Unlikely Treasures

The Cars We Drove into Capitalism

October 2021 •Bulgarian

A cinematic, character-driven insight to what it meant to produce and to own a car in communist times: the Socialist propaganda dreams and the hard reality of living that dream. The freedom that these slow and clumsy vehicles were giving to their owners; the cars as an instrument in the Cold War battle; legends and homemade tune-ups as an attempt to stand at least a little bit off the crowd.

People's Stuff

January 1992 •English

People's Stuff is a document of six collectors of unusual objects. Creating an environment for storytelling, the subjects reveal inner dreams and motivations as they share both their collections and their lives with the viewer. Charmaine Burrell collects Purple Cows. Fred Crane, Professor Emeritus of Musicology at the University of Iowa, collects jaw harps (he calls the instrument a trump). George Preston collected commercial signs. Ruth Rasmussen is in the Guinness Book of World Records for her salt and pepper shaker collection. Irene Redfearn collects sea shells and Craig Starr, spark plugs. Ruth Rasmussen is in the Guinness Book of World Records for her salt and pepper shaker collection. Irene Redfearn collects sea shells and Craig Starr, spark plugs.

The Last Move

October 2015 •English

Michael Thomasson has devoted his life to video games. It's been his passion and his obsession for more than three decades. He owns over 11,000 unique game titles for more than 100 different systems. Why? Because there's something wrong in the back of my head, he says. His collection is so large, in fact, it's currently recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. But there's one thing Michael loves more than his games: his family. The Last Move chronicles Michael's attempts to help his mother at an enormous personal cost to himself.

California Typewriter

August 2017 •English

A story about people whose lives are connected by typewriters. A meditation on creativity and technology featuring Tom Hanks, John Mayer, Sam Shepard, David McCullough and others.

Egg Cup Requiem

July 2019 •English

A collector reveals the story behind his lifelong obsession.

Cinemania

July 2002 •English

This documentary about the culture of intense cinephilia in New York City reveals the impassioned world of five obsessed movie buffs. These human encyclopedias of cinema see two to five films a day, and from 600 to 2,000 films per year. This is the story of their lives, their memories, their unbending habits and the films they love.

The Grove, Texas

May 2014 •English

In 1972, Moody Anderson bought a ghost town and brought it back to life. Nearly four decades later, Moody faces the heart-wrenching task of dismantling and selling his collection of Americana artifacts used in hundreds of films, from Lonesome Dove and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to the Coen Brothers' remake of True Grit.

Princely Toys: One Man's Private Kingdom

December 1976 •English

A made for TV BBC documentary exploring Jack Donovan's antique automaton collection. The documentary focuses on the toys themselves, displaying their range of movements in plain settings while the narrator weaves stories and comments about them to the synth sounds of library music.

Toys Are Us: A Revolution in Plastic

January 2006 •English

Get a glimpse of the fascinating world of designer vinyl toys, featuring interviews with some of the most creative pop culture artists working today who specialize in producing distinctive vinyl figures, often for die-hard adult collectors. This documentary features luminaries in the popular field such as Frank Kozik, Patrick Ma, Tara McPherson and others, and was filmed on location at their studios and at Comic Con International 2006.

The Price of Everything

November 2018 •English

Featuring collectors, dealers, auctioneers and a rich range of artists, including market darlings George Condo, Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, this documentary examines the role of art and artistic passion in today’s money-driven, consumer-based society.

The Collector

October 2024 •English

The offbeat, fairytale story of Wizard of Oz fanatic and obsessive pop culture collector Willard Carroll. From dining with Munchkins to owning the world’s largest private collection of Oz memorabilia, Willard is proof that one story can change the entire trajectory of your life.

Le 3615 ne répond plus

September 2022 •French

The adventure of the minitel, a small cubic terminal with a folding keyboard that began in the 1970s in the labs of France Telecom, is closely linked to Alsace. Alsatians had then in hand the future tools of interactive communication. What remains today of all those minitel years? Like a nocturnal and intimate road-movie, this documentary went to meet the last people who are still interested in the minitel, this strange beige box of access to telematic services, corny today, but pioneers at the end of the last century.

PEZheads - The Movie

October 2006 •English

PEZheads - The Movie is a documentary about PEZ® and PEZ® Collectors. It explores the phenomenon of PEZ® collecting through interviews with a variety of collectors and vendors, as well as visits to conventions, the PEZ factory, flea markets, and anywhere else we can find PEZ®. This documentary highlights the fun and quirky aspects of the hobby, as well as the community and the friendships that develop around it. It explores the PEZ phenomonon from the viewpoint of non-collectors and collectors alike, as well as collectors' families and friends.

Making Fun: The Story of Funko

January 2018 •English

From a small garage in Redmond, Washington, to the furthest corners of the earth, Funko's story is one that is centered around the fans and the global community that arose from their unique passion - a story that spans twenty years full of joy, ambition, adversity, and... well... toys.

The World According to Parr

December 2003 •English

Alan Yentob explores the work of Martin Parr, considered to be the most influential photographer of his generation

Brechó Brasil

February 2021 •Portuguese

Collecting Time

May 2024 •Greek

Dimitris Pistiolas, a retired employee for the Greek Post Office, is the owner of the largest cinema museum in the world. In two tiny venues in Athens lies his renowned by the Guinness World Records collection. Now, 90 years old, Dimitris recounts his past, hidden in his machines, hoping that his memories are not going to be lost forever.

The Bits of Yesterday

April 2018 •English

In this panoptic documentary on the niche culture of the retro video game collector, follow gaming enthusiasts and fans as they relive their childhood memories, make new ones and champion to keep an antiquated media format alive.

The Typewriter (In the 21st Century)

January 2012 •English

30+ interviews in 10 U.S. states with authors, collectors, journalists, professors, bloggers, students, artists, inventors and repairmen (and women) who meet up for ‘Type-In’ gatherings to both celebrate and use their decidedly lo-tech typewriters in a plugged-in world.

The Video Craze

July 2013 •English

A documentary on classic video arcade collectors across North America. Those who were the first to look into the neon haze of a vector/raster screen and fall in love. The first quarter poppers, the "vidiots" who never grew up.