Through the Lens

Monday, we continue our Through the Lens series with a thrilling exploration of the power of protest and the efforts to contain it. Filmmaker Nanfu Wang will join us to talk about her documentary film Hooligan Sparrow, which follows the efforts of activist Ye Haiyan as she and fellow protestors work to shed light on sexual exploitation in China. They’re marked as enemies of the state and routinely harassed by thugs, and the web of trouble also threatens Wang’s film, not to mention her personal safety.

For the latest installment in our Through the Lens series, we’re trying something different and talking about an in-the-works documentary. Director Ellen Goosenberg-Kent is working on a film called Don’t Make Me Over about the life and career of famed singer Dionne Warwick. Recognized at an early age for her vocal talent, Warwick was one the greatest female voices of her generation and an outspoken advocate for social and political change. Warwick and others will join us to talk about her inspiring journey.

Abortion may be legal in America, but conservative legislatures have been working for years to pass laws that restrict women’s access to it. Hundreds of those laws have been enacted this decade, and they’ve forced many abortion clinics to close their doors. In a new documentary, filmmaker Dawn Porter tells the stories of clinic workers and lawyers fighting the restrictions designed to regulate abortion out of existence. Porter’s film is called Trapped, and she joins us Tuesday to talk about it.

Thursday, we continue our Through the Lens film series with a documentary about pioneering writer Alice Walker. She made history as the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel The Color Purple. Director Pratibha Pamar’s film tells the dramatic story of Walker’s life and reveals the inspiration for many of her works. It also explores Walker’s refusal to submit to gender stereotypes or compromise her artistic search for beauty and truth.

Back in 1979, local filmmaker Trent Harris documented a strange series of events. It started when he met “Groovin’ Gary,” who led him to a talent show in Beaver, which inspired him to make three films. The Beaver Trilogy became a cult classic, and questions have surrounded it since its release. Just who was “Groovin’ Gary,” and what happened to him after the talent show? In a new film, director Brad Besser investigates the mystery behind The Beaver Trilogy. He joins us Thursday to talk about it.

Thursday, we continue our Through the Lens series with Matt Fuller and Carolina Groppa's documentary film about the challenges of finding love. Finding and managing a romantic relationship can be hard for just about anyone, but for those on the autism spectrum, it’s exceptionally difficult. Fuller and Groppa's film offers a deeply personal look into the lives of four people with autism as they struggle to overcome their troubles with communication and personal interaction to find true romance.

In 1990, Pamela Smart was accused of plotting her husband’s murder. The resulting trial was the first fully televised court case. Smart was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but when filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar studied the case decades later, things didn’t add up. He met Smart, and she didn’t resemble the person portrayed in the media. Zagar has made a film about Pamela Smart’s trial that explores how the media machine influences the justice process. He joins us Wednesday to talk about it.

Monday, we continue our series on documentary film with Paper Tigers. For a full year, director James Redford and his crew followed six troubled students at a Washington state alternative high school that adopted a radical new guidance program. Rather than focus on judgment and discipline, the school aims to help kids through deeper understanding and more effective treatment. The results: a dramatic reduction in fights and a five-fold graduation rate increase. Redford joins us to talk about it.

When Ben Masters and three of his friends graduated from college they decided to postpone entering the “real world” and instead head out on the trail with some horses. Their ride started at the Mexican border and ended five months and 3,000 miles later when they reached Canada. The trials and travails of their epic adventure are the subject the new documentary film Unbranded. Masters masterminded the film and the journey, and he joins us Wednesday as we continue our Through the Lens film series.

In his last film, director Louie Psihoyos shed light on the shadowy practice of dolphin slaughter in Japan. His new film, Racing Extinction, bears witness to an even greater tragedy: the sixth extinction event, the one we’re causing. He and his filmmaking team went undercover to expose how the international wildlife trade and the oil and gas industries are together driving species around the globe to extinction. Psihoyos joins us Thursday to talk about that crisis and what can be done to stop it.