20 movies like American: The Bill Hicks Story, ordered by similarity : Kabul, City in the Wind(2018), Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth(1998), The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg(1999), Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work(2010), No Direction Home: Bob Dylan(2005), Frank and Ollie(1995), Madonna: Truth or Dare(1991), Comedian(2002), The Joneses(2016), Steve McQueen: American Icon(2017), Brakhage(1998), Shirkers(2018) ...
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
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
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 »
Biography, Documentary
USA
1999
89 Minutes
baseball fan baseball player jew friend rival inspiring emotional detroit michigan new york city baseball field baseball fame judaism anti-semitism family hank greenberg discovery rise rivalry
The life and career of Hank Greenberg, the first major Jewish baseball star in the Major Leagues.
Documentary, Comedy, Biography
USA
2010
84 Minutes
Annie Sundberg Joan Rivers Jocelyn Pickett Bill Sammeth Larry A. Thompson Graham Reed Kevin Brennan
celebrity comedian daughter raw engaging new york city los angeles household joan rivers plastic surgery comedy entertainment wealth fame wretched excess rise fall 2000s
A documentary on the life and career of Joan Rivers, made as the comedienne turns 75 years old.
Biography, Documentary
2005
207 Minutes
Bob Dylan Dick Kangas Liam Clancy Maria Muldaur John Cohen
musician girlfriend joan baez allen ginsberg pete seeger gutsy passionate new york city concert stage manchester, england bob dylan rock 'n' roll folk music performance fame rise transformation discovery growing up 2000s
Filmmaker Martin Scorsese traces Bob Dylan's evolution from folk troubadour to iconic rock star. Live concert footage and press conferences from the 1960s and a new interview with Dylan are used to draw a portrait of the legendary singer-songwriter.
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, Music
USA
1991
118 Minutes
Madonna Donna De Lory Niki Harris Luis Camacho Oliver Crumes Jr. Salim Gauwloos
madonna friend father dancer boyfriend playful frenetic hedonistic shocking japan los angeles detroit new york city toronto paris concert tour performance pop music relationships stardom
Documentary following singer Madonna on her controversial Blond Ambition tour in 1990.
Documentary
USA
2002
82 Minutes
comedian tv personality audience bartender actor hilarious fascinating playful nightclub backstage united states stand-up comedy rise to stardom fame show business jerry seinfeld orny adams underdog rise quest
A look at the work of two stand-up comics, Jerry Seinfeld and a lesser-known newcomer, detailing the effort and frustration behind putting together a successful act and career while living a life on the road.
Documentary
UK|USA
2016
80 Minutes
transgender woman child family member friend boss neighbor brooding emotional intense house store car office restaurant bar transsexuality anger fighting family disapproval
Moby Longinotto's feature documentary debut tells the story of Jheri Jones, a 74 year old transgender divorcee, and her family in Bible Belt Mississippi. Reconciled after years of ... See full summary »
Documentary
USA
2017
78 Minutes
steve mcqueen pastor celebrity family member friend entertainer cool confident emotional lighthearted inspiring touching hollywood, calif. airplane hangar house car fame religion life story life lessons
Steve McQueen truly is an American Icon. One of America's most endearing and intriguing movie stars, he "is still the King of Cool" according to Esquire Magazine-50 years after the zenith ... See full summary »
Documentary
Canada
1998
73 Minutes
Jerry Aronson Jane Brakhage Marilyn Brakhage Stan Brakhage Philip Solomon James Tenney
filmmaker ex-wife son friend scholar family member fascinating engaging colorado house family filmmaking cancer rise to stardom experiments stan brakhage rise discovery 20th century
Stan Brakhage (1933-2003) was possibly the most important filmmaker of the avant-garde and one of the greatest artists of our time. From 1952, at the age of nineteen, until his death, ... See full summary »
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
1990
114 Minutes
Quincy Jones Frank Sinatra Miles Davis
musician producer composer barbra streisand aretha franklin michael jackson creative inspiring emotional united states studio house quincy jones music childhood family social change success growing up rise
A unique look at the legendary musician, arranger, composer and producer offers a collage of memories, sounds and intimate interviews with musical greats in a rousing showcase.
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
UK|USA|Netherlands
1995
115 Minutes
Glenn Close Anne Frank Edith Frank Margot Frank
father mother sister friend refugee jew emotional touching moving netherlands amsterdam hideout anne frank anti-semitism nazism survival family holocaust growing up discovery
Using previously unreleased archival material in addition to contemporary interviews, this academy award-winning documentary tells the story of the Frank family and presents the first ... See full summary »
Documentary, Music
USA|UK
2016
106 Minutes
paul mccartney john lennon ringo starr george harrison filmmaker whoopi goldberg charming emotional incredible moving studio liverpool, england club san francisco concert stage the beatles touring music business interview concert
A compilation of found footage featuring music, interviews, and stories of The Beatles' 250 concerts from 1963 to 1966.
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
2003
132 Minutes
actor filmmaker celebrity daughter son amusing creative incredible england united states hollywood, calif. charlie chaplin silent movies fame filmmaking comedy rise discovery 1940s
Narrated by Sydney Pollack, film critic Richard Schickel's dazzling two-hour plus documentary to one of the towering figures in film: Charles Chaplin. Hardcore Chaplin fans may not find ... See full summary »
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.
Biography, Documentary
UK
2019
120 Minutes
Diego Armando Maradona
football player illegitimate son documentarian family emotional fascinating hedonistic striking confident buenos aires, argentina naples, italy barcelona, spain redemption football life story addiction fall growing up wretched excess underdog
Constructed from over 500 hours of never-before-seen footage, this documentary centers on the career of celebrated football player Diego Maradona, who played for S.S.C. Napoli in the 1980s.