Beneath the waters of Lake Superior, off the shore of Wisconsin, Kelsey Peterson underwent a transformation. On the eve of Independence Day 2012, she dove in and hit the lake bottom headfirst, suffering a life-altering spinal cord injury that takes away both function and sensation from the chest down, essentially robbing Kelsey of her self-identities as an athlete and dancer. Alongside peers and allies in the spinal cord injury community, she seeks to answer the question “Who am I now?” As she grapples with the ebb and flow of hope and acceptance, Kelsey talks to researchers and meets with people who belong to this community and who help give her the strength and the will to return to dance. When a cutting-edge clinical trial surfaces, it tests her expectations and her faith in the possibility of a cure, forcing her to evaluate the limits of her recovery—in body and spirit.

What does it mean to be a digital native? TikTok, Boom. dissects the platform along myriad cross-sections—algorithmic, socio-political, economic, and cultural—to explore the impact of the history-making app. Balancing a genuine interest with healthy skepticism, delve into the security issues, global political challenges, and racial biases behind the platform.

Hazing is a widespread, far-reaching practice fueled by tradition, secrecy, groupthink, power, and the desire to belong in fraternities and sororities on college campuses across the U.S. Filmmaker Byron Hurt embarks on a deeply personal journey to understand the underground rituals of hazing, revealing the abuse and the lengths college students will go to fit in.

Celebrate Pride Month in conversation with special guests and filmmakers on Wednesday, June 8 at 2:00 pm.

Three Indigenous students experience the highs and lows of adolescence while attending one of the most remote high schools in the United States. Living in the uniquely beautiful but isolated Diné community within the Navajo Nation reservation, they navigate life as teenagers and dream of a glittering future.

In 2014, Claude Motley and his family were visiting their former hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when 15-year-old Nathan King attempted to carjack his rented Dodge Charger. In the process, Nathan shot Claude in the face. When Claude Got Shot chronicles five years in Claude’s physical and mental recovery journey.

Try Harder! takes an in-depth look at San Francisco's Lowell High, a prestigious public high school with a majority Asian American student body. The film follows high school seniors as the pressure intensifies to impress admissions officers at elite universities and asks, "How do these kids define their identities beyond acceptance letters?"

Join us for an Advanced Virtual Screening of INDEPENDENT LENS: TRY HARDER! on Thursday, April 28, 2022 at 2:00pm.

Six brilliant researchers from around the world—a brain scientist, a plant behaviorist, a healer, a philosophy professor, a psychedelics scientist, and a Buddhist monk—take you on a mind-blowing quest to investigate this seemingly unsolvable mystery.

The story of one warmhearted, stubborn man’s visionary quest to find a cure for cancer.