Independent Lens: Season 20
Season 20 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Independent Lens Season 19.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 20 Progress Shield
Wildland
Oct 29, 2018 · 60 min
Filmed during two recent wildfire seasons, Wildland is a sweeping yet deeply personal account of a wildland firefighting crew as they struggle with fear, loyalty, dreams, and demon
Dawnland
Nov 5, 2018 · 60 min
Dawnland reveals the untold story of Indigenous child removal in the United States through the first government-endorsed truth and reconciliation commission in the nation, tasked w
The Cleaners
Nov 12, 2018 · 60 min
"Delete...Ignore...Delete… Ignore…" Someone is out there censoring your social media feed. Do their decisions distort your understanding of the world as much as clever hoaxes and "
The Judge
Nov 19, 2018 · 60 min
Showing Shari’a law in a way we've never seen before--through the story of the first-ever female judge in Palestine’s religious courts--The Judge is a portrait of a remarkable woma
Man on Fire
Dec 17, 2018 · 60 min
In 2014, 79-year-old white Methodist minister drove to an empty parking lot in his old hometown of Grand Saline, Texas, and set himself on fire. He left a note on his car’s windshi
My Country No More
Jan 7, 2019 · 60 min
Following the rise and fall of the oil boom in North Dakota, My Country No More paints a portrait of a rural American community in crisis split by a high-stakes divide.
Rodents of Unusual Size
Jan 14, 2019 · 60 min
Rodents of Unusual Size is a real-life horror "tail" about the various and eccentric methods Louisiana residents have employed to tackle a growing menace that lurks in the bayous a
RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World
Jan 21, 2019 · 60 min
RUMBLE is the electric story of how Native American influence shaped rock and roll, a missing chapter in music history.
The King
Jan 28, 2019 · 60 min
Forty years after the death of Elvis Presley, filmmaker Eugene Jarecki takes the King’s 1963 Rolls-Royce on a musical road trip across America. From Memphis to New York, Las Vegas,
Black Memorabilia
Feb 4, 2019 · 60 min
What does it mean when Americans rebuke racism yet hold on to nostalgic objects that embrace it? Black Memorabilia explores the world of racist material, both antique and new, that
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Feb 11, 2019 · 60 min
RaMell Ross's Hale County This Morning, This Evening, one of the year's most critically acclaimed films, is a dreamy and intimate journey through the world of Hale County, Alabama,
People's Republic of Desire
Feb 25, 2019 · 60 min
In an age where the power of technology helps us connect, are we as isolated as ever? People’s Republic of Desire exposes the baffling reality of how virtual relationships are repl
Tre Maison Dasan
Apr 1, 2019 · 60 min
Told directly through the eyes of the children themselves, Tre Maison Dasan is an up-close and unfiltered look at the lives of three Rhode Island boys, each navigating childhood an
The Providers
Apr 8, 2019 · 60 min
Three rural healthcare providers try to make a difference in the lives of their patients against overwhelming odds.
Marcos Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Apr 15, 2019 · 60 min
Elizabeth Perez, a decorated U.S. Marine veteran living in Cleveland, fights to reunite her family after her undocumented husband, Marcos, is deported. Acclaimed filmmaker David Su
Charm City
Apr 22, 2019 · 60 min
In Baltimore, the murder rate is high and trust in law enforcement is low—meet the engaged citizens reversing those trends in Charm City.
Out of State
May 6, 2019 · 60 min
In Out of State, two native Hawaiians sent thousands of miles away to a private prison in the desert find a community of other native Hawaiians and discover indigenous traditions f
Harvest Season; The Seed Saver
May 13, 2019 · 60 min
California’s Napa Valley is one of the premier wine growing regions in the world, celebrated as an idyllic and luxurious destination. Yet, many of the vineyard workers and the smal
Wrestle
May 20, 2019 · 60 min
Wrestle goes inside the lives of four members of the high school wrestling team at Huntsville’s J.O. Johnson High School--a longstanding entry on Alabama’s list of failing schools.