Independent Lens Season 27, Episode 13: Assembly

Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution

Phil Sharp's RNA discovery reshaped science, medicine, and the global biotech industry.

85 min

Ratified

A bipartisan coalition continues a century-long fight to add gender equality into the Constitution.

84 min

Life After

Disabled filmmaker Reid Davenport investigates assisted dying and uncovers how ableism, policy, and systemic failures can make death seem like the only option. Who gets real choice -- and who doesn't -- in life and death?

84 min

Vivien's Wild Ride

When her eyesight begins to fade, a film editor reimagines belonging and what it truly means to see.

85 min

The Librarians

Librarians across the U.S. examine how restrictions on library content are shaping communities. Drawing on historical context, the film explores the broader implications for education and public life.

86 min

The Inquisitor

Barbara Jordan was a groundbreaking Texas congresswoman whose sharp intellect and moral clarity transformed U.S. politics. From Nixon's impeachment to civil rights battles, her voice demanded accountability, while she privately faced struggles few ever knew of.

86 min

Keep Quiet and Forgive

Three decades after her assault, Lizzie confronts her Amish community’s silence around sexual abuse. She leads a movement to support fellow Amish and Mennonite survivors as they navigate trauma, faith, and family ties. With rare access, Keep Quiet and Forgive follows Lizzie and other survivors as they fight to replace “forgive and forget” with healing and justice.

85 min

The Tallest Dwarf

The Tallest Dwarf follows filmmaker Julie Forrest Wyman as she searches for her place in the little people community and unpacks rumors of dwarfism in her own family. Through intimate stories, creative collaborations, and archival history, the film delves into identity and medicine, asking whether society should change people or the structures that limit them.

86 min

BACKSIDE: The Unseen Hands of Horse Racing

Immigrant grooms work year-round on the hidden “backside” of Churchill Downs. Rising before dawn, they care for some of the world’s most prized Kentucky Derby racehorses, revealing how race, labor, and class shape an elite American industry. BACKSIDE: The Unseen Hands of Horse Racing honors the resilience that’s behind the spectacle.

56 min

Natchez

Antebellum homes draw visitors to Natchez, Mississippi, but not everyone agrees on the stories being told. As tour guides, homeowners, and activists navigate competing histories, the town confronts the tension between preservation and truth, offering a glimpse into a Southern community wrestling with race, memory, and identity.

86 min

Light of the Setting Sun

A Chinese family’s multigenerational trauma unfolds across time, place, and identity. Turning the camera inward, filmmaker Vicky Du traces her family’s mental illness back to the Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949. Spanning Taipei, Taiwan, and New Jersey, Light of the Setting Sun explores identity, gender roles, and whether or not healing can break the cycle for future generations.

72 min

Third Act

Generations call Robert A. Nakamura the godfather of Asian American film. Tadashi Nakamura calls him Dad. Tadashi turns the camera on his father as they confront art, activism, and aging. From WWII incarceration to cultural awakening and a Parkinson’s diagnosis, Third Act is a tender portrait of legacy, inherited trauma, and the final chapter of a shared creative life.

86 min

True North: Canadian Myths and Black Power

Through rare archival footage and firsthand accounts, True North revisits 1968 Montreal, where Black liberation movements converged at the Congress of Black Writers. As student protests ignited the Sir George Williams Affair, Black youth faced violent repression, unfolding a powerful chapter of the global Black Power era.

86 min

Flood

A filmmaker revisits her evangelical roots to find connection with her estranged father.