Encompassing the full spectrum of film — from history to drama to animation to shorts to social-issue films — this anthology series allows audiences greater access to powerful and innovative programs united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement and unflinching visions of their independent producers. Maggie Gyllenhaal hosts the new season.

Tuesday, February 1, 11:00 p.m.
For Once In My Life
Made up of 28 musicians and singers who all have severe mental and physical disabilities, the Spirit of Goodwill Band is a raucous home away from home where members are free to display their talent, humor and tenacity. “For Once in My Life” challenges preconceived notions of what it means to be disabled. By Jim Bigham and Mark Moormann

Tuesday, February 8 at 11:00 p.m.
When I Rise
“When I Rise” is a feature-length documentary about Barbara Smith Conrad, a gifted University of Texas music student who finds herself at the epicenter of racial controversy, struggling against the odds and ultimately ascending to the heights of international opera.

Tuesday, February 15 at 11:00 p.m.
Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene
America's original shock-jock, Petey Greene overcame poverty, drug addiction and prison time to "tell it like it is," shocking and entertaining everyone from the ghetto to the White House. Narrated by Don Cheadle, "Adjust Your Color" looks at how his explosive language and brash style unsettled the establishment as he battled both the system and his own demons on a journey to becoming a leading activist during some of the most tumultuous years in recent history. By Loren Mendell.

Tuesday, February 22 at 11:00 p.m.
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
An iconoclast who himself became an icon, William Burroughs explored the outer boundaries of culture and identity in the 1950s. His work was vilified by conservatives and banned by the U.S. government, but emerged to influence artists for generations to come. Burroughs' friends and colleagues remember the public persona and the private man. By Yony Leyser.

 

Visit the web site at www.pbs.org/independentlens.