Silent Beauty

1h 25m

In this autobiographical exploration of survivorship, New Orleans journalist and filmmaker Jasmin Mara López unabashedly shares her process of healing from childhood sexual abuse. After Jasmin discloses to her family she'd been abused by her grandfather, she liberates others to come forward in a story of confronting a culture of silence over generational trauma.

Episodes

  • Silent Beauty: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Silent Beauty

    S24 E15 - 1h 25m

    In this autobiographical exploration of survivorship, New Orleans journalist and filmmaker Jasmin Mara López unabashedly shares her process of healing from childhood sexual abuse. After Jasmin discloses to her family she'd been abused by her grandfather, she liberates others to come forward in a story of confronting a culture of silence over generational trauma.

  • Moving soon to WETA Passport

    Sam Now: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Sam Now

    S24 E14 - 1h 24m

    In this coming-of-age documentary about generational trauma, follow Sam Harkness from age 11 to 36 as his middle-class Seattle family is heartbroken and unsure of what to do after his mother suddenly leaves them. Woven together with home movies lovingly crafted by Sam’s half brother, director Reed Harkness, witness a boy grow up grappling with the ripple effects of a singular traumatic event.

  • Matter of Mind: My ALS: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Matter of Mind: My ALS

    S24 E13 - 54m 42s

    Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neuromuscular disease with an average survival time of 2-5 years from diagnosis. In this intimate exploration, three people with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, bravely face different paths as they live with this progressively debilitating illness.

  • Free Chol Soo Lee: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Free Chol Soo Lee

    S24 E12 - 1h 24m

    Sentenced to life for a 1973 San Francisco murder, Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee was set free after a pan-Asian solidarity movement, which included Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Americans, helped to overturn his conviction. After 10 years of fighting for his life inside California state prisons, Lee found himself in a new fight to rise to the expectations of the people who believed in him.

  • Hidden Letters: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Hidden Letters

    S24 E11 - 1h 25m

    The bonds of sisterhood, and the parallels of struggles among generations of women in China, are drawn together by the once-secret written language of Nüshu, the only script designed and used exclusively by women.

  • Storming Caesars Palace: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Storming Caesars Palace

    S24 E10 - 1h 24m

    After losing her job as a hotel worker in Las Vegas, Ruby Duncan joined a welfare rights group of mothers who defied notions of the “welfare queen.” In a fight for guaranteed income, Ruby and other equality activists took on the Nevada mob in organizing a massive protest that shut down Caesars Palace.

  • Love in the Time of Fentanyl: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Love in the Time of Fentanyl

    S24 E9 - 1h 25m

    As fentanyl overdose deaths in Vancouver, Canada reach an all-time high, the Overdose Prevention Society opens its doors—a renegade safe injection site that employs current or former drug users. Its staff and volunteers save lives and give hope to a marginalized community, doing whatever it takes to remain open in this intimate documentary that looks beyond the stigma of injection drug users.

  • Outta the Muck: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Outta the Muck

    S24 E8 - 1h 25m

    Wade into the rich soil of Pahokee, Florida, a town on the banks of Lake Okeechobee. Beyond its football legacy, including sending over a dozen players to the NFL (like Anquan Boldin, Fred Taylor, and Rickey Jackson), the fiercely self-determined community tells their stories of Black achievement and resilience in the face of tragic storms and personal trauma.

  • The Picture Taker: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Picture Taker

    S24 E7 - 1h 25m

    The vibrant life of Ernest Withers—civil rights photographer, and FBI informant—was anything but black and white. From his Memphis studio, Withers' nearly 2 million images were a treasured record of Black history but his legacy was complicated by decades of secret FBI service revealed only after his death. Was he a friend of the civil rights community, or enemy—or both?

  • No Straight Lines: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    No Straight Lines

    S24 E6 - 1h 25m

    When Alison Bechdel received a coveted MacArthur Award for her best-selling graphic memoir Fun Home, it heralded the acceptance of LGBTQ+ comics in American culture. From DIY underground comix scene to mainstream acceptance, meet five smart and funny queer comics artists whose uncensored commentary left no topic untouched and explored art as a tool for social change.

