Movies Similar to The Showman

The Rise of the Synths(2019)

A documentary about the Synthwave scene, nostalgia and the universe of creating sounds. A love letter to human fascination and the collective memories of a universe, that never existed.

The Real Beauty and the Beast(2013)

It's a condition known as "hypertrichosis" or "Ambras Syndrome," but in the 1500s it would transform one man into a national sensation and iconic fairy-tale character. His name: Petrus Gonsalvus, more commonly known today as the hairy hero of Beauty and the Beast.

Taylor Swift: From the Heart(2013)

After having released her fourth album "Red" in October 2012, Taylor Alison Swift continues to tear up the charts. In this film we learn how Swift becomes one of America's biggest Country and Pop music artists.

Green Day: The Early Years(2017)

"Green Day: The Early Years" chronicles the rise of the world's most influential punk band, from their origins playing shows at Berkley's notorious Gilman Street venue in the late 80s, through the release of the platinum-selling Dookie in 1994.

Oscar Peterson: Music in the Key of Oscar(1995)

This riveting music documentary traces the history of Jazz piano legend Oscar Peterson, from his early days as Montreal's teenage Boogie-Woogie sensation through his meteoric rise to international celebrity with Norman Granz and the ground-breaking Jazz at the Philharmonic and beyond. In this award-winning autobiographical portrait, legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson narrates his story, from his beginnings in smoke-filled Montreal clubs to hallmark performances with jazz greats. Concert footage includes an unforgettable combo -- Nat King Cole with Jazz at the Philharmonic and the Oscar Peterson Trio Wall reunion. Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie are interviewed, among others. - Ray Brown, Herb Ellis, Ella Fitzgerald

Silent Echoes: College(2013)

This visual essay by John Bengtson, author of Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton, reveals the locations where Keaton's 1927 comedy feature College was filmed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and Orange County. A compilation of short films produced between 1917-1922. Coney Island (1917), Back Stage (1919), Convict 13 (1920) and Daydreams (1922).

The Color of the Chameleon(2017)

During the Pinochet dictatorship, Jorge Lübbert became an instrument for the Chilean secret services, who forced him to work for them in an extremely violent way. He was able to escape from Chile and became a war photographer based in Belgium. Today, his son Andrés takes him back to the places of his unfinished past.

Chuy, The Wolf Man(2015)

Jesus 'Chuy' Aceves and a dozen living members of his extended family suffer from the very rare condition of congenital hypertrichosis, meaning they were born with excessive hair on their faces and bodies. Due to their appearance, they suffer from discrimination in all areas of their lives: the children are made fun of at school and abandoned by their 'non-hairy' parents, and the adults cannot find work unless they choose to exhibit themselves as freaks in circuses. This moving and visually arresting documentary is a portrait of Chuy and his family members. It examines their day-to-day lives and their struggle to find love, acceptance and employment.

Last Days of Solitary(2017)

In 2011, Maine State Prison launched a pioneering reform program to scale back its use of solitary confinement. Bafta and Emmy-winning film-maker Dan Edge and his co-director Lauren Mucciolo were given unprecedented access to the solitary unit - and filmed there for more than three years. The result is an extraordinary and harrowing portrait of life in solitary - and a unique document of a radical and risky experiment to reform a prison. The US is the world leader in solitary confinement. More than 80,000 American prisoners live in isolation, some have been there for years, even decades. Solitary is proven to cause mental illness, it is expensive, and it is condemned by many as torture. And yet for decades, it has been one of the central planks of the American criminal justice system.

Hoxsey: When Healing Becomes a Crime(2005)

In the 1920s, former coal miner Harry Hoxsey claimed to have an herbal cure for cancer. Although scoffed at and ultimately banned by the medical establishment, by the 1950s, Hoxsey's formula had been used to treat thousands of patients, who testified to its efficacy. Was Hoxsey's recipe the work of a snake-oil charlatan or a legitimate treatment? Ken Ausubel directs this keen look into the forces that shape the policies of organized medicine.

Echo of the Mountain(2015)

Echo of the Mountain takes a look at the life and work of Santos de la Torre, a great Huichol artist who, like his people, lives in oblivion. Despite having made a great mural for the metro station Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre, Santos lives isolated and ignored in his country. This documentary follows his pilgrimage to Wirikuta, where he asks gods for permission to make a new mural; his journey across 385 miles of the Peyote Route, and Santos's creative process during the making of a new mural which aims to illustrate the history, mythology and religious traditions of the Huichol people.

The Road Forward(2017)

The Road Forward is an electrifying musical documentary that connects a pivotal moment in Canada’s civil rights history—the beginnings of Indian Nationalism in the 1930s—with the powerful momentum of First Nations activism today. Interviews and musical sequences describe how a tiny movement, the Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood, grew to become a successful voice for change across the country. Visually stunning, The Road Forward seamlessly connects past and present through superbly produced story-songs with soaring vocals, blues, rock, and traditional beats.

Mermaids(2017)

In this tribute to the eternal allure of an ancient myth, colourful fins and swimming pools fill the lives of five modern-day women who strive to embody the mysterious siren as part of a growing “mermaiding” subculture.

Judgment Day: Should the Guilty Go Free(2003)

Each year in the United States, over 200,000 prisoners face a parole board that must make the difficult judgment of whether these convicted criminals are ready to gain their freedom and return to society. This documentary focuses on three inmates in Louisiana, Nevada, and Massachusetts with a range of chilling crimes - a father's murder by his troubled son, a crime of passion by a respected NASA scientist, and a shooting/robbery on the streets of Las Vegas. Incorporating interviews of key characters with extensive testimony footage and reenactment sequences that explore the life and crime of the inmate, the film vividly examines the conflicting needs of the victim, the criminal, and the community while testing our own notions of justice.

Saving Africa's Witch Children(2008)

This shocking documentary reveals the plight of young Nigerians branded as witches.

The Black List: Volume Three(2010)

Documentary film interviews leading African Americans on race, identity, and achievement.

Finishing Heaven(2008)

On its surface, this is a film about a man returning to New York to finish the film he began in 1970, when he was a 22 year old film school hotshot. Along with his former lover and star of the film, they transfer the film, hire an editor, and get to work.

Diary of a Political Tourist(2004)

Following the 2002 HBO documentary "Journeys with George," Pelosi's irreverent account of George W. Bush on the campaign trail, she set out on the road again with a handful of distinguished men competing to see who could eat the most pies, raise the most money and get the most votes to become the Democratic Party nominee.

Latin Kings: A Street Gang Story(2007)

Documentary on Antonio "King Tone" Fernandez and his gang, the Latin Kings, whose main target was to protect Latin people.

Otar Iosseliani, le merle siffleur(2006)