
Independent Lens
Storm Lake
Pulitzer Prize winner Art Cullen and his family deliver the news to their Iowan farming community through their biweekly paper, The Storm Lake Times—come hell or pandemic.
Women officers seek gender equity in Minneapolis, redefining what it means to protect and serve. Then a fatal shooting imperils their gains.
Deirdre Fishel is an independent filmmaker of both documentaries and dramas. Her films have premiered in competition at Sundance and SXSW and been broadcast in 35 countries worldwide. Her documentary Still Doing It: The Intimate Lives of Women Over 65 was also expanded into a book co-written with producer Diana Holtzberg. Recent projects include a web… Show more
Levison is an Emmy and Peabody-winning independent producer in NYC. Her most recently produced film, WOMEN IN BLUE, about gender, race and violence in America through the eyes of female police officers with the Minneapolis Police Department, is being shown as a “Work in Progress” at AFI DOCS 2020. That film will broadcast on Independent Lens in 2021. MADE IN BOISE,… Show more
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Minneapolis Police Department Chief Janée Harteau, the department’s first female chief, works to remake the MPD by getting rid of corrupt police officers, re-training the rest, and demanding accountability. As part of her reform efforts, she also recruits more women and promotes them into leadership at every level. Women in Blue follows three of these police women from different ranks, each committed to reimagining their profession. Cmdr. Melissa Chiodo, tapped by Harteau to be the first woman head of Special Crimes, handling domestic violence and sexual offenses; Sgt. Alice White—who grew up in a black neighborhood suspicious of the police—now leads procedural justice trainings, teaching cops fairness and respect; and rookie Officer Erin Grabosky who, at 22, navigates a night patrol of bar fights, suicide attempts, and domestic violence.
When the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman by a police officer stuns the city, Chief Harteau is forced to resign. The new male chief appoints only men to his top brass, threatening the gains in women represented on the force. With a city already on edge over police misconduct, the women of the MPD fight for gender equity, convinced that it’s one key to reducing police violence.
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