Find Films

Be Good, Smile Pretty

By Tracy Droz Tragos and Chris Donahue

As one of the 20,000 Americans who lost their fathers in Vietnam, a daughter embarks on an intense, personal journey to reclaim the memory of her father, who died in the war when she was an infant.

Independent Lens

The Cats of Mirikitani

by Linda Hattendorf and Masahiro Yoshikawa

When 9/11 threatens 80-year-old Jimmy Mirikitani's life on the streets of New York, the artist begins to confront his painful past and finds hope, humanity, and home.

Independent Lens

China 21

by Ruby Yang

A portrait of a new generation raised under China's “One Child Policy.”

The Gate of Heavenly Peace

by Carma Hinton and Richard Gordon

The inner workings of the Tiananmen Square massacre and its aftermath.

Frontline

I.M. Pei: Building China Modern

by Eugene Shirley

After 70 years in the U.S., renowned architect I.M. Pei returns to his ancestral home of Suzhou, China to build a modern museum in this ancient city.

American Masters

Upcoming broadcasts 

Morning Sun

by Richard Gordon and Carma Hinton

This documentary tracks a generation that came of age during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976) and explores the historical and ethical implications of this violent and dramatic era.

Global Voices

Patriotism '90

by DU Haibin

Zhou is a flag-waving, slogan-shouting Chinese teenager who is emblematic of a generation of youth born after the 1980s, who are so fervent in their patriotism that some fear they are tipping into a dangerous type of nationalism.

Global Perspectives Collection

True Whispers: The Story of the Navajo Code Talkers

by Valerie Red-Horse and Gale Anne Hurd

Chronicling the story of the Navajo Code Talkers, True Whispers profiles the Native American men who devised a code in their native language for the Marines that ultimately stumped the Japanese during the World War II.

Wings of Defeat

by Risa Morimoto and Linda Hoaglund

They were Japan’s Divine Wind Special Attack Unit, or Kamikaze tokkōtai, and 4,000 of them — some still in their teens — died in a futile effort to turn the tide of a war already lost. Little known outside of Japan, a few Kamikaze survived. Now old men, they must reconcile their guilt with their gratitude for the unexpected gift of a full life.

Independent Lens