Best movies like A Sign is a Fine Investment

Indie director Jim Jarmusch lenses a low-tech tribute to protean rocker Neil Young and his long-standing band, Crazy Horse. Stitched together from archival material shot in 1976 and 1986 along with candid scenes of Young and the band kicking back between shows, this rockumentary is as ragged as it is direct.

This documentary takes a piercing investigative look at the economic, political and ecological implications of the worldwide disappearance of the honeybee. The film examines our current agricultural landscape and celebrates the ancient and sacred connection between man and the honeybee. The story highlights the positive changes that have resulted due to the tragic phenomenon known as "Colony Collapse Disorder." To empower the audience, the documentary provides viewers with tangible solutions they can apply to their everyday lives. Vanishing of the Bees unfolds as a dramatic tale of science and mystery, illuminating this extraordinary crisis and its greater meaning about the relationship between humankind and Mother Earth. The bees have a message - but will we listen?

With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade is a 1979 documentary film directed by Lorraine Gray about the General Motors sit-down strike in 1936–1937 that focuses uniquely on the role of women using archival footage and interviews. It provides an inside look at women's roles in the strike. The film was one of the first to put together archival footage with contemporary interviews of participants and helped spur a series of films on left and labor history in the US utilizing this technique. The film was also important in helping bring into view the history of American women being active in the public sphere, particularly in union and labor actions. The film was, further, ground breaking because it was produced and directed by women. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Essay documentary explores eroded emulsions and images for lost vestiges of lesbian and gay culture. First feature by a pioneer of lesbian cinema, Hammer weaves gay and lesbian couples with footage that unearths the forbidden and invisible history of a marginalized people.

Trailblazing artists, activists, and everyday people from across the spectrum of gender and sexuality defy social norms and dare to live unconventional lives in this kaleidoscopic view of LGBTQ+ culture in contemporary Japan.

This 20th Century-Fox CinemaScope special traces the journey of Queen Elizabeth (II) and Prince Philip to the United States and Canada in conjunction with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway dual-country project. There are scenes of the Royal Yacht 'Britannia'; visits with President Dwight D. Eisenhower and vice-president Richard Nixon, and New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. This special short is comprised of previously-used newsreel footage, and edited material from several "Royal Visit (1959)" films made by Canada's National Film Board.

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 fully-rounded portrait of their brash and free-spirited daughter Anne, perhaps the world's most famous victim of the Holocaust. Written by Dawn M. Barclift

With archive film clips and interviews, this brief look at a frequently overlooked historical period of filmmaking acts as an introduction rather than a complete record. It features interviews with some of the genre's biggest stars, like Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, and Richard Roundtree. Director Melvin Van Peebles discusses the historical importance of his landmark film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. For a contemporary perspective, the excitable Quentin Tarantino offers his spirited commentary and author/critic bell hooks provides some scholarly social analysis.

This legendary fight was filmed on March 17, 1897, using 63mm film that produced an aspect ratio of about 1.75:1. Using three adjacent cameras, Enoch Rector recorded the entire fight, simultaneously creating the world's first known feature film, as the resulting footage lasted over 90 minutes in length. About a quarter of the film survives today.

Short documentary about 50 years of history of Czechoslovakia, with archive images.

THE FANDOM dives headfirst in the imaginative world of “furries,” the often-misunderstood internet subculture of fans of the anthropomorphic arts. Using a bountiful collection of archival tapes and images, this documentary traces the evolution of the furry fandom from its roots in the 1970s to the expansive, international community it has become today. Join a host of charming characters (including the grandparents of the fandom itself) on this heart-warming journey through the decades; witness the many triumphs and challenges that shaped “furry” into the most unique fandom of all time.

MEAT traces the process through which cattle and sheep become consumer goods. It depicts the processing and transportation of meat products by a highly automated packing plant, illustrating important points and problems in the area of production, transportation, logistics, equipment design, time-motion study, and labor management.

Through a series of twenty six short stories, a girl describes the childhood events that shaped her ideas about fatherhood, family relations, work and play. As the stories unfold, a dual portrait emerges: that of a father who cared more for his career than for his family, and of a daughter who was deeply affected by his behavior. Working in counterpoint to the forceful text are sensual black and white images that depict both the extraordinary and ordinary events of daily life. Together, they create a formally complex and emotionally intense film.

