Film School Journal.com

Airing weekly on PBS, the Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens is like an independent film festival in your living room. Each episode introduces new documentaries and dramas made by independent thinkers: filmmakers who are taking creative risks, calling their own shots and finding untold stories in unexpected places. Independent Lens programs come in every shape and size, including feature-length documentaries, hour-long dramas, four-minute comic shorts, half-hour experimental pieces and everything in between.

Below is an episode of this excellent PBS series. To view more, head over to PBS or HULU.

Sunset Boulevard is an American film noir classic directed and co-written by Billy Wilder. It was named after the famous boulevard of the same name that runs through Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.

The film stars William Holden as Joe Gillis, a screenwriter with money problems, and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a silent film star who has faded due to increased popularity of films with spoken dialogue. The two cross paths accidentally and form a relationship. An odd and frightening relationship.

Read the rest of this entry »