20 movies like On the Bowery, ordered by similarity : There Are No Fakes(2019), Man on Wire(2008), The Decline of Western Civilization Part III(1998), Shirkers(2018), Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang(2016), On the Record(2020), Inside Job(2010), Billie(2019), Burden(2016), The Gleaners and I(2000), Ballet 422(2014), Scott Walker: 30 Century Man(2006) ...
Documentary
1956
65 Minutes
homeless person thief bum alcoholic disheartening shocking powerful fascinating bowery new york city street homelessness hard times unlikely friendship alcoholism perseverance transformation temptation 1950s
Filmmaker Lionel Rogosin turns his camera on the homeless "bums" who frequent New York City's Bowery area.
Documentary
Canada
2019
113 Minutes
Douglas E. Davidson Sienna Demers
rock star art collector art dealer art gallerist forger chilling disheartening fascinating intricate offbeat shocking canada art art world forgery lawsuit crime quest 2010s
A painting, apparently the work of an iconic Native artist, leads the rockstar who buys it into the tragic, brutal world of an art forgery ring in Canada's far north.
Documentary
UK|USA
2008
90 Minutes
high-wire artist police officer girlfriend friend fascinating suspenseful incredible france new york city skyscraper world trade center daunting task aspirations friendship crime quest underdog 1970s
A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".
Documentary
USA
1998
86 Minutes
Gary Fredo Rick Wilder
police officer homeless person teenager punk skinhead anarchist gritty dark disturbing los angeles street homelessness punk rock abuse nihilism alcoholism anarchy growing up escape 1990s
The Decline of Western Civilization III is a 1998 documentary film that follows the gutter punk lifestyle of homeless teenagers.
Documentary
USA|UK
2018
96 Minutes
teen girl mentor friend filmmaker novelist mysterious man confident creative fascinating engaging emotional intricate singapore united states los angeles street basement car filmmaking mentorship
A woman explores the events surrounding a film she and her friends began making with a mysterious stranger decades ago.
Documentary
USA
2016
76 Minutes
Ian Buruma Guo-Qiang Cai Wen-You Cai Jeffrey Deitch Phil Grucci Thomas Krens
chinese man artist family member friend staff member narrator creative engaging confident china art show city mountain street warehouse art ambition determination struggle work
Trace the rise of contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang from childhood in Mao's China to global art world superstar, and join his quest to realize his lifelong obsession: Sky Ladder.
Documentary
USA
2020
95 Minutes
Amy Ziering Sil Lai Abrams Tarana Burke Kimberlé Crenshaw Jenny Lumet
music executive music producer musician friend journalist dark disheartening emotional engaging fascinating intense melancholy moving powerful uneasy united states sexual abuse sexual harassment sexism music industry
A former hip hop executive decides whether to make public her rape by one of the most powerful men in the music industry.
Documentary
USA
2010
108 Minutes
banker government official academic economist media personality corrupt businessman disheartening disturbing suspenseful shocking white house wall street federal repository china iceland money greed financial crisis stocks abuse of power
Takes a closer look at what brought about the 2008 financial meltdown.
Documentary, Music
USA
2019
96 Minutes
jazz singer journalist friend character confident passionate engaging fascinating interview courtroom house billie holiday celebrities biography interview book discovery growing up forbidden love sacrifice
A group of wealthy boys in Los Angeles during the early 1980s establish a 'get-rich-quick' scam that turns deadly.
Documentary
2016
88 Minutes
Richard Dewey
artist expert curator critic friend narrator fascinating creative intense museum apartment warehouse office street art gallery art masochism criticism creative process passion
The life of the always provocative artist Chris Burden, whose work consistently challenged ideas about the limits and nature of modern art, from his notorious performances in the 1970s to his later works.
Documentary
France
2000
82 Minutes
Agnès Varda Francois Wertheimer
filmmaker chef professor artist truck driver amusing somber bleak creative engaging fascinating france beach countryside city refuse community art homelessness food
Varda films and interviews gleaners in France in all forms, from those picking fields after the harvest to those scouring the dumpsters of Paris.
Documentary, Music
USA
2014
72 Minutes
Tiler Peck David Prottas Amar Ramasar
choreographer ballet director ballerina dancer fascinating engaging moving inspiring new york city united states ballet ballet new york city choreography creative process documentaries dance dancing transformation rise
From first rehearsal to world premiere, Ballet 422 takes us backstage at New York City Ballet as emerging choreographer Justin Peck crafts a new work.
Biography, Documentary, Music
UK
2006
96 Minutes
musician david bowie executive interviewee creative offbeat studio paris new york city music scott walker alcohol rise to stardom drugs performance rise transformation fall 2000s
A documentary on the influential musician Scott Walker.
Documentary
1990
85 Minutes
actor actress artist painter model engaging fascinating pittsburgh new york city warehouse artist's studio andy warhol pop art fame new york city art world rise fall wretched excess transformation
Filmmaker Chuck Workman profiles pop artist Andy Warhol through interviews with friends and colleagues.
Documentary
USA
1988
89 Minutes
pianist drummer friend son manager mistress cool creative new york city jazz club recording studio europe thelonious monk jazz transformation quest 1980s
A documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Sphere Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.
Documentary
USA
2007
101 Minutes
street performer break dancer interviewee amusing creative fascinating inspiring street europe asia music break dancing street life discovery 2000s
Jumping continents and crossing cultures, "Planet B-Boy" looks at the history of breakdancing and its vibrant resurgence in urban cultures around the world.
Documentary
USA
1998
93 Minutes
Robert De Niro Lenny Bruce
robert de niro comedian friend mother drug addict tv personality rousing amusing fascinating disheartening new york city television studio nightclub strip club comedy club obscenity court battles stand-up comedy controversy lenny bruce
Comedian Lenny Bruce struck a subversive chord in an era of change in America. After getting his start as a conventional stand-up comic, Bruce's increasingly iconoclastic act transformed ... See full summary »
Documentary
UK
2020
83 Minutes
David Falk Jemele Hill Scoop Jackson DJ Clark Kent David Stern Sonny Vaccaro
michael jordan fashion designer basketball player fascinating inspiring powerful boardroom street basketball court shoes fashion industry business innovator underdog rise transformation 2000s
'One Man and His Shoes' tells the story of the phenomenon of Air Jordan sneakers showing their social, cultural and racial significance and how ground-breaking marketing strategies created a multi-billion-dollar business.
Documentary
USA
2008
105 Minutes
director gang member emotional fascinating disheartening street los angeles violence gangs youth racism transformation discovery
With a first-person look at the notorious Crips and Bloods, this film examines the conditions that have lead to decades of devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in South Los Angeles.
Documentary
Switzerland|West Germany
1950
70 Minutes
sculptor patron associate painter powerful fascinating inspiring artist's studio italy michelangelo sculpting art renaissance rise transformation renaissance
The life and works of the great artist Michelangelo Buonarroti are shown against the historical background of his time. It begins with his earliest artworks, and follows his life and career... See full summary »
Documentary
USA
2011
72 Minutes
woman prisoner virgin divorcée guard afghan shocking engaging powerful fascinating kabul, afghanistan women's prison courtroom islam women's rights prison judicial system cultural differences oppression discovery
LOVE CRIMES OF KABUL is an intimate portrait of three young Afghani women accused of committing "moral crimes" such as premarital sex and running away from home. As we follow them from ... See full summary »