A look at Fellini's creative process. In extensive interviews, Fellini talks a bit about his background and then discusses how he works and how he creates. Several actors, a producer, a writer, and a production manager talk about working with Fellini. Archive footage of Fellini and others on the set plus clips from his films provide commentary and illustration for the points interviewees make. Fellini is fully in charge; actors call themselves puppets. He dismisses improvisation and calls for "availability." His sets and his films create images that look like reality but are not; we see the differences and the results.

With the help of her mother, family, friends, and fellow musicians, Aiyana Elliott reaches for her father, legendary cowboy troubadour, Ramblin' Jack Elliott. She explores who he is and how he got there, working back and forth between archival and contemporary footage. Born in 1932 in Brooklyn, busking through the South and West in the early 50s, a year with Woody Guthrie, six years flatpicking in Europe, a triumphant return to Greenwich Village in the early 60s, mentoring Bob Dylan, then life on the road, from gig to gig, singing and telling stories. A Grammy and the National Medal of Arts await Jack near the end of a long trail. What will Aiyana find for herself?

Privilege is an intelligently conceived, boldly anarchic, and wickedly insightful exposition on the culturally ingrained and socially divisive malaise of isms that artificially define and characterize empowerment in contemporary society: ageism, sexism, economic elitism, and racism. Yvonne Rainer conveys texture through the intercutting of archival footage, video, and film - as well as compositional layering through the film-within-a-film structure, elliptical (and self-referential) fusion of past and present, and the filmmaker's idiosyncratic penchant for superimposed typed text.

The Hiding Place is an account of a Dutch family who risk their lives by offering a safe haven for Jews during World War II

The biography of former Beatle, John Lennon—narrated by Lennon himself—with extensive material from Yoko Ono's personal collection, previously unseen footage from Lennon's private archives, and interviews with David Bowie, his first wife Cynthia, second wife Yoko Ono and sons Julian and Sean.

Today it's a symbol of strength and vitality. 135 years ago, it was a source of controversy. This documentary examines the great problems and ingenious solutions that marked the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. From conception to construction, it traces the bridge's transformation from a spectacular feat of heroic engineering to an honored symbol in American culture.

Gertrude Bell, the most powerful woman in the British Empire in her day, shaped the destiny of Iraq after WWI in ways that still reverberate today.

WELFARE shows the nature and complexity of the welfare system in sequences illustrating the staggering diversity of problems that constitute welfare: housing, unemployment, divorce, medical and psychiatric problems, abandoned and abused children, and the elderly. These issues are presented in a context where welfare workers as well as clients struggle to cope with and interpret the laws and regulations that govern their work and life.

Everyone has a skeleton or two in his or her closet, but what about the director behind some of the most successful thrillers ever to hit the silver screen? Could M. Night Shyamalan be hiding a deep, dark secret that drives his macabre cinematic vision? Now viewers will be able to find out firsthand what fuels The Sixth Sense director's seemingly supernatural creativity as filmmakers interview Shyamalan as well as the cast and crew members who have worked most closely with him over the years. Discover the early events that shaped the mind of a future master of suspense in a documentary that is as fascinating as it is revealing.

"Bullets Over Hollywood" delves into America's fascination with gangsters and features historical perspective, analysis, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and details about the connection between real-life hoods and their cinematic alter egos. The documentary chronicles films such as the _American Mutoscope & Biograph [us]_ film _Musketeers of Pig Alley, The (1912)_ (the 1912 film directed by D.W. Griffith that began it all), 1930's and '40s classics including "Little Caesar," "The Public Enemy," "The Roaring Twenties," "The Petrified Forest" and "High Sierra," to such modern tales as "The Godfather," "Scarface," "Goodfellas," "Donnie Brasco," "Casino," "A Bronx Tale," "Carlito's Way," "Once Upon a Time in America" and many more. The special takes a look at television with shows such as "The Sopranos" and "Growing Up Gotti," all part of America's parallel fascination with fictional and real-life gangsters.

A close examination of the Whakaari / White Island volcanic eruption of 2019 in which 22 lives were lost, the film viscerally recounts a day when ordinary people were called upon to do extraordinary things, placing this tragic event within the larger context of nature, resilience, and the power of our shared humanity.

Zodiac Crush is a captivating reality TV movie that explores the fascinating world of astrology and numerology in the context of dating. The movie centers around a star bachelorette who is on a quest to find her soulmate, and she does so by dating five guys, each representing a unique star sign and life path number. Throughout the movie, the bachelorette goes on a series of dates and engaging challenges with her suitors, and viewers get to witness the highs and lows of each encounter. Along the way, the bachelorette receives expert guidance and predictions from astrology and numerology experts, Mike Anthony and Rachel Black, who help her navigate the complexities of compatibility based on star signs and numerology.

