ITVS

“Flood,” a deeply personal documentary by filmmaker Katy Scoggin, will premiere on INDEPENDENT LENS on July 13, 2026. The film chronicles Scoggin’s journey back to her evangelical roots, as she navigates a strained relationship with her father, Marvin, and discovers a path to mutual understanding amid their starkly different beliefs.

We’re thrilled to reveal our first group of digital storytellers selected for the Independent Lens Creator Lab, a groundbreaking production fund and accelerator that pushes the boundaries of public media. The Lab is a view of the vertical landscape and a signal of where storytelling is headed—and how Independent Lens, with ITVS, is evolving alongside it. For more than 30 years, we’ve supported some of the most acclaimed documentary films in America.

Park Avenue Armory presents Rashaad Newsome’ s ASSEMBLY with a performance during a dress rehearsal in the Wade Thompson Drill Hall at the Park Avenue Armory on February 26, 2022. Photo Credit: Stephanie Berger Following artist Rashaad Newsome as he creates a visionary exhibition exploring the evolution of Black and queer culture through contemporary voguing, “Assembly” will premiere June 22, 2026, on PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS.

ITVS announced today that its longtime Executive Vice President of Content, Jim Sommers, will depart the organization on May 8, 2026, after more than 25 years of leadership. “It has been the honor of my career to serve this extraordinary organization and to work alongside the dedicated staff and passionate filmmakers who uplift the diverse voices of our country and world,” Sommers said.

Revealing the largely untold history of anti-Black racism in Canada, “True North: Canadian Myths and Black Power” will premiere July 6, 2026, on PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS. Through historic archives and the voices of those who lived through 1960s Montreal, “True North” explores pivotal events that impacted the global movement for Black liberation. In 1968, the war in Vietnam was escalating, African nation-states were decolonizing, and revolutionary activity was increasing in the Caribbean.

One family. Four generations shaped by displacement and trauma. “Light of the Setting Sun,” a heartfelt exploration of the multigenerational trauma that has haunted a large Chinese family across time and borders, premieres Monday, May 18, 2026, on PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS. Taiwanese-American filmmaker Vicky Du investigates the multigenerational trauma that has persisted in her family since the Chinese Communist Revolution drove her grandparents from their home in 1949.

Through an intimate collaboration between father and son, Robert and Tadashi Nakamura transform memory into a living archive in “Third Act,” premiering May 25, 2026, on PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS. From World War II 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. Often referred to as the Godfather of Asian American media, Robert A.

Winner of the Best Documentary Feature at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival and named one of the National Board of Review’s Top Five Documentaries of the Year, “Natchez” will premiere May 11, 2026, on PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS. From director Suzannah Herbert, a Memphis-born documentary filmmaker, the character-driven “Natchez” captures an unsettling clash between history and memory in a small Mississippi town reliant on antebellum tourism to survive.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), ITVS’ principal funder, ceased operations in January 2026. We are deeply grateful for CPB’s decades of support for our organization and the independent filmmakers we serve. With the finalization of the close-out provisions of our last CPB funding agreement, ITVS is now able to offer adjustments to certain terms in the ITVS Production Agreement.

“Backside: The Unseen Hands of Horse Racing,” a powerful new documentary revealing the hidden labor sustaining one of America’s most celebrated sporting traditions, the Kentucky Derby, will premiere April 13, 2026, as a co-presentation of PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS and VOCES.