‘Independent Lens’ Acquires Four Docs: ‘Seeds’, ‘My Omaha,’ & More

EXCLUSIVE: Independent Lens is going on something of an acquisition binge – welcome news for the documentary field.

The award-winning PBS series announced it has picked up four films: Jane Elliott Against the World, Seeds, My Omaha, and The Other Side of Memory. The documentaries, which will air as part of the 28^th season of Independent Lens this fall, “reveal the personal stakes behind the issues shaping communities across the country,” according to a release.

“Independent Lens continues to champion filmmakers whose work challenges, inspires, and expands our understanding of contemporary America,” commented Lois Vossen, a founding executive producer of the series. “We are thrilled to welcome these films into the Independent Lens family. Whether telling deeply personal stories or examining issues that shape our national conversation, each of these films exemplifies the kind of storytelling at the core of our series.”

Jane Elliott Against the World, directed by Judd Ehrlich, has emerged as one of the most honored documentaries of 2026. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to win Best Documentary at the Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas and audience awards at the Boulder International Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, and Sonoma International Film Festival in Northern California. The film examines the impact of the titular Jane Elliott, a white schoolteacher in Iowa who developed a method to open the eyes of her young students to the reality of racism in America and the damage it inflicts. She later conducted the Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes exercise with adults, often triggering extremely defensive reactions.

Seeds, directed by Brittany Shyne, earned a place on the Oscar shortlist for the 98^th Academy Awards, and won numerous prizes including the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. It examines Black farmers in the South who till land held in their families for generations.

In The Other Side of Memory, directed by Nick Capezzera, “a Korean adoptee travels to Seoul to seek answers about his past and find his biological parents, leading to personal discoveries that reshape his understanding of family.”

My Omaha, the documentary directed by Nick Beaulieu, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature at Slamdance. Set in the Nebraska city, My Omaha centers on the filmmaker’s relationship with his terminally ill father, a Trump supporter, against the backdrop of Omaha’s response to the racial justice movement.

Independent Lens films have been nominated for 10 Academy Awards and have earned dozens of Emmys and Emmy nominations. Recent IL acquisitions include Ghost in the Machine, directed by Valerie Veatch.

These are the four acquisitions announced Wednesday:

JANE ELLIOTT AGAINST THE WORLD

Filmmakers: Judd Ehrlich, Max Powers, Elena Gaby 

Educator Jane Elliott faced decades of backlash and national debate over her 1968 classroom experiment. At age 90, she refuses to back down from the fight for racial justice.

MY OMAHA

Filmmakers: Nick Beaulieu, Doug Block

Against the backdrop of Omaha’s racial justice movement, a filmmaker navigates the deep political and emotional divide separating him from his dying, conservative father.

SEEDS

Filmmakers: Brittany Shyne, Danielle Varga

SEEDS documents the everyday joys and financial precarities of Black generational farmers protecting a disappearing legacy.

THE OTHER SIDE OF MEMORY

Filmmakers: Nick Capezzera, Faye Yuan

Spanning from New England to Seoul, a Korean adoptee’s decade-long hunt for the truth behind his abandonment redefines what it means to belong.