Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope (2019)

(0) based on 0 votes
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn explore the causes and costs of addiction, poverty and incarceration plaguing America, from the inner city to small towns like Kristof's hometown of Yamhill, Oregon. While pockets of empathy and aid exist, are they enough to rescue the thousands of Americans in despair, for whom the American Dream of self-reliance is impossibly out of reach?
Directors
Release Date
Nov 13, 2019
Runtime
01h 57m
Genre
Available in streaming on

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn explore the causes and costs of addiction, poverty and incarceration plaguing America, from the inner city to small towns like Kristof's hometown of Yamhill, Oregon. While pockets of empathy and aid exist, are they enough to rescue the thousands of Americans in despair, for whom the American Dream of self-reliance is impossibly out of reach?

Movies like Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope

Land Without Bread

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.
Search similar movies
7.1
Land+Without+Bread
Land Without Bread

1933

Search similar movies
Finding the Money

FINDING THE MONEY follows economist Stephanie Kelton on a journey through Modern Money Theory or “MMT”. Kelton provocatively asserts the National Debt Clock that ticks ominously upwards in New York City is not actually a debt for us taxpayers at all, nor a burden for our grandchildren to pay back. Instead, Kelton describes the national debt as simply a historical record of the number of dollars created by the US federal government currently being held in pockets, as assets, by the rest of us. MMT bursts into the media with journalists asking, “Have we been thinking about how the government spends money, all wrong?” But top economists from across the political spectrum condemn the theory as “voodoo economics”, “crazy” and “a crackpot theory”. FINDING THE MONEY traces the conflict all the way back to the story we tell about money, injecting new hope and empowering countries around the world to tackle the biggest challenges of the 21st century: from climate change to inequality.
Search similar movies
6.4
Finding+the+Money
Finding the Money

2024

Search similar movies
The Journey

Peter Watkins' global look at the impact of military use of nuclear technology and people's perception of it, as well as a meditation on the inherent bias of the media, and documentaries themselves.
Search similar movies
3.8
The+Journey
The Journey

1987

Search similar movies
Roger & Me

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.
Search similar movies
7.1
Roger+%26+Me
Roger & Me

1989

Search similar movies
Meth Storm

As police and DEA agents battle sophisticated cartels, rural, economically-disadvantaged users and dealers–whose addiction to ICE and lack of job opportunities have landed them in an endless cycle of poverty and incarceration–are caught in the middle.
Search similar movies
6.3
Meth+Storm
Meth Storm

2017

Search similar movies
Collapse

From the acclaimed director of American Movie, the documentary follows former Los Angeles police officer turned independent reporter Michael Ruppert. He recounts his career as a radical thinker and spells out his apocalyptic vision of the future, spanning the crises in economics, energy, environment and more.
Search similar movies
7.2
Collapse
Escape from the World's Most Dangerous Place

Successful model Samira Hashi makes an emotional return to Somalia, one of the most dangerous places in the world and the place she was born. Civil war broke out in 1991, 10 days after Samira's birth, but two years later her family managed to flee the country and she grew up in the UK.Now, as Samira and the war both turn 21, she's going back for the first time to visit the people and places she left behind. The contrast with her safe and glamorous life in London could not be starker as she experiences firsthand the war's effect on a generation of young people growing up in conflict.
Search similar movies
10.0
Escape+from+the+World%27s+Most+Dangerous+Place
Escape from the World's Most Dangerous Place

2012

Search similar movies
Zeitgeist

A documentary examining possible historical and modern conspiracies surrounding Christianity, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the Federal Reserve bank.
Search similar movies
7.0
Zeitgeist
Let's Make Money

Let’s Make Money is an Austrian documentary by Erwin Wagenhofer released in the year 2008. It is about aspects of the development of the world wide financial system.
Search similar movies
7.5
Let%27s+Make+Money
Let's Make Money

2008

Search similar movies
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

A documentary about the Enron corporation, its faulty and corrupt business practices, and how they led to its fall.
Search similar movies
7.2
Enron%3A+The+Smartest+Guys+in+the+Room
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

2005

Search similar movies
Capitalism: A Love Story

Michael Moore comes home to the issue he's been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world).
Search similar movies
7.1
Capitalism%3A+A+Love+Story
Capitalism: A Love Story

