John Waters
Birthday: 1946-04-22
Place of Birth: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Biography: John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). Waters wrote and directed the comedy film Hairspray (1988), which was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 musical film. Other films he has written and directed include Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), and Cecil B. Demented (2000). His films contain elements of post-modern comedy and surrealism. As an actor, Waters has appeared in Sweet and Lowdown (1999), 'Til Death Do Us Part (2007), Mangus! (2011), Excision (2012), Suburban Gothic (2014), and has appeared in the Child's Play franchise with Seed of Chucky (2004) and third season of the television series Chucky (2024). He hosted and produced the television series John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You (2006). Throughout his career, Waters has often collaborated with actor and drag queen Divine and his regular cast of the Dreamlanders. More recently, he performs in his touring one-man show This Filthy World. Waters also works as a visual artist and across different media, such as installations, photography, and sculpture. The audiobooks he narrated for his books Carsick and Mr. Know-It-All were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2015 and 2020, respectively. In 2018, Waters was named an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in France. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.
Movies
Mommie Dearest: Joan Lives On
Documentary which focuses more on the impact of the film upon its release and how it has seeped into...
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Seed of Chucky
This time around, Chucky and his homicidal honey, Tiffany, are brought back to life by their orphan ...
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Something Wild
A free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dan...
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The Velvet Underground
Experience the iconic rock band's legacy in the first major documentary to tell their story. Directe...
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Thinking XXX
For a book project, photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders took photographs of 30 stars of adult mo...
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Blood, Guts and Sunshine: The History of Horror Made in Florida
Explore the independent horror film scene that Florida has been vigorously pumping out since the inv...
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Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
The Salton Sea: An inland ocean of massive fish kills, rotting resorts, and 120 degree nights locate...
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Sweet and Lowdown
In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love ...
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The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels
THE WILD WORLD OF TED V. MIKELS, a new documentary by Kevin Sean Michaels (no blood relation to Ted,...
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Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat
A cannibal caterer kills various young women in preparation for a ritual feast for a long-dormant Eg...
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Little Richard: I Am Everything
The story of the black, gay origins of rock n' roll. It explodes the whitewashed canon of American p...
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Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
From 1970-1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch films....
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This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which th...
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Jingle Bell Rocks!
In JINGLE BELL ROCKS!, director Mitchell Kezin delves into the minds of some of the world’s most leg...
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It Came from Kuchar
It Came from Kuchar is the definitive, feature documentary about the legendary, underground filmmaki...
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Homer and Eddie
A mentally disabled man gets help from a sociopath when he tries to reunite with his dying father, w...
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This Filthy World
In this filmed version of cult film director John Waters' popular one-man show, the Pink Flamingos a...
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William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
A riveting and emotional journey into the world of writer William S. Burroughs, a man considered as ...
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Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story
Seed Money is the story of Chuck Holmes, a San Francisco pornographer turned philanthropist. Holmes ...
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Pink Flamingos
Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against Connie & Raymond Marble, ...
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The Book of Harth
A New York City-based conceptual artist embarks on a 20-year art project asking culturally significa...
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Divine Trash
The life and times of Baltimore film maker and midnight movie pioneer, John Waters....
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Mangus!
When Mangus Spedgwick suffers an unforeseen tragedy that causes him to lose the role of Jesus in his...
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Excision
An outcast teenager, Pauline, practices surgical skills and harbors increasingly violent psychosexua...
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My Life with the Waters
Vito Zagarrio, who in 1985 directed the famous documentary "Divine Waters", after 40 years goes agai...
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Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press
A look at the life and work of American publisher Barney Rosset, who struggled to bring controversia...
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Yesterday's Tomorrows
Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related strand of feature-length documentaries in w...
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Mansome
From America's greatest beardsman, to Morgan Spurlock's own mustache, Executive Producers Will Arnet...
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The Advocate for Fagdom
The Advocate for Fagdom unites the puzzle pieces one by one. Testimonies are combined with rare arch...
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Love Letter to Edie
A documentary about actress Edith Massey in which she talks about her life and her career in film....
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Paul Bowles: The Cage Door Is Always Open
The American composer and author Paul Bowles was a man with a great deal of charisma and influence. ...
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In Bad Taste
A documentary on the career of filmmaker John Waters. Featuring interviews with actors and fellow fi...
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Lynch/Oz
Victor Fleming’s 1939 film The Wizard of Oz is one of David Lynch’s most enduring obsessions. This d...
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A History of Sex
Andres Serrano (born August 15, 1950 in New York City) is an American photographer and artist who ha...
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That Man: Peter Berlin
He slept with Sal Mineo, was photographed by Andy Warhol, and he was lusted after by millions of men...
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I Am Divine
Harris Glenn Milstead, aka Divine (1945-1988) was the ultimate outsider turned underground hero. Spi...
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Tell Me Iggy
This new intimate documentary looks at the extraordinary journey of the 75-year-old American rocker,...
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Beautiful Darling
James Rasin's documentary “Beautiful Darling” honors American Transgender actress and best-known War...
