20 movies like The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia, ordered by similarity : Wyeth(2018), Waste Land(2010), Last Train Home(2009), Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff(2010), 51 Birch Street(2005), The Painter and the Thief(2020), Exit Through the Gift Shop(2010), The Beaches of Agnès(2008), The Price of Everything(2018), Obey Giant(2017), Spring Broke(2016), There Are No Fakes(2019) ...
Documentary
Canada
2003
70 Minutes
photographer poor person emotional engaging striking appalachia kentucky poverty photography art controversy family rural life discovery 2000s
The meaning of art itself comes into question in this documentary about Shelby Lee Adams' controversial photos of families in Appalachia.
Documentary
USA
2018
87 Minutes
artist painter son curator interviewee neighbor inspiring creative engaging fascinating moving powerful america artistic purity criticism artistic controversy artistic integrity documentaries discovery rise
WYETH tells the story of one of America's most popular, but least understood, artists. While his exhibitions routinely broke attendance records, art world critics continually assaulted his work.
Documentary
Brazil|UK
2010
98 Minutes
Karen Harley Vik Muniz
artist artist's model photographer brazilian poor person fascinating gritty inspiring spirited rio de janeiro dump artist's studio vik muniz environmental art oppression courage modernization perseverance sacrifice transformation
On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro is Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest landfill, where men and women sift through garbage for a living. Artist Vik Muniz produces portraits of the workers and learns about their lives.
Documentary
2009
85 Minutes
factory worker mother father daughter son seamstress fascinating emotional striking solemn china factory train train station village family worker's rights tradition work vs. family work-life balance
Forced to live far away, two Chinese factory workers make an arduous journey once a year to visit their children, who barely know them.
Documentary
UK
2010
86 Minutes
Jack Cardiff Martin Scorsese Kirk Douglas Lauren Bacall John Mills Thelma Schoonmaker Kim Hunter Kathleen Byron Christopher Challis Raffaella De Laurentiis Richard Fleischer
martin scorsese editor charlton heston lauren bacall cinematographer director engaging inspiring spirited striking london hollywood, calif. studio art gallery film set cinematography filmmaking innovation jack cardiff art
In 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the Academy Awards to win an Honorary Oscar. But the first time he clasped the famous statuette ... See full summary »
Documentary
Germany|USA
2005
88 Minutes
Mina Block
documentarian father old flame mother sister friend emotional engaging powerful long island, n.y. family home party suburbia marriage family secrets death starting over interview relocation mystery
Documentary filmmaker Doug Block had every reason to believe his parents' 54-year marriage was a good one. But when his mother dies unexpectedly and his father swiftly marries his former ... See full summary »
Documentary
Norway|USA
2020
102 Minutes
artist art thief emotional engaging intricate striking oslo art studio unlikely friendship car crash passion crime discovery pursuit 2010s
An artist befriends the thief who stole her paintings. She becomes his closest ally when he is severely hurt in a car crash and needs full time care, even if her paintings are not found. But then the tables turn.
Documentary
UK
2010
87 Minutes
graffiti artist camera operator con artist art dealer amusing brash outlandish suspenseful los angeles united kingdom art museum street absurdism celebrity art imitating life video camera banksy thierry guetta discovery transformation
Following the style of some of the world's most prolific street artists, an amateur filmmaker makes a foray into the art world.
Documentary, Biography
France
2008
110 Minutes
Agnès Varda André Lubrano Blaise Fournier Vincent Fournier Andrée Vilar Stéphane Vilar
filmmaker artist actor family member winsome emotional creative beach france agnes varda regret art travel family nostalgia discovery transformation love 2000s
Agnès Varda explores her memories, mostly chronologically, with photographs, film clips, interviews, reenactments, and droll, playful contemporary scenes of her narrating her story.
Documentary
USA
2018
105 Minutes
Jeff Koons Larry Poons Simon de Pury Amy Cappellazzo Jerry Saltz George Condo
artist art collector art critic art dealer intellectual critic creative fascinating hedonistic spectacular art gallery auction house london united states art art world auction consumerism money prestige
With unprecedented access to pivotal artists and the white-hot market surrounding them, this film dives deep into the contemporary art world, holding a fun-house mirror up to our values and times.
Documentary
USA
2017
92 Minutes
artist art expert graffiti artist politician critic skateboarder engaging fascinating creative playful profound inspiring united states skate park art gallery art hope success unexpected success criticism
The life and career of street artist, illustrator, graphic designer, activist, and founder of OBEY Clothing, Shepard Fairey.
Documentary
USA
2016
78 Minutes
Dave Barry Ed Lover Ron Rice Pauly Shore
student college student party girl partygoer frat boy hedonistic engaging florida united states beach club party spring break college college life party partying growing up discovery wretched excess
The rise and fall of spring break in Daytona Beach
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
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, Mystery & Thriller
USA|UK
2007
82 Minutes
Amir Bar-Lev Elizabeth Cohen
painter wife daughter filmmaker charming disheartening household art gallery coffee shop binghamton, n.y. art marla olmstead charlie rose new york times deception controversy mystery discovery 2000s
A look at the work and surprising success of a four-year-old girl whose paintings have been compared to the likes of Picasso and has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Documentary
USA
2017
81 Minutes
creator couple husband wife animator artist writer monkey amusing cheery creative engaging fascinating heartwarming inspiring lighthearted moving playful home united states
A documentary film exploring the extraordinary lives of Hans and Margret Rey, the authors of the beloved Curious George children's books.
Documentary
Sweden|Denmark
1997
52 Minutes
director actor actress camera operator screenwriter engaging striking gripping denmark house film set filmmaking creative process phobias artistic controversy artistic struggle lars von trier discovery rise pursuit
A portrait of Denmark's most acclaimed and controversial director, Lars von Trier. A meeting with von Trier on a private level as well as with his film universe. Filmmaker Stig Björkman ... See full summary »
Documentary
2009
102 Minutes
mother son doctor specialist patient emotional heartwarming inspiring touching uplifting iceland america europe love family autism discovery quest love 2000s
Unwilling to accept a gloomy prognosis for her autistic son, Keli, Margrét begins a journey from Iceland to the United States for proper treatment. Director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson chronicles a powerful story of love and discovery.
Documentary
USA
2017
87 Minutes
counselor buddhist japanese man priest family emotional engaging endearing fascinating powerful japan death mortality humanity helping others life middle age transformation discovery 21st century
A Buddhist monk asks what we owe one another & provides experiences to help us find answers. Documentary.
Documentary
Afghanistan|Germany|Japan|Netherlands
2018
88 Minutes
bus driver terrorist brother father family member friend bleak brooding tense emotional touching disheartening afghan village house bus iran desert terrorism suicide bombing family
A city is an orchestration of its inhabitants. The film portraits the city Kabul through daily details of two kids and a bus driver, set against the background of a city destroyed by politic and religious powers.
Documentary
USA
2006
229 Minutes
son daughter mother father patient doctor emotional inspiring hospital household cincinnati cancer childhood family illness medicine growing up quest discovery 2000s
Five families struggle with the ups and downs of cancer treatment over the course of six years.