  • The Big Payback: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Big Payback

    S24 E5 - 1h 25m

    An Evanston, Illinois rookie alderwoman led the passage of the first tax-funded reparations bill for Black Americans. While she and her community struggle with the burden to make restitution for its citizens, a national racial crisis engulfs the country. Will the debt ever be addressed, or is it too late for a reparations movement to finally get the big payback?

  • Children of Las Brisas: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Children of Las Brisas

    S24 E4 - 1h 22m

    In Venezuela, amidst a backdrop of poverty, murder, and corruption, the El Sistema youth orchestra offers children hope and the opportunity to pursue a life of art in spite of the harshness of the society around them. Yet the country’s spiraling collapse and political repression threatens the musicians’ dreams of a better life.

Extras + Features

  • Trailer | Mama Bears: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Trailer | Mama Bears

    S24 E16 - 30s

    They call one another “mama bears” because of the ferocity with which they fight for their children’s rights. Although they grew up as fundamentalist, evangelical Christians praying for the souls of LGTBQ people, these mothers are now willing to risk losing friends, family, and faith communities to champion their kids—even if it challenges their belief systems and rips apart their worlds.

  • Trailer | Sam Now: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Trailer | Sam Now

    S24 E14 - 30s

    In this coming-of-age documentary about generational trauma, follow Sam Harkness from age 11 to 36 as his middle-class Seattle family is heartbroken and unsure of what to do after his mother suddenly leaves them. Woven together with home movies lovingly crafted by Sam’s half brother, director Reed Harkness, witness a boy grow up grappling with the ripple effects of a singular traumatic event.

  • Trailer | Matter of Mind: My ALS: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Trailer | Matter of Mind: My ALS

    S24 E13 - 30s

    Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neuromuscular disease with an average survival time of 2-5 years from diagnosis. In this intimate exploration, three people with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, bravely face different paths as they live with this progressively debilitating illness.

  • The Misrepresentation of Chol Soo Lee: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Misrepresentation of Chol Soo Lee

    S24 E12 - 5m 34s

    Remember 1989’s True Believer, starring James Woods and Robert Downey, Jr.? Was it a prime example of Hollywood’s White Savior Complex? Dolly Li examines how the flick centered a white lawyer in a story based on Chol Soo Lee’s arrest. Stream Free Chol Soo Lee now on YouTube or the PBS App.

  • Teaser | Free Chol Soo Lee: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Teaser | Free Chol Soo Lee

    S24 E12 - 1m

    Through his journey from an inspiring icon to a swing-shift janitor, Chol Soo Lee personifies the ravages of America’s prison industrial complex.

  • Trailer | Free Chol Soo Lee: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Trailer | Free Chol Soo Lee

    S24 E12 - 30s

    Sentenced to life for a 1973 San Francisco murder, Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee was set free after a pan-Asian solidarity movement, which included Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Americans, helped to overturn his conviction. After 10 years of fighting for his life inside California state prisons, Lee found himself in a new fight to rise to the expectations of the people who believed in him.

  • The Ballad of Chol Soo Lee: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Ballad of Chol Soo Lee

    S24 E12 - 4m 49s

    Did a song help free an incarcerated man? Dolly Li breaks down how UC Berkeley college students wrote a track about Chol Soo Lee, a wrongfully convicted Korean immigrant sentenced to life in prison. Stream Free Chol Soo Lee now on the PBS App.

  • Dinner And a Doc | Free Chol Soo Lee: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Dinner And a Doc | Free Chol Soo Lee

    S24 E12 - 1m 50s

    Free Chol Soo Lee co-directors Julie Ha and Eugene Yi share mouthwatering lunch with activists Ranko Yamada and Gail Whang in L.A.'s Koreatown.

  • Inside Look | Free Chol Soo Lee: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Inside Look | Free Chol Soo Lee

    S24 E12 - 1m 30s

    Get an inside look at Free Chol Soo Lee from Independent Lens. After 10 years of fighting for his life inside California state prisons, Lee found himself in a new fight to rise to the expectations of the people who believed in him.

