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The Best Episodes of Independent Lens Season 26

Every episode of Independent Lens Season 26 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Independent Lens Season 26!

Binge this in 22h 30m•Peaking at 8.7/10

This acclaimed Emmy Award-winning anthology series features documentaries and a limited number of fiction films united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement and unflinching visions of their independent producers and featuring unforgettable stories about a

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 16 - Free For All: The Public Library
    8.7/10(19 votes)

    S26:E16

    Free For All: The Public Library tells the story of the quiet revolutionaries who made a simple idea happen. From the pioneering women behind the “Free Library Movement” to today's librarians who service the public despite working in a contentious age of closures and book bans, meet those who created a civic institution where everything is free and the doors are open to all.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 8 - Minted
    8.0/10(12 votes)

    S26:E8

    An insider’s look at the rise and fall of the NFT (non-fungible token) phenomenon and how technology transformed the traditional art world, for better and worse. Featuring verité footage and candid interviews with groundbreaking artists—like Beeple, Latasha Alcindor, and Loish— at the center of this phenomenon, Minted delves into the complex world of the $40 billion NFT digital art market.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 19 - Who is Michael Jang?
    8.0/10(7 votes)

    S26:E19

    After a long career as a commercial and portrait photographer, mischievous San Francisco artist Michael Jang sat for decades on a hidden treasure of pictures taken in his 20s—both candid celebrity shots and a down-to-earth cross-section of Chinese American family life rarely captured so playfully. Then, during the pandemic, Jang set out to share his work with the world, street guerilla-style.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 13 - Bike Vessel
    7.8/10(6 votes)

    S26:E13

    Knowing his dad miraculously recovered from three open-heart surgeries after discovering a passion for cycling, filmmaker Eric D. Seals proposes an ambitious idea: Bike together from St. Louis to Chicago. 350 miles. 4 days. On their journey, the two push each other as they find a deeper connection and a renewed appreciation of their quests for their own health and to reimagine Black health

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 14 - Home Court
    7.8/10(7 votes)

    S26:E14

    Home Court is the coming-of-age story of Ashley Chea, a Cambodian American basketball prodigy in Southern California whose life intensifies as recruitment heats up. As she overcomes injury as well as racial and class differences between her home and private school worlds, in peer groups, and against rival schools, Ashley strives to become her own person and leave a legacy behind.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 15 - WE WANT THE FUNK!
    7.8/10(232 votes)

    S26:E15

    WE WANT THE FUNK! is a syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, spanning from African, soul, and early jazz roots, to its rise into the public consciousness. Featuring James Brown's dynamism, the extraterrestrial funk of George Clinton's Parliament Funkadelic, transformed girl group Labelle, and Fela Kuti's Afrobeat, the story also traces funk's influences on both new wave and hip-hop.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 17 - Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer's
    7.7/10(8 votes)

    S26:E17

    Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s is an intimate portrayal of three families confronting the unique challenges of Alzheimer’s and how this progressive neurodegenerative disease transforms roles and relationships. Whether it's a partner caring for a loved one or an adult child shifting into being their parent's caregiver, these stories show how families evolve when a loved one is diagnosed.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 12 - Skin of Glass
    7.3/10(6 votes)

    S26:E12

    A journey to reckon with Brazil’s harsh inequality begins when filmmaker Denise Zmekhol discovers her father’s architectural masterpiece in São Paulo—a 24-story tall modernist icon known as “Pele de Vidro” (Skin of Glass)—is inhabited by hundreds of unhoused people. But after getting to know these occupants, what started as a personal quest becomes something much bigger.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 10 - The Strike
    6.8/10(11 votes)

    S26:E10

    The high-security Pelican Bay prison was designed for mass-scale solitary confinement, often for a decade or more, and with little due process. In 2013, 30,000 prisoners went on a hunger strike that spread into a feat of unity across California prisons. The Strike follows these solitary survivors who fought to abolish indefinite isolation.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 1 - One Person, One Vote?
    6.3/10(11 votes)

    S26:E1

    At a time when many Americans question democratic institutions, One Person, One Vote? unveils the complexities of the Electoral College, the uniquely American and often misunderstood mechanism for electing a president. The documentary follows four presidential electors representing different parties in Colorado during the intense 2020 election.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 11 - The In Between
    5.6/10(8 votes)

    S26:E11

    Following her brother's death, a filmmaker returns to Eagle Pass, the Texas bordertown where she grew up, to document the places that shaped their family. She finds a treasure trove of his own footage that brings him back to life, sparking a reflection on growing up Mexican American along the U.S.-Mexico border. She rediscovers the beautiful mysteries of their complex hometown.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 9 - Without Arrows
    5.5/10(8 votes)

    S26:E9

    After 13 years living in Philadelphia, Delwin Fiddler Jr., a champion grass dancer, embraces indigenous culture by returning to his ancestral home on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. Leaving his big city life behind, Delwin aims to protect his centuries-old Lakota heritage and heal from family tragedy, through his passion for dance.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 2 - Make Peace or Die: Honor the Fallen
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S26:E2

    Riddled with survivor's guilt after his unit lost 17 men during "Operation Enduring Freedom" in Afghanistan, Marine veteran Anthony Marquez makes it his mission to reconnect with the Gold Star families of the fallen. By carving and hand-delivering a battlefield cross for each of the families affected by loss, Anthony finds the path to heal himself.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 3 - Dallas, 2019 | Episode 1
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S26:E3

    Tornados. Drive-by shootings. Environmental racism, The stark North-South Dallas economic divide. Dallas residents and city workers like City Manager T.C. Broadnax respond to the causal effects of natural and human-caused disasters while navigating a city in crisis.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 4 - Dallas, 2019 | Episode 2
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S26:E4

    Dreaming of a brighter future through the eyes of three people: a graduating high school student prepares to navigate the real world; Dallas Superintendent Michael Hinojosa reflects on sacrifices he's made in his career for a failing system; and Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown looks for respect while questioning the future of law enforcement amidst a seemingly endless cycle of incarceration.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 5 - Dallas, 2019 | Episode 3
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S26:E5

    Three spirits with longstanding Texas roots struggle with their place in the world: a transgender woman working at an LGBTQ organization lives her full truth; a Dallas County Court commissioner has given 40 years of his life to his work but questions his role and identity; and the director of Health and Human Services wrestles with his new role while reflecting on his Asian American roots.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 6 - Dallas, 2019 | Episode 4
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S26:E6

    Meet a criminal district attorney bringing reform to a complex and disparate justice system; a judge who is dedicated to breaking cycles of incarceration and knows what it's like to have a loved one in the system; the unapologetic owner of the largest bail bonds company in Dallas; and a community organizer with a mighty voice and warrior spirit.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 7 - Dallas, 2019 | Episode 5
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S26:E7

    Featuring intimate stories of workers and young people—the chief medical examiner, a hospital worker, an auto body shop owner, and a high school senior—who all in their own ways make Dallas what it is, the final episode of Dallas, 2019 poses the question: What does it mean to be alive?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 18 - And So It Begins
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S26:E18

    And So It Begins follows the Philippines’ turbulent 2022 presidential race, with the son of ousted former dictator Ferdinand Marcos waging a combative social media campaign against his more progressive opponent, incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo. Following it all is independent journalist and Nobel-winner Maria Ressa, with an eye toward the specter of increasing autocracy.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 26 Ratings Summary

"Free For All: The Public Library" is the best rated episode of "Independent Lens" season 26. It scored 8.7/10 based on 19 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 4/29/2025. This episode is rated 0.7 points higher than the second-best, "Minted".