Fairtown
★ 7.5 · 2021 · 9m · Documentary
The Iowa State Fair draws millions of people to the city of Des Moines every year. However, this film is not about the Iowa State Fair or the people who attend. It's about where they park their cars. Inspired by the classic documentary, "Heavy Metal Parking Lot".
More Like This


The Aryans
2014 · ★ 6.7
THE ARYANS is Mo Asumang's personal journey into the madness of racism during which she meets German neo-Nazis, the US leading racist, the notorious Tom Metzger and Ku Klux Klan members in the alarming twilight of the Midwest. In The ARYANS Mo questions the completely wrong interpretation of "Aryanism" - a phenomenon of the tall, blond and blue-eyed master race.
More info →
Chiefsaholic: A Wolf in Chiefs Clothing
2024 · ★ 7
Recognized for his distinctive wolf costume and boisterous social media antics, Xaviar Babudar aka ChiefsAholic rose to fame as one of Kansas City's most fervent fans. However, a secret life came to light when he was arrested in Bixby, Oklahoma, unraveling a series of unsolved bank robberies committed across the Midwest.
More info →
Drawings by Billy and His Friends
2011
In this experimental short film, Kristian Day collected artwork created by the public. He found the majority of the pieces at "Sharpie marker demonstration tables" and it took almost a year to collect the artwork. All pieces were created by chance with no prior thought. He originally intended on using the photos for a collage canvas piece, however after deciding that a short film would stand the test of time longer, he took individual shots of over 30 pieces. The drone music was created using a variety of simple sound generators & tapes that are being manipulated by delays, filters, and reverberation effects.
More info →
Brent Houzenga: Hybrid Pioneer
2010
A documentary about an Iowa artist who made his career from two antique photo albums that he found in the trash. It has been four years since he originally found the two photo albums and since then he has had featured exhibits around the country. This is the first film in the MADE IN IOWA documentary series.
More info →
American Dream
1990 · ★ 7.3
When workers at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota are asked to take a substantial pay cut in a highly profitable year, the local labor union decides to go on strike and fight for a wage they believe is fair. But as the work stoppage drags on and the strikers face losing everything, friends become enemies, families are divided and the very future of this typical mid American town is threatened.
More info →
Grand Kankakee Marsh: Everglades of the North
2012 · ★ 4.2
Less than a century ago, there was an area in the Midwest that resembled the swamplands of Florida's Everglades. Sometimes called the "Everglades of the North", The Grand Kankakee Marsh once saturated nearly a million acres in Northern Indiana and a portion of Illinois. Everglades of the North: The Story of the Grand Kankakee Marsh, reveals the diverse ecology, illustrates the astonishing history, and explores the controversial saga of the Grand Kankakee Marsh in how people have used and perceived this wetland for more than 10,000 years.
More info →
Leaders of Madison’s Black Renaissance
2022 · ★ 8
Despite Blacks making up only 7% of Madison WI's population, they are leading in so many important areas from education to politics, and are launching so many multi-million dollar projects that people describe this period as a "Black Renaissance."
More info →
Hull Fair
1902
The ornate pavilions of cinematographs, boxing booths and menageries at Hull Fair.
More info →Citizen
2021
A collection of personal anecdotes from those who have navigated through a tumultuous year in America.
More info →
Plastic Him
2022
A self portrait filmed with a modified PXL 2000 Camcorder. The camcorder itself records on to audio cassette tape. The tapes themselves are recycled which means I have recorded over them several causing them to slowly degrade.
More info →
Devil's Dyke Fun Fair
1896 · ★ 2
Early film footage of fun fair workers and revelers at Devil's Dyke on the South Downs, taken by pioneer James Williamson in around 1896. At a fair at Devil's Dyke, boys scrap beside wooden swing boats. Others, wearing dark suits, watch chains and caps, stretch up to push one of the swing boats. The boys are aware of the camera, which films them from a fixed position. A couple swing sticks in the air, playing up to the camera while the boys work. At the merry-go-round, two women stand in the foreground. They wear shirts with full pleated sleeves and boaters. Other visitors to the fair pass by the camera, including a man with a pipe and a woman with a wide cloak. Young visitors ride on a track, the South Downs in view behind. They cycle, turning a wheel in front of them. An open-top carriage rides away from the camera and back again along a switchback railway, driven by a worker who jumps on and off.
More info →