Independent Lens - Season 5

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Worst Possible Illusion: The Curiosity Cabinet of Vik Muniz

1 - Worst Possible Illusion: The Curiosity Cabinet of Vik Muniz

Air Date: October 14, 2003

Foto-Novelas 2: `Junkyard Saints' and `Broken Sky'

2 - Foto-Novelas 2: `Junkyard Saints' and `Broken Sky'

Air Date: October 21, 2003

Shaolin Ulysses: Kungfu Monks in America

3 - Shaolin Ulysses: Kungfu Monks in America

Air Date: October 28, 2003

A Wedding in Ramallah

4 - A Wedding in Ramallah

Air Date: November 4, 2003

Be Good, Smile Pretty

5 - Be Good, Smile Pretty

Air Date: November 11, 2003

Livermore

6 - Livermore

Air Date: November 25, 2003

Eroica!

7 - Eroica!

Air Date: December 9, 2003

Loaded Gun: Life and Death and Dickinson

8 - Loaded Gun: Life and Death and Dickinson

Air Date: December 16, 2003

Get the Fire! Young Mormon Missionaries Abroad

9 - Get the Fire! Young Mormon Missionaries Abroad

Air Date: December 23, 2003

Get the Fire: Young Mormon Missionaries Abroad is a United States PBS-sponsored documentary, by the independent filmmaker Nancy du Plessis. It examines the experiences of some Mormon missionaries who questioned their religious beliefs after serving their missions. It premiered in December 2003 and was 60 minutes long. Some Mormon missionaries, including those serving missions in a foreign culture, may begin to question their religious upbringing and belief system. Get the Fire follows three LDS missionaries during their two-year missions in Germany. The documentary opens with the three future missionaries at their respective homes prior to knowing where they will serve. Surrounded by their family, each boy opens a mission call informing them they will serve in the Munich, Germany mission. The documentary follows them along the full two years of their mission from the Missionary Training Center until they leave the mission and return home. The film shows missionaries proselyting in public squares, knocking door to door, struggling with a foreign language, congregating in zone and district meetings, and meeting with the mission president. Topics covered include missionary slang, leaving a girlfriend at home, missionary morale, and relationships with family at home. The three missionaries appear to remain dedicated and faithful to their mission in the film.

Man Bites Shorts

10 - Man Bites Shorts

Air Date: December 30, 2003

Make 'Em Dance: The Hackberry Ramblers' Story

11 - Make 'Em Dance: The Hackberry Ramblers' Story

Air Date: January 13, 2004

Life Matters

12 - Life Matters

Air Date: January 20, 2004

Why Can't We Be a Family Again?; Downpour Resurfacing

13 - Why Can't We Be a Family Again?; Downpour Resurfacing

Air Date: January 27, 2004

Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property

14 - Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property

Air Date: February 10, 2004

A Place of Our Oen

15 - A Place of Our Oen

"Black Resort Communities and the African American Dream" Stanley Nelson is a third-generation, upper middle-class African American who spent the past 40 summers in Oak Bluffs, an affluent African-American resort community on Martha's Vineyard. Building on personal stories of summers past, this film explores the tightly-knit world of black professionals who created a refuge to call their own.

Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew

16 - Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew

Air Date: February 24, 2004

Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew is a film portrait of the now famous jazz vocalist who was "rediscovered" decades after he disappeared from the public eye. The documentary blends concert footage, rare photos and candid interviews with Jimmy Scott, his family and his colleagues.

Sentencing the Victim

17 - Sentencing the Victim

Air Date: March 2, 2004

T-Shirt Travels

18 - T-Shirt Travels

Air Date: March 23, 2004

Every Child Is Born a Poet: The Life and Work of Piri Thomas

19 - Every Child Is Born a Poet: The Life and Work of Piri Thomas

Air Date: March 30, 2004

Love Inventory

20 - Love Inventory

Air Date: April 13, 2004

Ram Dass: Fierce Grace

21 - Ram Dass: Fierce Grace

Air Date: April 20, 2004

The Weather Underground

22 - The Weather Underground

Air Date: April 27, 2004

"Hello. I'm going to read a declaration of a state of war... Within the next 14 days we will attack a symbol or institution of American injustice." -- Bernardine Dohrn Thirty years ago, with these words, a group of young American radicals called The Weathermen announced their intention to overthrow the U.S. government. Fueled by outrage over the Vietnam War and racism in America, they went undergound during the 1970s, bombing targets across the country that they felt symbolized "the real violence" that the U.S. government and capitalist power were wreaking throughout the world.From pitched battles with police on Chicago's city streets, to bombing the U.S. Capitol building, to breaking acid-guru Timothy Leary out of prison, this carefully organized clandestine network attempted to incite a national revolution, while successfully evading one of the largest FBI manhunts in history.One of the top documentaries of the year, this award-winning film interweaves extensive archival material with modern-day interviews to explore the incredible story of "The Weather Underground." As former members reflect candidly about the idealistic passion that drove them to "bring the war home," they paint a compelling portrait of troubled and revolutionary times, with unexpected and often striking connections to the current world situation.

One Night at the Grand Star; Double Exposure

23 - One Night at the Grand Star; Double Exposure

Air Date: May 4, 2004

Refugee

24 - Refugee

Air Date: May 11, 2004

Death of a Shaman

25 - Death of a Shaman

Air Date: May 27, 2004

Cosmopolitan

26 - Cosmopolitan

Air Date: June 1, 2004

Sumo East and West

27 - Sumo East and West

Air Date: June 8, 2004

In recent years, the ancient art of sumo has witnessed the rise of an increasing number of foreigners to the top of its professional ranks. From Hawaii to Atlantic City, the experiences of American wrestlers provide an entertaining glimpse at the past, present and future of sumo, revealing how this former bastion of Japanese tradition is grappling with globalizing Western forces.

The Amasong Chorus: Singing Out

28 - The Amasong Chorus: Singing Out

Air Date: June 15, 2004