2009

Search similar movies
Zeitgeist: Addendum

Zeitgeist: Addendum premiered at the 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival. Director Peter Joseph stated: "The failure of our world to resolve the issues of war, poverty, and corruption, rests within a gross ignorance about what guides human behavior to begin with. It address the true source of the instability in our society, while offering the only fundamental, long-term solution."
Search similar movies
7.2
Zeitgeist%3A+Addendum
Zeitgeist: Addendum

2008

Search similar movies
Cuba and the Cameraman

This revealing portrait of Cuba follows the lives of Fidel Castro and three Cuban families affected by his policies over the last four decades.
Search similar movies
7.5
Cuba+and+the+Cameraman
Cuba and the Cameraman

2017

Search similar movies
The China Hustle

An unsettling and eye-opening Wall Street horror story about Chinese companies, the American stock market, and the opportunistic greed behind the biggest heist you've never heard of.
Search similar movies
7.2
The+China+Hustle
The China Hustle

2018

Search similar movies
The Corporation

Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.
Search similar movies
7.6
The+Corporation
The Corporation

2003

Search similar movies
The Shock Doctrine

An investigation of "disaster capitalism", based on Naomi Klein's proposition that neo-liberal capitalism feeds on natural disasters, war and terror to establish its dominance.
Search similar movies
7.1
The+Shock+Doctrine
The Shock Doctrine

2009

Search similar movies
Maxed Out

Maxed Out takes us on a journey deep inside the American debt-style, where everything seems okay as long as the minimum monthly payment arrives on time. Sure, most of us may have that sinking feeling that something isn't quite right, but we're told not to worry. After all, there's always more credit!
Search similar movies
6.8
Maxed+Out
Inside Job

A film that exposes the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, Inside Job traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia.
Search similar movies
7.7
Inside+Job
Inside Job

2010

Search similar movies
Chasing Madoff

A look at how one investigator spent ten years trying to expose Bernie Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme that scammed an estimated $18 billion from investors.
Search similar movies
5.6
Chasing+Madoff
Chasing Madoff

2010

Search similar movies
The Forecaster

MARTIN ARMSTRONG, once a US based trillion dollar financial adviser, used the number pi to predict economic turning points with precision. When some big New York bankers asked him to join the club to help them to take over Russia, he refused to join the manipulation. A few days later the FBI stormed his offices accusing him of a 3 billion dollar Ponzi Scheme - an attempt to stop him talking about the real Ponzi Scheme of debts that the US has build up over the years and which he thinks starts to collapse after October 1, 2015, a mayor pi turning point he is predicting.
Search similar movies
6.8
The+Forecaster
The Forecaster

2014

Search similar movies
Food for Profit

The film exposes the links between Agrifood and politics. With a pool of international experts it analyses the many problems related to factory farming: water pollution, migrants exploitation, biodiversity loss and antibiotic resistance.
Search similar movies
8.0
Food+for+Profit
Food for Profit

2024

Search similar movies
Laboratory Greece

A journey through Greece and Europe’s past and recent history: from the Second World War to the current crisis. It is a historical documentary, a look into many stories. «If Democracy can be destroyed in Greece, it can be destroyed throughout Europe» Paul Craig Roberts
Search similar movies
8.0
Laboratory+Greece
Laboratory Greece

2019

Search similar movies
Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?

Heist: Who Stole the American Dream? reveals how American corporations orchestrated the dismantling of middle-class prosperity through rampant deregulation, the outsourcing of jobs, and tax policies favoring businesses and the wealthy. The collapse of the U.S. economy is the result of conscious choices made over thirty five years by a small group: leaders of corporations and their elected allies, and the biggest lobbying interest in Washington, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. To these individuals, the collapse is not a catastrophe, but rather the planned outcome of their long, patient work. For the rest of the country, it is merely the biggest heist in American history.
Search similar movies
7.7
Heist%3A+Who+Stole+the+American+Dream%3F
Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?

