Recent Talkback About Independent Lens This Month

Always thought-provoking, sometimes controversial, Independent Lens brings you documentaries, dramas, shorts and Web-exclusive projects made by independent thinkers. Check out some of the recent Talkback.

TAKING ROOT:
The Vision of Wangari Maathai

“I have never felt such pride in my entire 36 years of life. I felt that this incredible story should be required viewing for children in all the world schools. To think that someone so unassuming and undervalued in that particular society, was capable of effecting such an epic change. Thank you PBS, for bringing this story to television. My 10 year old is getting a valued lesson in life from watching these programs with me.”
Posted by: Eurica on April 17, 2009

“I watched this beautiful, hope-inspiring, powerful story sitting upright on my bed with tears streaming down my face. It made me want to go out and start a grassroots women’s movement… It is just what we need. To use planting of trees and women as a spiritual focal point of the earths renewal, healing and protection; symbolically translating into personal renewal and healing, spreading to families, groups, communities and national pride.”
Posted by: Kathy Struewing on April 21, 2009

“This story is just what the world should be aware of at this time of economic, social, and political chaos. Keeping focus on what really matters in life is what this story teaches us.”
Posted by: Malia Cross on April 20, 2009

View more Talkback and submit your own for TAKING ROOT >>

RECYCLE:

“So much of our visual references to Muslims have come in disjointed clips on the evening news… I truly felt I was walking along beside this man and I so wanted to shake his hand and look him in the eye by the end of this film.”
Posted by: Harry Garvin on April 16, 2009

“At many instances the movie brought tears to my eyes. I think this story is presented more from a humanitarian perspective rather than religious conventions or beliefs. I am glad that, finally a movie such as this one was able to shed some light on the lives of people living that part of the world who are merely seeking to survive peacefully.”
Posted by: Raed on April 2, 2009

View more Talkback and submit your own for RECYCLE >>

Tags: Africa, environmental, Jordan, Mujahideen

Watch RECYCLE Tonight on Independent Lens

Ride shotgun with ex-Mujahideen fighter Abu Amar and his son through the chaotic streets of Zarqa, Jordan –– a hotbed of political extremism and birthplace of the infamous al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Follow Amar’s daily life as he scours the streets to earn a meager living collecting cardboard to recycle and struggles with his faith and the social realities of life in the Middle East.

“Its deceptively ordinary premise hardly prepares you for the absorbing experience that follows, one that takes you into Abu Ammar’s world so deeply that it almost becomes claustrophobic and offers some insight into how the unthinkable becomes plausible,” Kansas City Star

Check out the clip below:

RECYCLE premieres tonight at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).

Tags: Jordan, Mujahideen, online video