Movies Similar to Lightning Over Braddock: A Rustbowl Fantasy

Roger & Me(1989)

A documentary about the closure of General Motors' plant at Flint, Michigan, which resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs. Details the attempts of filmmaker Michael Moore to get an interview with GM CEO Roger Smith.

The Show Must Go On(2019)

The Show Must Go On is a personal journey behind the scenes that confronts the epidemic of mental health issues in the Australian entertainment industry.

Wayne(2018)

Wayne tells the exhilarating story of 1987 World Motorcycle Grand Prix Champion Wayne Gardner's triumphant, improbable journey from a 5-dollar dirt bike to the international summit of his sport.

Laissez-faire(2015)

A historical perspective to understand Neoliberalism and to understand why this ideology today so profoundly influences the choices of our governments and our lives.

Working for the Enemy(1997)

Sean McAllister's bleak, extraordinarily intimate film offers an insight into the lives of 35 year old Kevin, who hasn't worked in 18 years, and his 19 year old girlfriend Robbie, who earns 70 pounds a week as a seamstress.

Look Away(2021)

Interviews from women involved in the 70's and 80's rock music industry. An examination of the people taking advantage of underage fans and calling for a "Me too" movement in the music world

Right to Work March(1972)

They're young, unemployed and on the march - from Glasgow, Liverpool and Swansea to London.

Hard Times: Lost on Long Island(2012)

Though the recession officially ended in summer 2009, the fallout continues for some 25 million unemployed and underemployed Americans, many of whom worked their way up the corporate ladder..

With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade(1978)

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.

Pets or Meat: The Return to Flint(1992)

Follow-up to Roger & Me.

Scheme Birds(2019)

As her adolescence gives way to the obligations of motherhood, troubled Gemma matures in Motherwell, her Scottish hometown, heavily dependent on the steel industry. Unfortunately for her, her hedonistic way of understanding the world does not fit in with the philosophy of the rest of the villagers, so trouble soon follows.

In Delusion: Trump and the American Catastrophe(2020)

In 2020, the USA experienced a multiple catastrophe: No other country in the world was hit so badly by the coronavirus pandemic, the economic slump was dramatic, and so was the rise in unemployment. A rift ran through society. In the streets there were protests of both camps with violent riots, authoritarian traits were evident in the actions of the leader of the nation. And all of this in the middle of the election year, when the self-centered president fought vehemently for his re-election. From the start of his presidency, Donald Trump had divided American society, incited individual sections of the population against one another, fueled racism, hatred, xenophobia and prejudice, insulted competitors and denigrated critical journalists as enemies of the people. The documentary shows how this could happen and what role the targeted disinformation of certain sections of the population through manipulative media played.

Modern Marvels: American Steel: Built to Last

An exploration of the past and future of the steel industry in America.

Matar(2023)

The story of an asylum seeker in England who, when confronted with the hostile immigration system in the UK, is forced to live on the fringes of society and rely on his bike to survive. Based on the lived experience of co-writer Ayman Alhussein.

Let’s Spend the Night Together: Confessions of Rock’s Greatest Groupies(2010)

A documentary about the groupie scene in the 1970s.

HU(2012)

A symmetrically divided building: on one side, an important public hospital, on the other, a bewildering ruin. On the horizon, Rio de Janeiro, public health, education and Brazil’s aged modern project. Shot entirely in the monumental and only partially occupied modernist edifice of the University Hospital of UFRJ. A material metaphor of the Brazilian public sphere and its political maze. A synthesis architecturally expressed of the modernist utopia/dystopia.

De Charles de Gaulle à Emmanuel Macron, les gardiens de l'empire(2022)

Homeland(2000)

Following four Lakota families over three years, Homeland explores what it takes for the Lakota community to build a better future in the face of tribal and government corruption, scarce housing, unemployment, and alcoholism. Intimate interviews with a spiritual leader, a grandmother, an artist, and a community activist from South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation reveal how each survives through family ties, cultural tradition, humor, and a palpable yearning for self-reliance and personal freedom.

Over the Years(2015)

Taking the demise of a textile factory in Austria’s Waldviertel region as its starting point, with the antiquated manufacturing plant initially shown in full operation, this film poses the question of what work means for people’s self-image and character. After the factory goes bankrupt and closes, the filmmaker accompanies some of its employees as they continue to make their way, questioning them about their daily routines, the circumstances in which they live, about looking for work or the new jobs they find. One woman’s situation is precarious, but that doesn’t prevent her from bringing up her grandchildren. Another woman works here and there, flexible and resourceful. One man blossoms visibly in his newly unemployed state. Bit by bit, different aspects of their private lives and personal misfortunes emerge.

Attention danger travail(2003)

With the energy of the dying, those in power apply themselves to reasserting the value of work – with force, if need be. But more and more workers have understood that, to truly value their work, they have to do without it. They also have to get rid of the society of consumption that goes along with it. It may not be easy, but it is certainly amusing. We present a panorama of a mass desertion destined to spread.