Documentary using only original colour footage charts the 12 years from Adolf Hitler's rise to power to the fall of Berlin in 1945. Complemented by eyewitness material, tracks the dramatic transformation of Germany into a Nazi state, looks into Hitler's relationship with his lover Eva Braun and replicates pivotal events, including Nazi rallies, the invasion of Poland, Hitler's meeting with Lloyd George, the horrors of Buchenwald concentration camp, Warsaw's Jewish Ghetto, the Battle of Britain and the fall of Berlin.

This trial of the century was the first nationally televised TRUE LIFE soap opera, a tangle of salacious plotlines. OJ SIMPSON TRIAL: THE REAL STORY reveals the true story behind the trial of O.J. Simpson the most highly publicized American criminal trial, ever. The documentary relies on contemporaneous archival material alone to illustrate the course of events. Without the interruption of modern interviews to provide hindsight, the storytelling triggers the same raw emotion and real-time perspective as when the events transpired all those years ago.

This documentary celebrates the work of illustrator Reynold Brown, whose colorful and compelling art graced over 300 movie posters during the 1950s and '60s, ranging from star-studded westerns and studio epics to sensational creature features and low-budget B-movies. Art historians, writers, and movie producers discuss Brown's art within the context of the post-war social climate and an ever-changing movie industry.

Colorful, outspoken, a man of many contradictions, Ralph McGill emerged during the troubled years of the 1950s and '60s as a prominent and influential Southern white opponent of segregation and one of America's most revered newspaper editors. As he became convinced of the injustice of segregation and the inevitability of change, McGill used his front-page editorial column in the Atlanta Constitution as a Southern forum for his distinctive blend of moral outrage and pragmatic moderation. McGill's life is a touchstone for understanding the complex array of forces that dramatically reshaped the South and America in the quarter-century after World War II. These elements are blended with rare archival film, compelling contemporary images and a rich musical score to create an unusually moving and evocative film.

The brutes and the belles. The gadflies and the good ol' boys. The taboos and the profound truths. They're all part of a tennessee state of mind -- a realm of places, personalities and ideas. Williams is front and center for this exploration, reading from his works, placing them in the context of his life, and serving as guide in visits to his career-shaping refuge in New Orleans and his later-day writing quarters in Key West. Also, dramatizations by distinguished actors -- including Jessica Tandy, Broadway's original Blanche DuBois, in a recreation of her A Streetcar Named Desire triumph -- give flesh-and-bone immediacy to some of the writer's famed works. In his own words. In his own places. The resilient character and memorable characters of one of our greatest writers reside in Tennessee Williams' South.

This fascinating documentary reveals the behind the scenes story of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, drawing on rare archive footage and made using eyewitness accounts of participants and historical experts.

Alchemy, Webster says, is a magical process of transmuting ordinary materials into something of true merit (base metals into gold). And such is this story of a young, very intense, woman who 'sculpts' by placing in some kind of order into cigar boxes, little things, usually broken, that she finds here and there. So exciting is her work that she is able to go to a month long retreat where she is only asked to "do what you do without interruption." But there are interruptions, and not only at this retreat, but in other parts of her life as she tries to amalgamate who she is from what she discovers about herself.

"The slow and subtle repeated rhythms of daily life provide the material for this 12 part film. The pace is slow with the intention of inviting viewers into a more visceral and less verbally analytical state of mind. The 'action,' small events like the mail arriving, the storm coming, and the grass getting mowed, are secondary to the way of perceiving those events. In many ways this film reaches back into a kind of personal memory one might recall from early childhood." –Leighton Pierce

Until Reese Witherspoon’s Oscar-winning portrayal of her in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, most contemporary audiences were unfamiliar with June Carter Cash. Kristen Vaurio’s comprehensive documentary June offers a much fuller understanding of the multitalented artist, singer, songwriter, comedian, and actress. Delightful, never-before-seen archival material reveals June’s firecracker wit and charisma as a performer

This political documentary illustrates the turbulent history of El Salvador from the 1920s-1970s, and the role of the U.S. government in that history. The most comprehensive film introduction to that country, examines the civil war there in light of the Reagan administration's decision to "draw the line" against "communist interference" in Central America. Archival material offers an overview of U.S. military and economic policy in Central America since 1948, while footage drawn from sources in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe provides extensive background to the current political and military situation.