. In the process, they became involved in direct combat with the enemy, including in 2004 in Ramadi. The documentary also details their adjustment to civilian life.
Episode 5
March Point
Tue, Nov 18, 2008 57 mins
The experiences of three teens from the Swinomish Reservation in Northwest Washington who, as part of the "Native Lens" filmmaking program, document how two nearby oil refineries are impacting their tribal community.
Episode 6
Atom Smashers
Tue, Nov 25, 2008 57 mins
The work at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to uncover the Higgs boson, a theoretical particle believed to be responsible for mass, through the use of the Tevatron, a 4-mile long underground particle accelerator in Illinois, is examined.
Episode 7
Doc
Tue, Dec 9, 2008 57 mins
"Doc" features filmmaker Immy Humes' profile of her father, Harold L. Humes (1926-92), who cofounded the Paris Review and wrote two acclaimed novels during the 1950s, managed Norman Mailer's 1961 NYC mayoral bid and drifted into mental illness following a 1965 LSD experience. Included: interviews with many of his friends, including Review founders Peter Matthiessen and George Plimpton; filmmaker Jonas Mekas; counterculture icon Timothy Leary; and authors Paul Auster, William Styron and Mailer.
Episode 8
Wonders Are Many: The Making of "Doctor Atomic"
Tue, Dec 16, 2008 87 mins
The creation of "Doctor Atomic," an opera about physicist and so-called "father of the atomic bomb" J. Robert Oppenheimer in the run-up to the first atomic bomb test in 1945, is interwoven with a history of nuclear weaponry.
Episode 9
Grey Gardens: From East Hampton to Broadway
Tue, Dec 23, 2008 57 mins
How the Maysles Brothers' cult classic 1975 documentary "Grey Gardens," about mother and daughter "Big Edie" and "Little Edie" Beale (the aunt and cousin of Jackie Onassis) living in a dilapidated Hamptons mansion, was turned into a Broadway musical. Included: interviews with Albert Maysles, composer Scott Frankel, lyricist Michael Korie, dramatist Doug Wright and the play's cast, plus Beale devotees.
Episode 10
Operation Filmmaker
Tue, Dec 30, 2008 57 mins
Nothing goes according to plan when Liev Schreiber, after seeing Iraqi film student Muthana Mohmed on a 2003 MTV special, recruits the young man to work on the film "Everything Is Illuminated," starring Elijah Wood.
Episode 11
Helvetica
Tue, Jan 6, 2009 57 mins
"Helvetica" explores the history of the popular Helvetica font, which was created in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger, as well as the world of graphic design, detailing how different fonts affect the way people process words and the information imparted by them.
Episode 12
Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene
Tue, Feb 3, 2009 57 mins
Don Cheadle narrates a profile of influential radio-and-TV personality Petey Greene (1931-84), whom he played in the 2007 film "Talk to Me." Greene's rise to the top was not without difficulties, thanks to his brash style and personal demons, which included drug addiction, a stint in prison and alcoholism.
Episode 13
Tulia, Texas
Tue, Feb 10, 2009 57 mins
A 1999 drug sting in the Texas farming community of Tulia that netted 46 arrests is examined. The case drew controversy for the disproportionate number (39) of blacks targeted and its reliance on uncorroborated testimony from undercover officer Thomas Coleman. Texas governor Rick Perry eventually pardoned all of the convicted. The documentary features remarks from Coleman, several of the accused, attorney Jeff Blackburn, Texas Observer reporter Nate Blakeslee and former Texas judge Ron Chapman.
Episode 14
The Order of Myths; Bi-Racial Hair
Tue, Feb 24, 2009 87 mins
"The Order of Myths" explores race relations in Mobile, Ala., where the city's annual Mardi Gras celebration features parallel black and white festival kings and queens and separate masquerade balls, parades and parties. Then, "Bi-Racial Hair" features a teen poet's satirical take on being from a mixed-race background.
