Introducing the 10th Season of Independent Lens

Independent Lens announced Wednesday the launch of its 10th season on PBS featuring a remarkable lineup of 30 films from a broad range of talented independent filmmakers. The Emmy Award-winning series moves to Thursday nights at 10pm (check local listings) and will premiere on October 13, 2011, with Wham! Bam! Islam!

The fall season of Independent Lens opens with a film directed by Isaac Solotaroff, Wham! Bam! Islam!, which explores the rocky road to acceptance and success for the first Islamic-themed comic book series featuring Muslim superheroes. Other documentary features making their premieres include: Donor Unknown, directed by Jerry Rothwell, about a group of young women and men conceived by artificial insemination who set out to discover their biological father and in the process meet their (many) siblings; We Still Live Here — Âs Nutayuneân, directed by Anne Makepeace (presented during Native American Heritage Month), captures the return of the Wampanoag nation’s lost native language, the first time a language with no native speakers has been revived in this country. 

Additional programming highlights include three documentaries featuring individuals who are facing unique challenges: Lives Worth Living, directed by Eric Neudel, looks at Fred Fay, a man who survived a devastating spinal cord injury when he was only 16, and turned his misfortune into a movement for disabled equality; Deaf Jam, directed by Judy Lieff, focuses on deaf teen Aneta Brodski's discovery of American Sign Language (ASL) poetry, and her bold journey into the spoken word slam scene; and You’re Looking At Me Like I Live Here and I Don’t,directed by Scott Kirschenbaum, questions our preconceptions of illness and aging through a first person account of Lee Gorewitz’s life inside an Alzheimer’s care home in California.

The fall/winter season wraps with Have You Heard From Johannesburg from acclaimed director Connie Field. This landmark, five-hour, three-night miniseries premieres on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the African National Congress and weaves together the fascinating story of the global movement that took on South Africa’s Apartheid regime and ended one of the greatest governmental injustices the world has ever known. Following three generations of the struggle as the anti-Apartheid fight is waged in sports arenas and cathedrals, in embassies and corporate boardrooms, at rock concerts and in supermarkets both in South Africa and around the globe, Have You Heard from Johannesburg is a monumental and inspiring achievement. 

Independent Lens moves to Thursday nights at 10pm (check local listings) and will premiere on October 13, 2011, with Wham! Bam! Islam!