SPRINGFIELD, USA provides a glimpse into the lives of an array of citizens who share their dreams and stories of the timeless world that is small-town America.
A minor train accident in rural Nebraska gradually unveils a mystery involving the town's reclusive bank clerk.
Grady is a 50-ish English professor who hasn't had a thing published in years—not since he wrote his award winning 'Great American Novel' 7 years ago. This weekend proves even worse than he could imagine as he finds himself reeling from one misadventure to another in the company of a new wonder boy author.
A year in the life of a turn-of-the-century middle class family, leading up to the opening of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Award-winning comedian Rich Hall takes a country music journey from Tennessee to Texas to look at the movements and artists that don't get as much notoriety but have helped shape the genre over the years. With the help of prominent performers and producers including Michael Martin Murphey, Robbie Fulks and Ray Benson, Rich explores the early origins of country music in Nashville and Austin. He visits the rustic studios where this much-loved sound was born and discovers how the genre has reinvented itself with influences from bluegrass, western swing and americana.
In the 1950s, brothers Jacey and Doug Holt, who come from the poorer side of their sleepy Midwestern town, vie for the affections of the wealthy, lovely Abbott sisters. Lady-killer Jacey alternates between Eleanor and Alice, wanting simply to break the hearts of rich young women. But sensitive Doug has a real romance with Pamela, which Jacey and the Abbott patriarch, Lloyd, both frown upon.
A small town is overcome by a massive underground coal fire in 1962. As a result hundreds of residents had to be relocated.
Dawn is a quiet young teenager who longs for something or someone to free her from her sheltered life.
Once thriving, a dead mall in upstate New York is now home to a ragtag flea market, living proof that the American Dream is in perpetual decay. Blending vérité with a stylized wit, this heartbreaking portrait raises questions about our disposable culture through the unfiltered lives of its eccentric community.
Loner Diane Ford is a truck driver with an 11-year-old son, Peter, whom she never sees, and that's fine with her. But, when Peter's father, Len, falls ill, he asks Diane to take care of their son for a while. Eventually, Diane reluctantly agrees, but she quickly realizes that caring for a child interferes with her independent lifestyle - and Peter isn't all that thrilled with the arrangement, either.
The teenagers of a rural community are confronted by the not-so-charming realities of their hometown on the eve of its annual beauty pageant.
A documentary about the social impact of the hot dog on American Culture. Follow the crew as they travel across the country to explore the many facets of hot dog culture. 'To understand a bike, you look at the wheels. To understand a wall, you look at each brick. And to understand America, you must look at the hot dog."
A documentary about the concrete sections of the Berlin Wall that have been acquired by institutions or individuals since 1989 and are now scattered across the USA. Cherished or abandoned, they have become silent witnesses to recent history.
Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American propaganda features some of MGM Studios' best directors, screenwriters and actors; it is narrated by Louis Calhern. Stories are framed by the lecture of a university professor. In one tale a Boston resident becomes angry when the census forgets to record her presence. Another sketch chronicles the achievements of African Americans while still another pays tongue-in-cheek tribute to Texas.
Set against nostalgic analog noise, this is an ultra-processed film which pays homage to lost media and the dead art of videotaped home movies. Taking place primarily in the United States, two strippers look into getting hired at a club in Colorado, a young musician reunites with her family in Missouri, and a German woman flies from Berlin to the U.S. to help her friend finish a film in Texas.
Documentary looking at the culture of three motels and their owners who remain untouched by homogenization and corporatism, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Florence, Arizona; and the semi-ghost town of Death Valley Junction, California. Everyone has an unusual story to tell.
On the 38th anniversary of the seminal music documentary, Heartworn Highways - a film that explored and captured the nascent roots of the Outlaw Country movement in the mid-70s - this followup documentary celebrates the authenticity and expresses the feelings of the legendary original, via a community of contemporary "outlaws" living and creating music in Nashville, Tennessee.
At the heart of "Dreaming in America" is Lucero's story about that amazing thing, too often overlooked: a blue-collar rock group's struggle to survive. As the music industry has exploded over the past few decades and the ability to "move units" has become the defining calculus of the business, it's an incredibly emotional experience to see a band who does it because they have to, because their lives depend on it, and because they love it. There are hundreds of such bands criss-crossing the country at any given moment. This is a film about one of them-a band on the edge of greatness, working to break through. In a happy bit of rock kismet, "Dreaming in America's" cameras started rolling just as Lucero was breaking from its indie rock past and considering the treacherous leap to a major label deal unlike anything seen by the industry before. At that point, the band was between labels and, though it had sold north of 20,000 records.
Follow Guy Clark, Susanna Clark, and Townes Van Zandt as they rise from obscurity to reverence: Guy, the Pancho to Van Zandt’s Lefty, struggling to establish himself as the Dylan Thomas of American music, while Susanna pens hit songs and paints album covers for top artists, and Townes spirals in self-destruction after writing some of Americana music’s most enduring and influential ballads.
Homeless veterans find family as they rent rooms from an eighteen-year-old girl struggling to support her thirteen-year-old brother while discovering her voice in Americana music.
A documentary on the 1980's famous hairstyle called 'The mullet'. Hilariously written and creative beyond the sense of the word. The Mullet Uncut delves into the shady world of the mullet and exposes these people for what they really are ...mullets. A cross country trip with filmmakers Mark Maiocco and Michael Reinwald take you into the bizzare world of mullet hunting. You'll meet former mullets pro mullets, anti mullets and mullets. With a surprise appearence by the vandals, this movie is sure to be a hit.