Two American Families: 1991-2024(2024)
It’s a central premise of the American dream: If you’re willing to work hard, you’ll be able to make a living and build a better life for your children. But what if working hard isn’t enough to get ahead — or even to ensure your family’s basic financial stability? Two American Families: 1991-2024, a special, two-hour documentary filmed over more than 30 years, is a portrait of perseverance from FRONTLINE, Bill Moyers, and filmmakers Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes that raises unsettling questions about the changing nature of the American economy and the impact on people struggling to make a living. This is the saga of two families in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — one Black, the Stanleys, and one white, the Neumanns — who have spent the past 34 years battling to keep from sliding into poverty, and who refuse to give up despite the economic challenges that their stories reveal.
Movie: Two American Families: 1991-2024
Top 1 Billed Cast
Self
Video Trailer Two American Families: 1991-2024
All 1 videos
Two American Families: 1991-2024 (trailer) | FRONTLINE - Trailer
Recommendations Movies
One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5(en)
An inside look at the years of effort and craft that went into the final installment of the Duffer Brothers' generation-defining series.
Heart of a Dog(en)
Lyrical and powerfully personal essay film that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.
Life in a Day(en)
A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.
I Am Heath Ledger(en)
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
John Candy: I Like Me(en)
Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.
Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold(en)
Literary icon Joan Didion reflects on her remarkable career and personal struggles in this intimate documentary directed by her nephew, Griffin Dunne.
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction(en)
An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.
Gilbert(en)
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert(en)
Long-lost footage from Elvis Presley's legendary Las Vegas residency in the 1970s woven together with rare 16mm footage from Elvis on Tour, and 8mm from the Graceland archive, plus recordings of Elvis telling "his side of the story" rediscovered during Baz Luhrmann's research for his 2022 film, Elvis.
Hitchcock/Truffaut(en)
Filmmakers discuss the legacy of Alfred Hitchcock and the book “Hitchcock/Truffaut” (“Le cinéma selon Hitchcock”), written by François Truffaut and published in 1966.
Cameraperson(en)
As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.
This Is It(en)
A compilation of interviews, rehearsals and backstage footage of Michael Jackson as he prepared for his series of sold-out shows in London.
Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin(en)
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
End Game(en)
Filmed and edited in intimate vérité style, this movie follows visionary medical practitioners who are working on the cutting edge of life and death and are dedicated to changing our thinking about both.
For the Love of Spock(en)
The life of Mr. Spock, as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played him for almost fifty years, written and directed by his son: Adam.
Listen to Me Marlon(en)
With exclusive access to his extraordinary unseen and unheard personal archive including hundreds of hours of audio recorded over the course of his life, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career as an actor and his extraordinary life away from the stage and screen with Brando himself as your guide, the film will fully explore the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely from Marlon's perspective, entirely in his own voice. No talking heads, no interviewees, just Brando on Brando and life.
Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream(en)
Life Is But a Dream is a HBO documentary about the life of US singer Beyoncé Knowles during the years 2011 and 2012 and on the recording of her fifth album. The film was directed by Beyoncé herself. The film shows Beyoncé from intimate moments of her pregnancy to behind the scenes and rehearsals of the main concerts of that time.
The September Issue(en)
A documentary chronicling Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour's preparations for the 2007 fall-fashion issue.
Naqoyqatsi(en)
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty(en)
A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.
Similar Movies
A Goodbye to Blessed Realities(en)
A video essay that despite, multiple delays, finally released to document the story and cancellation of solo-dev Heavenly Den!'s game, Blessed Realities, as a way to bring closure to the game and the studio's story. The story is over.
Blush: An Extraordinary Voyage(fi)
For 18-year-old Finnish–Kosovan Fatu, a simple visit to the grocery store feels as nerve-racking as a lunar expedition: for the first time in his life, he’s wearing makeup in public. Luckily his best friend Rai, a young woman on the spectrum of autism, is there to ferociously support him through the voyage.
Larisa(ru)
Elem Klimov's tribute to his late wife, director Larisa Shepitko, killed in a car accident a year earlier. Features excerpts from all of her films, and archival audio of her discussing life and art.
Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr: Ronald Reagan(en)
The wish was father to the thought: instead of asking Mr. Reagan conventionally worded questions about his candidacy, as he had done Messrs. A discussion full of substance-on topics ranging from Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, to the way government bonds should be issued, to the still-ongoing energy crisis, to the still-high unemployment-but also a delicious dress rehearsal.
Bowery(en)
A compelling portrait of New Yorkers living on the streets as they struggle with mental health, addiction, and the onset of a global pandemic. This powerful documentary offers an unfiltered, at times mesmerizing glimpse into life on the margins, drawing viewers into the raw, human stories behind a deepening crisis.
TMZ Presents: Child Star Syndrome - Triumphs, Tragedies & Trolls(en)
Entertainment giants created a new generation of child stars in the social media era, creating some of Hollywood’s biggest names – and some of its most tragic tales.
Wir Werden Immer Weitergehen(de)
Music as a counter-project to a bourgeois existence: Musicians, club and label operators, record store owners and other music lovers talk about how, despite social and economic constraints, they realize their very different, bohemian and sometimes precarious life projects on the sidelines - and always go on. Detailed essays, experience reports, portraits and interviews are dedicated to the alternative music and club scene in Berlin and Hamburg.
All Man: The International Male Story(en)
A nostalgic and colorful peek behind the pages and personalities of International Male, one of the most ubiquitous and sought-after mail-order catalogs of the 80s and 90s.
Avenged Sevenfold Waking the Fallen Resurrected(en)
A documentary about the album Waking the Fallen.
Inside the Dream: Mugler(fr)
Revolutionary fragrances, Haute Couture and spectacular shows: in the world of luxury, Thierry Mugler broke every code. Enter into the backstage of the House: from treasured archives to new creations, from the conception of a new fragrance to designing a ready-to-wear collection with Casey Cadwallader, Mugler Fashion Creative Director, to a frenetic catwalk.
Sugarcane(en)
An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school in Canada ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.
Valentino: The Last Emperor(en)
Film which travels inside the singular world of one of Italy's most famous fashion designers, Valentino Garavani, documenting the colourful and dramatic closing act of his celebrated career and capturing the end of an era in global fashion. However, at the heart of the film is a love story - the unique relationship between Valentino and his business partner and companion of 50 years, Giancarlo Giammetti. Capturing intimate moments in the lives of two of Italy's richest and most famous men, the film lifts the curtain on the final act of a nearly 50-year reign at the top of the glamorous and fiercely competitive world of fashion. (Storyville)
Girls State(en)
What would American democracy look like in the hands of teenage girls? In this documentary, young female leaders from wildly different backgrounds in Missouri navigate an immersive experiment to build a government from the ground up.
Paula Says Hi(en)
A personal and intimate portrait of disabled, gender fluid cosplayer Paul/Paula. Inviting us into her world, Paula lives life to the full, embracing her passion for cosplay and sci-fi conventions. Paul offers his intimate thoughts on accepting their disability and the joy of gender euphoria.
Big Red House(az)
The documentary sheds light on the lives of children who suffered physical and psychological trauma due to the terrorist attacks by Armenia on the eve of the Second Karabakh War.
The First Rain(en)
A record in 35mm film of the first drenching rain on Los Angeles after the devastation of the wildfires.