UPCOMING SCREENINGS
FREE IN-PERSON Screening | Thursday, April 28, 2022 | 7 PM
Try Harder!
Filmmaker: Debbie Lum
Approximate running time: 60 min.
San Francisco’s Lowell High, one of the best public schools in the country, draws high achievers—nearly 70% Asian Americans—from across the city into a fiercely competitive universe. The camera follows seniors through the hallways and into classrooms as the pressure intensifies to impress admissions officers at elite universities with their report cards, test scores, and overall awesomeness. The students proudly own their identity as nerds and tell their stories with candor and humor despite the stress. The film asks: How do these kids define their identities outside of acceptance letters?
Try Harder! premieres on Independent Lens Monday, May 2, 2022, tune in or stream on KLRN or your local PBS station or stream on PBS Video.
INDIE LENS POP-UP 2022 FILM SERIES
Presa House Gallery Presa House Gallery is proud to partner for our second full season with Independent Television Service®(ITVS) to present the 2022 Indie Lens Pop-Up film series. This year’s season includes four new documentary films that fight for greater diversity, equity, inclusion, and a richer understanding of society today. In addition, we are fortunate to welcome back MonteVideo founder and curator Manuel Solis who will be programming short films to accompany all four of the documentaries.
For 15 years, Indie Lens Pop-Up has ignited conversations on pressing issues, and this new season remains true to form. Films revolve around pressing and contemporary issues such as the decline of local journalism, the struggle for migrant rights in Texas border communities, the opioid crisis in America from the perspective of incarcerated women battling addiction, women’s rights as reported by India’s only all-female news network, and the challenges high school students in America face as they compete with one another to secure their spot at top universities.
Indie Lens Pop-Up events bring communities together, providing them with a space to watch and discuss timely topics explored in the slate of films seen on Independent Lens, the award-winning PBS documentary anthology series presented by ITVS. In light of the uncertainties around the COVID-19 pandemic, the screening series will include both in-person and virtual events for the first time. We hope you can join the conversation online or in person at a screening soon!