20 movies like American Movie, ordered by similarity : Man on Wire(2008), That Summer(2017), Divine Trash(1998), Hoop Dreams(1994), Tarnation(2003), Frank and Ollie(1995), Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth(1998), Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang(2016), Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film(2006), Shirkers(2018), Blue Water, White Death(1971), Double Dare(2003) ...
Documentary
USA
1999
107 Minutes
Mark Borchardt Tom Schimmels Monica Borchardt Alex Borchardt Chris Borchardt Ken Keen Mike Schank Matt Weisman Bill Borchardt Cliff Borchardt Tom Beach
filmmaker blue-collar worker friend mother uncle amusing charming offbeat suburbia wisconsin blue collar movie making ambition aspirations disillusionment quest underdog 1990s
Four teenage boys enter a pact to lose their virginity by prom night.
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
Sweden|Denmark|USA
2017
80 Minutes
Peter Beard Lee Radziwill Evelyn Kuhn William Vanden Heuvel
woman photographer filmmaker cousin mother charming tender amusing quirky endearing hamptons long island, n.y. mansion house documentary filmmaking family house restoration estate mother/daughter relationship eviction
Montauk, East Hampton, New York, 2016. Peter Beard discusses his work as a photographer, artist and diarist before reminiscing about his attempt to make a documentary in the summer of 1972 ... See full summary »
Documentary
USA
1998
105 Minutes
John Waters Jeanine Basinger Steve Buscemi Brad Ganson Hal Hartley Ken Jacobs Jim Jarmusch George Kuchar Mike Kuchar Herschell Gordon Lewis David Lochary
filmmaker actor parent friend campy amusing engaging offbeat baltimore movie set john waters filmmaking divine queer cinema cult films rise underdog 1990s
The life and times of Baltimore film maker and midnight movie pioneer, John Waters. Intercut with a 1972 interview of Waters are clips from his first films and recent interviews with his ... See full summary »
Documentary, Drama
USA
1994
174 Minutes
William Gates Arthur Agee Sheila Agee Isiah Thomas Bill Gleason
basketball player teenager mother father coach teacher uplifting powerful gutsy emotional chicago westchester, ill. basketball court family home basketball ambition high school racism class distinctions growing up
A film following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.
Documentary
USA
2003
87 Minutes
filmmaker mother grandmother grandfather boyfriend gay man creative quirky family home houston new york city family dysfunction mother/son relationship mental illness homosexuality abusive relationship growing up transformation 2000s
Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8 film, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more - culled from nineteen years of his life.
Documentary
USA
1995
89 Minutes
animator elderly person friend coworker walt disney charming amusing emotional house california studio animation frank thomas friendship collaboration ollie johnston aging adventure rise 1990s
A documentary about two famed Disney animators, Frank and Ollie.
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
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
2006
240 Minutes
filmmaker art critic artist art dealer brother fascinating positive offbeat new york city film set andy warhol celebrity film art quest rise 1970s
Rare archival film footage and interviews illustrate filmmaker Ric Burns' tribute to art-world icon Andy Warhol.
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
1971
100 Minutes
James Lipscomb Ron Taylor Peter Gimbel
oceanographer filmmaker musician charming offbeat thrilling ship australia indian ocean sharks daunting task dangerous assignment pursuit quest 1970s
Documentary focusing on great white sharks.
Documentary
2003
81 Minutes
stuntwoman woman senior citizen actress friend quentin tarantino engaging inspiring touching hollywood, calif. convention california film set zoe bell jeannie epper stunts sexism friendship filmmaking underdog
Mystery & Thriller, Documentary, Comedy
USA
2002
97 Minutes
Paige Kimble Jonathan Knisely Balu Natarajan Julianne Ruth
child parent teacher announcer reporter uplifting charming inspiring hotel washington, d.c. family home spelling bee success competition class distinctions childhood family rivalry quest underdog
Spellbound follows eight teenagers on their quest to win the 1999 National Spelling Bee.
Documentary, Biography
USA
2007
79 Minutes
Steve Wiebe Mark Alpiger Walter Day Steve Sanders Robert Mruczek Todd Rogers
gamer teacher wife friend rival quirky amusing ottumwa, iowa hollywood, fla. redmond, wash. laconia, n.h. video games obsession competition quest rivalry underdog 2000s
Die-hard gamers compete to break world records on classic arcade games.
Documentary, Biography
USA
2004
85 Minutes
Zana Briski Avijit Halder Shanti Das
photographer prostitute young boy young girl mother teacher emotional gritty brothel calcutta, india school street mother/child relationship poverty photography ambition growing up underdog 2000s
Two documentary filmmakers chronicle their time in Sonagchi, Calcutta and the relationships they developed with children of prostitutes who work the city's notorious red light district.
Documentary, Comedy, Drama
Canada
2007
80 Minutes
filmmaker fan mother winsome offbeat canada small town family home winnipeg, canada film historical events nostalgia loyalty discovery love growing up 2000s
Fact, fantasy and memory are woven seamlessly together in this portrait of film-maker Guy Maddin's home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
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
USA
2020
80 Minutes
Tony Hawk Steve Caballero Chad Muska Jay Bentley Rodney Mullen Jamie Thomas
skateboarder video game character video game designer amusing charming cheeky confident cool creative crafty endearing engaging inspiring lighthearted witty uplifting spirited spectacular raw offbeat
The story of how skateboarding became a part of the mainstream by focusing on the success of the "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" video game franchise.
Documentary
2010
106 Minutes
Paul Thomas Bill Hicks Kevin Booth John Farneti Lynn Hicks Mary Hicks Steve Hicks Andy Huggins David Johndrow James Ladmirault Dwight Slade
comedian friend filmmaker family member amusing tender emotional new york city los angeles little rock, ark. fame childhood bill hicks stand-up comedy growing up transformation rise 1990s
Interviews and clever use of still photographs illustrate the life of a talented but often controversial comic who died of cancer at age 32.
Documentary
2016
117 Minutes
boogeyman girl adolescent adolescent girl friend fictitious character parent victim interviewee chilling creepy dark eerie gripping shocking wisconsin united states internet internet videos youth
The mythos of a faceless, digital-age bogeyman known as Slenderman was created on the Internet, but his influence was felt in the real world when two 12-year-old girls lured their friend into the woods for a brutal murder.