2012

Search similar movies
The Mouth of the Wolf

Upon his release from prison, an ex-convict returns to his beloved city of Genoa, and to his lover.
Search similar movies
6.2
The+Mouth+of+the+Wolf
The Mouth of the Wolf

2009

Search similar movies
La Soufrière: Waiting for an Inevitable Catastrophe

Werner Herzog takes a film crew to the island of Guadeloupe when he hears that the volcano on the island is going to erupt. Everyone has left, except for one old man who refuses to leave.
Search similar movies
7.3
La+Soufri%C3%A8re%3A+Waiting+for+an+Inevitable+Catastrophe
La Soufrière: Waiting for an Inevitable Catastrophe

1977

Search similar movies
Children in Crisis: The Story of CHIP

In the midst of a catastrophic steel industry collapse, a remarkable grassroots community effort leads to a national healthcare program that helps more than 200 million children...and counting.
Search similar movies
Children+in+Crisis%3A+The+Story+of+CHIP
Children in Crisis: The Story of CHIP

2024

Search similar movies
Something Better to Come

Right outside of Moscow – home to the highest number of billionaires pr. capita – you’ll find the largest junkyard in the world: The Svalka. It’s a hard place run by the Russian mafia. And it's where Yula lives with her mother, her friends and many other people. Life is tough in the Svalka, but it’s also a place where beauty and humanity can arise from the most unlikely conditions. It is from this place that Yula dreams of escaping and changing her life, even if it seems impossible. Oscar-nominated director Hanna Polak followed Yula for 14 years, bringing us along on Yula's journey to achieve this dream.
Search similar movies
6.7
Something+Better+to+Come
Something Better to Come

2014

Search similar movies
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks

A detailed look at the gradual decline of Shenyang’s industrial Tiexi district, an area that was once a vibrant example of China’s socialist economy. But industry is changing, and the factories of Tiexi are closing. Director Wang Bing introduces us to some of the workers affected by the closures, and to their families.
Search similar movies
7.7
Tie+Xi+Qu%3A+West+of+the+Tracks
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks

2003

Search similar movies
Princes of the Yen

Set in 20th Century Japan the documentary explores the role and power of Central Banks and how they can be used to change a country's economic political and social structures A documentary adaption off the book by Professor Richard Werner.
Search similar movies
7.3
Princes+of+the+Yen
Princes of the Yen

2014

Search similar movies
The True Cost

Film from Andrew Morgan. The True Cost is a documentary film exploring the impact of fashion on people and the planet.
Search similar movies
7.5
The+True+Cost
The True Cost

2015

Search similar movies
Laissez-faire

A historical perspective to understand Neoliberalism and to understand why this ideology today so profoundly influences the choices of our governments and our lives.
Search similar movies
10.0
Laissez-faire
Laissez-faire

2015

Search similar movies
The Flaw

The story of the credit bubble that caused the financial crash. Through interviews with some of the world's leading economists, including housing expert Robert Shiller, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, and economic historian Louis Hyman, as well as Wall Street insiders and victims of the crash including Ed Andrews - a former economics correspondent for The New York Times who found himself facing foreclosure - and Andrew Luan, once a bond trader at Deutsche Bank now running his own Wall Street tour guide business, the film presents an original and compelling account of the toxic combination of forces that nearly destroyed the world economy.
Search similar movies
6.8
The+Flaw
Trailblazers: The New Zealand Story

New Zealand is a place of great natural beauty and resources, of pioneering immigrants from the Maori to the more recent settlers. They’re fierce, hardy, and strong, able to withstand challenges like the massive economic challenge they faced in the mid 1980’s. With their economy unraveling, they made huge, controversial changes, including doing away with farm subsidies and protectionist import controls. At first, it hurt. A lot. But now, the farmers and the fishers, the people and the economy, are prospering. And they wouldn’t go back to subsidies, special interests, or support for manufacturers. Travel to New Zealand with scholar Johan Norberg to meet some amazing Kiwis and see how they blazed a trail to economic prosperity.
Search similar movies
Trailblazers%3A+The+New+Zealand+Story
Trailblazers: The New Zealand Story

2017

Search similar movies
Four Horsemen

Documentary about the modern apocalypse caused by a rapacious banking system. 23 leading thinkers – frustrated at the failure of their respective disciplines – break their silence to explain how the world really works.
Search similar movies
7.1
Four+Horsemen
Four Horsemen

2012

Search similar movies
System Error

Melting glaciers, gullied seas, the financial markets are about to collapse. Spectacular images of how growth continues to be blinding. Outside you can hardly see anything because of the smog and the smoke screen.
Search similar movies
7.2
System+Error
System Error

