Independent Lens

RIP Local News

Some of the biggest news stories in our country were revealed by local journalists; from early 20th century lynchings to the Rodney King beating to the murder of Breonna Taylor, local news was there first. But as budgets drop and outlets disappear, this type of coverage is in jeopardy.

RIP Local News

9m 3s

  • The Tuba Thieves: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Tuba Thieves

    S25 E17 - 1h 25m

    What is the role of sound and what does it mean to listen? Hard of hearing filmmaker Alison O’Daniel uses a series of tuba thefts in Los Angeles high schools as a jumping-off point to explore these questions. Through several d/Deaf people telling stories in a unique game of telephone, the central mystery of The Tuba Thieves isn’t about theft of instruments; it’s about the nature of sound itself.

  • Space: The Longest Goodbye: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Space: The Longest Goodbye

    S25 E16 - 1h 24m

    NASA's goal to send astronauts to Mars would require a three-year absence from Earth, during which communication in real time would be impossible due to the immense distance. Meet the psychologists whose job is to keep astronauts mentally stable in outer space, as they are caught between their dream of reaching new frontiers and the basic human need to stay connected to home.

  • One With the Whale: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    One With the Whale

    S25 E15 - 1h 18m

    Hunting whales is a matter of life or death for the residents of St. Lawrence. When a shy Alaska Native teen becomes the youngest person ever to harpoon a whale for his village, his family is blindsided by thousands of keyboard activists brutally attacking him online—without full perspective on the importance of the hunt to his community's well-being.

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