Airing weekly on PBS (the Public Broadcasting Service in the USA), Independent Lens introduces new documentaries and dramas made by independent film makers.
Films range from feature-length documentaries to hour-long dramas, four-minute comic shorts, half-hour experimental pieces and everything in between. The film-makers address topics not normally seen on commercial television.
Each year there is a season of films hosted by a guest celebrity. Films from the currnet and past seasons are available from the website. There are also accompanying lesson notes for some of the films (Community Classroom section http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/classroom/ )
The range of topics is vast - but includes some films sepcifically relating to global issues - such as journals of a Wily School (about streetchildren in India); Power Paths (about approaches to sustainable renewable sources of energy used by native American tribes); China Blue (about life in a blue jeans factory in China).
There is a recent set of films and resources about women's empowerment(http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/classroom/women/).