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God Save the Queens
Creative documentary on the drag queen movement and its origins in Paris, New York and Madrid....
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Living with Chucky
A filmmaker who grew up alongside Chucky the killer doll seeks out the other families surrounding th...
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The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players: Off & On Broadway
A documentary on the vaudevillian art-pop band....
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Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore
Take an outrageous ride through this wild world of exploitation films with this thoroughly entertain...
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42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
Making-of documentary about the 1933 musical, 42nd Street....
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Suburban Gothic
An awkward, unemployed man who can talk to the dead teams up with a rebellious bartender to find the...
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Mary Woronov: Cult Queen
The documentary explores the enigma of actress and artist Mary Woronov and chronicles her colorful c...
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These Amazing Shadows
Tells the history and importance of The National Film Registry, a roll call of American cinema treas...
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Fragments of Paradise
For over 70 years, Jonas Mekas, internationally known as the "godfather" of avant-garde cinema, docu...
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The Junior Defenders
The Junior Defenders is a quirky comedy about the cast of a 1970s TV superhero show. With a fan base...
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Scala!!!
This feature-length big screen documentary tells the riotous inside story of the infamous sex, drugs...
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The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies
A love story about the legendary sexploitation director Joe Sarno and his loyal wife and business pa...
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At the Video Store
Equal parts personal essay, intense rumination, and playful satire, this movie laments the death of ...
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All the Dirt on 'A Dirty Shame'
John Waters and the cast and crew of "A Dirty Shame" discuss sex addiction, sexual terms and all thi...
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The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin
Guy Maddin, who has been nicknamed the Canadian David Lynch, is undoubtedly one of the last remainin...
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New Line Cinema: The First Generation and the Next Generation
Documentary on New Line Cinema, made by the studio for its 40th anniversary...
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Sylvester: Mighty Real
A short documentary about the Disco legend Sylvester. Sylvester James began as a child gospel singer...
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Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
A chronological look at films by, for, or about gays and lesbians in the United States, from 1947 to...
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Tab Hunter Confidential
Throughout the 1950s, Tab Hunter reigned as Hollywood’s ultimate male heartthrob. But throughout his...
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A Summer with Joe, Liz and Richard
Shot between Sardinia, Rome, London, Paris, Baltimore and Los Angeles, the film tells of the arrival...
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Each Time I Kill
A shy high school senior (Paralta) finds a magic locket that will allow her to trade one physical fe...
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Wall Writers
Wall Writers promises unprecedented access to the early years of American graffiti. Interviews with ...
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365 Day Project
This exhibition focuses on Jonas Mekas’ 365 Day Project, a succession of films and videos in calenda...
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Blank City
In the years before Ronald Reagan took office, Manhattan was in ruins. But true art has never come f...
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Hairspray
Pleasantly plump teenager Tracy Turnblad auditions to be on Baltimore's most popular dance show - Th...
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(buz'be bur'kle) n. A Study in Style
A featurette about the distinctive film work of Busby Berkeley....
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TURA!
The one and only Tura Satana. Best remembered for her role as the fierce Varla in Russ Meyer’s 1965 ...
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Mansfield 66/67
About the last two years of movie goddess Jayne Mansfield’s life and the speculation swirling around...
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Jackass Number Two
Jackass Number Two is a compilation of various stunts, pranks and skits, and essentially has no plot...
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Whatever Happened to Gelitin
Art dealer Salvatore Viviano and director Angela Christlieb embark on a search for the lost artist c...
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Welcome to Hollywood
A film director decides to chart the course of a young actor as he tries to make it in Hollywood......
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Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
In this entrancing documentary on performance artist, photographer and underground filmmaker Jack Sm...
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Edith's Shopping Bag
An American short documentary video about the opening of Edith Massey's thrift store in Baltimore....
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Abby Singer
Chronicles the life of Curtis Clemins, who is torn between the love of his life and accomplishing hi...
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Growing Up with John Waters
Growing Up with John Waters, the self-proclaimed Pope of Trash and king of US Independent Cinema. Jo...
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Way USA!
Way USA, a pilot for a punk/comedy travelogue that was done for MTV in 1988 and hosted by Tesco Vee ...
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Meet The Kuchar Brothers
Provides a rare glimpse into the world of George and Mike Kuchar, underground filmmaking brothers fr...
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Gastronomic Getaway
Writes Kuchar, "The magnificent Mono Lake becomes the centerpiece for this car trip through Yosemite...
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I, of the Cyclops
A poem is read and emotions are unleashed. A book is signed and pets pampered as this tour of talent...
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Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
Through a series of misunderstandings, Alvin, Simon and Theodore come to believe that Dave is going ...
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Memories of Oz
Interviews with filmmakers/fans Willard Carroll and John Waters, Stephen Cox, author of The Munchkin...
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Sickies Making Films
A love letter to film history, Sickies Making Films looks at our urge to censor movies and asks, Why...
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Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story
Documentary about American artist and former Warhol superstar, Brigid Berlin....