Episode 15
Arusi Persian Wedding
Tue, Mar 17, 2009 60 mins
The history of U.S.-Iran relations is explored through the prism of Iranian-American Alex Tehrani and his bride Heather, who travel to Iran for a traditional Persian wedding. Accompanying them are his sister Marjan, the documentary's director, and father Reza.
Episode 16
Lakshmi and Me
Tue, Mar 24, 2009 57 mins
In "Lakshmi and Me," Mumbai filmmaker Nishtha Jain explores the role that caste and class play in India via her relationship with her maid, an uneducated 21-year-old woman who works seven days a week cleaning Jain's and other people's luxurious homes. The documentary details the difficulties Lakshmi endures, including sharing an overcrowded shanty with her family and developing tuberculosis, before deciding to join with fellow maids to demand better working conditions, benefits and pensions.
Episode 17
Recycle
Tue, Mar 31, 2009 90 mins
"Recycle" explores the Jordanian city of Zarqa, considered a hotbed of Islamic extremism, through the eyes of fortysomething Abu Ammar, a veteran of the Afghan-Soviet War who struggles to support his two wives and eight children by selling discarded cardboard to a recycling plant. Shot over 2 1/2 years, the documentary tracks his falling fortunes; and also sheds light on Zarqa's most infamous son, the notorious terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (who was killed by U.S. forces in 2005).
Episode 18
Milking the Rhino
Tue, Apr 7, 2009 57 mins
"Milking the Rhino" examines community-based conservation efforts in Africa devised to balance the needs of wildlife with those of the people who live with and around them.
Episode 19
Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai
Tue, Apr 14, 2009 57 mins
A profile of Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize recipient from Kenya who founded the Green Belt Movement, an organization devoted to planting trees. It grew into a political force, and promotes the environment, human rights and democracy.
Episode 20
Steal a Pencil for Me
Tue, Apr 21, 2009 57 mins
"Steal a Pencil for Me" relates the true story of a Jewish Dutch accountant, his wife and his lover, all of whom were all imprisoned in the same concentration-camp barracks during World War II.
Episode 21
At Home in Utopia
Tue, Apr 28, 2009 57 mins
Linda Lavin narrates a history of the United Workers Cooperative Colony, a tenant-run apartment complex built by Jewish garment workers in the Bronx during the 1920s. The "Coops" residents, many of whom were political activists (sometimes Communists) railed against mortgage foreclosures during the Great Depression, and integrated their complex during the 1930s. Included: interviews with former residents.
Episode 22
Wings of Defeat
Tue, May 5, 2009 57 mins
Japan's WWII-era kamikaze pilots are recalled in "Wings of Defeat." Included: interviews with kamikaze pilots who survived their missions and the U.S. sailors whose ships were targeted by them.
Episode 23
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
Tue, May 12, 2009 87 mins
Interviews with active and former gang members are featured in this look at the Crips and the Bloods, the infamous South Central L.A. gangs. The documentary explores the history of the two gangs, the social context for their formation and continued existence and their long feud, which dates back decades.
Episode 24
Stranded: The Andes Plane Crash Survivors
Tue, May 19, 2009 57 mins
The 16 young men (of 45 passengers and crew) of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes recall their ordeal, which found them stranded for 72 days on a snowy peak after the search for the plane's wreckage was called off. To prevent starvation, the survivors did the unthinkable: They cannibalized the bodies of passengers who had perished. Included: interviews with the men, who return to the site of the crash; archival footage.
Episode 25
Ask Not
Tue, Jun 16, 2009 57 mins
"Ask Not" explores the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that was implemented in 1993, which has resulted in some 12,500 gays and lesbians being discharged in the years since. The documentary recalls the cultural and political milieu that led to the policy and details the societal shifts about gays in the military that have occurred in the intervening years.
Episode 26
Our Disappeared/Nuestros Desaparecidos
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 87 mins
In "Our Disappeared/Nuestros Desaparecidos," filmmaker Juan Mandelbaum explores the fates of former girlfriend Patricia Dixon and other friends who were kidnapped and killed by the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983.