Airing weekly on PBS through ITVS, the Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens introduces new drama and documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Independent Lens films vary in length from four-minute comic shorts and half-hour experimental pieces to hour-long dramas and feature-length documentaries. Past seasons of Independent Lens have been presented by hosts Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, and Edie Falco. The current host is Terrence Howard.

The series began in 1999 and for three years aired 10 episodes each fall season. In 2002, PBS announced that in 2003 the series would relaunch and expand to 29 primetime episodes a year. With the relaunch of the series, now curated by ITVS, the season count had reset and so what would otherwise have been the fourth season was now being referred to as the first. Despite this change, episodes were still being numbered with respect to the first three seasons.

Independent Lens has won four Emmy Awards. In 2007, A Lion in the House won for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking, and A Lion's Trail won in 2006 for Outstanding Cultural and Artistic Programming. Two other films won for Best Documentary: Be Good, Smile Pretty in 2004, and Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle in 2000. As well, two Independent Lens films garnered Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2006) and The Weather Underground (2004).