  • Trailer | Silent Beauty: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Trailer | Silent Beauty

    S24 E15 - 30s

    In this autobiographical exploration of survivorship, New Orleans journalist and filmmaker Jasmín Mara López unabashedly shares her process of healing from childhood sexual abuse. After Jasmin discloses to her family she'd been abused by her grandfather, she liberates others to come forward in a story of confronting a culture of silence over generational trauma.

  • Trailer | This Spring on Independent Lens: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Trailer | This Spring on Independent Lens

    S24 - 1m

    This Spring, your go-to destination for documentaries offers a captivating slate of films including Free Chol Soo Lee, Matter of Mind: My ALS, Sam Now, and Mama Bears.

  • Trailer | Hidden Letters: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Trailer | Hidden Letters

    S24 E11 - 30s

    The bonds of sisterhood, and the parallels of struggles among generations of women in China, are drawn together by the once-secret written language of Nüshu, the only script designed and used exclusively by women.

Schedule

  • Image
    Independent Lens: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Independent Lens

    No Straight Lines

    Saturday
    Jun 10

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Cartoonists provide a window into LGBTQ lives from the 1970s onward.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Independent Lens

    No Straight Lines

    Sunday
    Jun 11

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Cartoonists provide a window into LGBTQ lives from the 1970s onward.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Independent Lens

    No Straight Lines

    Wednesday
    Jun 14

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Cartoonists provide a window into LGBTQ lives from the 1970s onward.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Independent Lens

    No Straight Lines

    Thursday
    Jun 15

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Cartoonists provide a window into LGBTQ lives from the 1970s onward.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Independent Lens

    No Straight Lines

    Thursday
    Jun 15

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Cartoonists provide a window into LGBTQ lives from the 1970s onward.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Independent Lens

    No Straight Lines

    Saturday
    Jun 17

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Cartoonists provide a window into LGBTQ lives from the 1970s onward.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: TVSS: Iconic

    Independent Lens

    Cured

    Saturday
    Jun 17

    1 Hour

    Activists fight the psychiatry establishment over labeling homosexuality as a mental illness that needs to be "cured."
  • Image
    Independent Lens: TVSS: Iconic

    Independent Lens

    Cured

    Sunday
    Jun 18

    1 Hour

    Activists fight the psychiatry establishment over labeling homosexuality as a mental illness that needs to be "cured."
  • Image
    Independent Lens: TVSS: Iconic

    Independent Lens

    The Big Payback

    Sunday
    Jun 18

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Robin Rue Simmons and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) pressure the government to deliver monetary justice for Blacks harmed by chattel slavery, systemic injustice and corporate exploitation.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: TVSS: Iconic

    Independent Lens

    The Big Payback

    Monday
    Jun 19

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Robin Rue Simmons and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) pressure the government to deliver monetary justice for Blacks harmed by chattel slavery, systemic injustice and corporate exploitation.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: TVSS: Iconic

    Independent Lens

    The Big Payback

    Monday
    Jun 19

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Robin Rue Simmons and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) pressure the government to deliver monetary justice for Blacks harmed by chattel slavery, systemic injustice and corporate exploitation.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: Mama Bears: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Independent Lens

    Mama Bears

    Tuesday
    Jun 20

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Although conservative, Christian beliefs have defined their lives, mothers fight for the rights of their LGBTQ+ children.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: Mama Bears: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Independent Lens

    Mama Bears

    Wednesday
    Jun 21

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Although conservative, Christian beliefs have defined their lives, mothers fight for the rights of their LGBTQ+ children.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: Mama Bears: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Independent Lens

    Mama Bears

    Wednesday
    Jun 21

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Although conservative, Christian beliefs have defined their lives, mothers fight for the rights of their LGBTQ+ children.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: Mama Bears: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Independent Lens

    Mama Bears

    Thursday
    Jun 22

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Although conservative, Christian beliefs have defined their lives, mothers fight for the rights of their LGBTQ+ children.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: Mama Bears: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Independent Lens

    Mama Bears

    Thursday
    Jun 22

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Although conservative, Christian beliefs have defined their lives, mothers fight for the rights of their LGBTQ+ children.
  • Image
    Independent Lens: Mama Bears: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Independent Lens

    Mama Bears

    Saturday
    Jun 24

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Although conservative, Christian beliefs have defined their lives, mothers fight for the rights of their LGBTQ+ children.

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