2018

Search similar movies
Requiem for the American Dream

Through interviews filmed over four years, Noam Chomsky unpacks the principles that have brought us to the crossroads of historically unprecedented inequality – tracing a half-century of policies designed to favor the most wealthy at the expense of the majority – while also looking back on his own life of activism and political participation. He provides penetrating insight into what may well be the lasting legacy of our time – the death of the middle class, and swan song of functioning democracy.
Search similar movies
7.7
Requiem+for+the+American+Dream
Requiem for the American Dream

2015

Search similar movies
Surviving Progress

Humanity’s ascent is often measured by the speed of progress. But what if progress is actually spiraling us downwards, towards collapse? Ronald Wright, whose best-seller, “A Short History Of Progress” inspired “Surviving Progress”, shows how past civilizations were destroyed by “progress traps”—alluring technologies and belief systems that serve immediate needs, but ransom the future. As pressure on the world’s resources accelerates and financial elites bankrupt nations, can our globally-entwined civilization escape a final, catastrophic progress trap? With potent images and illuminating insights from thinkers who have probed our genes, our brains, and our social behaviour, this requiem to progress-as-usual also poses a challenge: to prove that making apes smarter isn’t an evolutionary dead-end.
Search similar movies
7.3
Surviving+Progress
Surviving Progress

2011

Search similar movies
Stealing Africa

Zambia's copper resources have not made the country rich. Virtually all Zambia's copper mines are owned by corporations. In the last ten years, they've extracted copper worth $29 billion but Zambia is still ranked one of the twenty poorest countries in the world. So why hasn't copper wealth reduced poverty in Zambia? Once again it comes down to the issue of tax, or in Zambia's case, tax avoidance and the use of tax havens. Tax avoidance by corporations costs poor countries and estimated $160 billion a year, almost double what they receive in international aid. That's enough to save the lives of 350,000 children aged five or under every year. For every $1 given in aid to a poor country, $10 drains out. Vital money that could help a poor country pay for healthcare, schools, pensions and infrastructure. Money that would make them less reliant on aid.
Search similar movies
8.9
Stealing+Africa
Stealing Africa

2012

Search similar movies
Black Pete – No, You're It

A drama-documentary film about the fatal effect of poor living conditions on health – the so-called "social inheritance." The principal characters in the film are two fourteen or fifteen-year-old children, Carl and Hanne. Covering a hundred-year period and drawing on case stories recorded by actual hospital staff, the film illustrates a number of variations of "the same old story."
Search similar movies
Black+Pete+%E2%80%93+No%2C+You%27re+It
Black Pete – No, You're It

1980

Search similar movies
Inequality for All

Based on Reich's 2010 book Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, the film examines widening income inequality in the United States. U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich tries to raise awareness of the country's widening economic gap. He publicly argued about the issue for decades, and producing a film of his viewpoints was a "final frontier" for him. In addition to being a social issue documentary, Inequality for All is also partially a biopic regarding Reich's early life and his time as Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton's presidency. Warren Buffett and Nick Hanauer, two entrepreneurs and investors in the top 1%, are interviewed in the film, supporting Reich's belief in an economy that benefits all citizens, including those of the middle and lower classes.
Search similar movies
7.5
Inequality+for+All
Inequality for All

2013

Search similar movies
People of the Po Valley

A documentary short detailing the life of Italians living on the Po River in the 1940s.
Search similar movies
6.5
People+of+the+Po+Valley
People of the Po Valley

1947

Search similar movies
97% Owned

97% owned present serious research and verifiable evidence on our economic and financial system. This is the first documentary to tackle this issue from a UK-perspective and explains the inner workings of Central Banks and the Money creation process. When money drives almost all activity on the planet, it's essential that we understand it. Yet simple questions often get overlooked, questions like; where does money come from? Who creates it? Who decides how it gets used? And what does this mean for the millions of ordinary people who suffer when the monetary, and financial system, breaks down? Produced by Queuepolitely and featuring Ben Dyson of Positive Money, Josh Ryan-Collins of The New Economics Foundation, Ann Pettifor, the "HBOS Whistleblower" Paul Moore, Simon Dixon of Bank to the Future and Nick Dearden from the Jubliee Debt Campaign.
Search similar movies
7.5
97%25+Owned