Emmy(R) Award-Winning PBS Series "Independent Lens" Returns With a Treasury of Acclaimed Indie Docs and Features

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Jul 30 (MARKET WIRE) --
The four-time Emmy(R) Award-winning PBS series "Independent Lens" returns
this fall with a powerhouse selection of 27 independent films that bring
a unique collection of stories unlike anything else on television. From a
vast array of settings -- including a cramped New York City apartment
filled with a mind-blowing collection of modern art; the world's largest
garbage village in the outskirts of Cairo; the hills of Mongolia, where a
Texas family seeks an unconventional treatment for their son's autism;
and Butte, Montana, where five generations intersect with key historical
events -- "Independent Lens" spans the country and circles the globe,
showcasing wildly diverse documentaries about unforgettable people and
places. "Independent Lens" will have its season premiere on PBS on
October 13, 2009 (check local listings).

The series kicks off with Megumi Sasaki's acclaimed and endearing
documentary "HERB AND DOROTHY," about a postal worker and his librarian
wife whose passion led them to create one of the most priceless
collections of contemporary art in the world. The more practical side of
art is explored in "OBJECTIFIED," an inside look at the world of product
design, by acclaimed director Gary Hustwit ("HELVETICA").

In "BETWEEN THE FOLDS," directed by Vanessa Gould, a determined group of
theoretical scientists and fine artists have abandoned careers and scoffed
at their graduate degrees to forge new lives as modern-day paper folders.
Together they reinterpret and bring new meaning to the ancient art of
origami, creating a wild mix of sensibilities toward art, science,
creativity and meaning. "NO SUBTITLES NECESSARY: Laszlo & Vilmos,"
directed by James Chressenthis, makes cinematic history with the story of
trailblazing cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond, who
transformed American cinema in the 1960s and 1970s with groundbreaking
films like "Easy Rider," "Deliverance" and "Close Encounters of the Third
Kind."

As America seeks to re-engage the world, "Independent Lens" continues to
transcend borders with international documentaries that take viewers into
the lives of ordinary and extraordinary people around the world. "BEHIND
THE RAINBOW" offers an in-depth look at the political struggles of South
Africa, and "GARBAGE DREAMS" follows three teenage boys born into the
trash trade in the world's largest "garbage village," outside Cairo, as
they are forced to make choices that will impact the survival of their
community.

"UNMISTAKEN CHILD" follows a Tibetan monk's search for the reincarnation
of his beloved teacher, and "PROJECT KASHMIR," filmed by two young
American women -- one Muslim, the other Hindu -- explores what makes
people choose their homeland over preserving their own lives. "JOURNALS
OF A WILY SCHOOL" takes viewers inside a school for pickpockets in
Kolkata, India, presenting a real-life story of survival on the streets
of India.

Also this season, against the backdrop of a national debate on education
policy, "Independent Lens" visits two extraordinary schools that could not
be more different: the Texas School for the Blind in Keith Maitland's "THE
EYES OF ME" and a new charter school in the Bronx in Christopher Wong's
"WHATEVER IT TAKES."

The bonds of family are explored in three intimate and personal
documentaries: "LOST SOULS," filmmaker Monika Navarro's heartfelt portrait
of her troubled Mexican American family; "THE HORSE BOY," a 2009 official
Sundance selection that features a Texas family's unorthodox journey to
Mongolia to find help for their severely autistic son; and Karen Skloss's
"SUNSHINE," a poignant meditation on unplanned pregnancy and single
motherhood told through her own story.

In January, "Independent Lens" will present three lively documentaries
about music: Stephen Walker's box-office hit "YOUNG@HEART," about a chorus
composed of senior citizens from New England who sell out concert halls
with their original takes on songs by contemporary artists ranging from
The Clash to Coldplay; "COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS," which examines the debate
about musical sampling in hip-hop and beyond; and "P STAR RISING," about
the coming-of-age story of a precocious 9-year-old rapper from a
struggling family in Harlem.

"Independent Lens" will also showcase two powerful films that continue to
shed light on the lives devastated by Hurricane Katrina. "MINE" tells the
heartbreaking story of the animals left behind and the struggles of
hurricane victims to reunite with their beloved pets. "A VILLAGE CALLED
VERSAILLES" takes viewers to an insular community of Vietnamese refugees
in east New Orleans, showing how the devastation of Katrina strengthened
the community members' bonds with each other and with the city they call
home.

Other highlights include 2009 Sundance selection "DIRT! THE MOVIE," a
wonder-filled look at this seemingly ordinary, if ubiquitous substance;
"POWER PATHS," an inspiring film about Native American communities
creating new ways to produce clean power; "BUTTE, AMERICA," the wrenching
story of the rise and fall of Montana's once-thriving copper mining mecca;
"HERSKOVITS AT THE HEART OF BLACKNESS," about the controversial Jewish
anthropologist whose work challenged widely held assumptions about race
and culture; "D TOUR," a self-described "rock 'n' roll film about life,
death and bodily functions" that chronicles indie pop rocker Pat
Spurgeon's struggle with kidney failure; and "BLESSED IS THE MATCH," the
amazing true story of Hannah Senesh, the World War II-era poet and
diarist who became a paratrooper, resistance fighter and modern-day Joan
of Arc.

The season concludes in June 2010 with the narrative feature film "GOODBYE
SOLO," by Ramin Bahrani. Heralded as "a great American film" by Roger
Ebert, "GOODBYE SOLO" tells the story of a Senegalese taxi driver in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who befriends an elderly white man bent on
suicide.

For more information on the series visit:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens.

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