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Inside Deep Throat
In 1972, a seemingly typical shoestring budget pornographic film was made in a Florida hotel: "Deep ...
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It Came from... Baltimore!!
Documentary about the making of John Waters' 1990 film Cry-Baby....
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Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
Chronicles the last great American showman, filmmaker William Castle, a master of ballyhoo who becam...
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Forever Hollywood
Noted Hollywood stars and directors talk about the history and evolution of the film industry in Los...
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Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution
A documentary on Queercore, the cultural and social movement that began as an offshoot of punk and w...
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The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
Nan Goldin's slide show “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency” converted, mixed and screened as a film by...
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Mugworth
Old Bellousinni hates Christmas above all things. Living alone in his great mansion with his butler,...
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Starz Inside: In the Gutter
From the moment Shakespeare wrote his first fart joke, audiences have loved gross-out humor. In this...
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Coven of the Heathenites
A summer sojourn is fleshed out for maximum solar exposure in this video travelogue of sun, sea and ...
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Jessica the Hippo
A tv documentary about a domestic hippo named Jessica and her love for sweet potatoes. Narrated by f...
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Serial Mom
Beverly is the perfect happy homemaker, along with her doting husband and two children, but this nuc...
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In Conversation With Director John Waters, Actress Kathleen Turner and Actress Mink Stole
An in-depth interview with John Waters, Kathleen Turner and Mink Stole on the making of Serial Mom....
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Ballyhoo: The Hollywood Sideshow!
This documentary celebrates the ridiculous stunts used by Hollywood over the years to market its wor...
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The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo
A square sound engineer employs unusual research efforts to reveal the secrets behind the quintessen...
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The Cockettes
Documentary about the gender-bending San Francisco performance group who became a pop culture phenom...
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Anthem
When twenty-six-year-olds Shainee Gabel and Kristin Hahn quit their Hollywood jobs, packed up a borr...
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Sympathy for the Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment
Google 'The Process Church of the Final Judgement' and you'll discover a long list of conspiracy the...
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Pecker
A Baltimore teenager who picks up a second-hand camera starts snapping his way to stardom, soon turn...
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Cecil B. Demented
A young lunatic director and his devoted cult of cinema terrorists kidnap a Hollywood movie goddess ...
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Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness
From "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" to "The Big Lebowski" and everything in between, this fascinati...
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Time Warp Vol. 2: Horror and Sci-Fi
The greatest cult horror and science fiction films of all-time are studied in vivid detail in the se...
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Frankenstein: A Modern Myth
From Boris Karloff to Mel Brooks - Frankenstein has fired the imagination of generations of artists ...
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Hairspray
'Pleasantly plump' teenager Tracy Turnblad achieves her dream of becoming a regular on the Corny Col...
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Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn
Legendary and controversial attorney Roy Cohn was a power broker in the rough and tumble world of Ne...
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For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
The story of American film criticism....
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Mondo Trasho
A day in the lives of a hit-and-run driver and her victim, and the bizarre things that happen to the...
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Divine Waters
This documentary focuses on the careers of influential partners in trash film, John Waters and Divin...
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Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp
The final volume of Time Warp digs deep into what makes us laugh over and over again as we reveal th...
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Joel Calls Indie Film Type Dudes
Joel Potrykus calls fellow indie filmmakers during the pandemic crisis to check in and see how they'...
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Crime and Beauty: Making ‘Female Trouble’
Interview outtakes from Jeffrey Schwarz's 2013 documentary 'I Am Divine' which feature director John...
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30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing
Over 30 filmmakers and friends of Strand Releasing have come together to honor the company’s indelib...
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Treasures Untold: The Making of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid'
Find out how the spectacular music inspired the animation, and learn more about the development of t...
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Anarchy TV
A group of anarchists use their public-access TV show to satirize the government until a right-wing ...
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Don't Fall in Love with Yourself
A documentary about the life and music of Justin Pearson. An enigmatic underground musician and owne...
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Doc of Chucky
The story of the cult horror empire through interviews with cast, crew, and horror icons such as Don...
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Closer Than That: A Documentary on Low
Shot over the course of two years, Closer Than That finds the members of Duluth "slo-core" band Low ...
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As Time Goes By
Anthony Vaccarello presents “As Time Goes By,” inspired by Marcel Proust's masterpiece, In Search of...
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It's Dorothy!
Since Dorothy Gale started her epic journey down the Yellow Brick Road over a century ago in THE WON...
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Velvet Vision: The Story of James Bidgood and the Making of Pink Narcissus
Velvet Vision is a raw and intimate portrait of James Bidgood, the visionary artist behind the cult ...
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Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh
After four seasons (and counting) on Saturday Night Live, Sarah Sherman's unholy alter ego, Sarah Sq...
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The Fancy Gentleman
After watching a romantic movie, Minnie decides to hire an instructor to teach Mickey how to be a fa...
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Baltigore
A series of peculiar stories throughout time, all taking place in the haunting town of historic Balt...
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