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Rick Rowley

Rick Rowley

Director, cinematographer, producer and writer, also editor

Oscar nominee · 1 other major award body

Richard (Rick) Rowley is a documentary filmmaker. His films and TV shows have received three Emmy awards, an Oscar nomination, and other awards and nominations, as well as recognition at film festivals around the world. Rowley's Oscar-nominated feature Dirty Wars was the culmination of ten years as a war reporter in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the lesser-known battlegrounds of the US war on terror. Since then, Rowley has turned his lens on racial injustice in the US. His 2019 feature for Showtime, 16 Shots, won Television Academy honors and a Peabody nomination for its unflinching look at the police murder of Laquan McDonald and the cover-up that followed. His Emmy-winning series Documenting Hate unmasked an underground Nazi fight club and a terrorist cell. The series received a DuPont Award and prompted an FBI investigation that led to dozens of arrests. His latest film, Kingdom Of Silence, is the story of the life and death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Read more

Biography from TMDB.

Works as
Director, cinematographer, producer and writer, also editor
Titles
8 on MovieCove · 24 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 155 days to Oct 26Down 17% in 30 days

What are Rick Rowley's films like?

Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Power and Morality.

Themes

share of theme weight
Power
35%
Morality
21%
Ideas
13%
Survival
12%
Society
10%
Self
9%
Oppression4 titles, browse their movies with this themeJustice5 titles, browse their movies with this themeTruth3 titles, browse their movies with this themeCommunity2 titles, browse their movies with this themeCorruption2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 8 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Dark: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their dark movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 2 · Serious 1 · Dark 5

Grounded: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their grounded movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 7 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 1

Intense: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their intense movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 0 · Charged 2 · Intense 6

Shifting: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their shifting movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 3 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 1

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 0

Even-paced: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their even-paced movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 6 · Relentless 1

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 1 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 3

Heavy: How much it costs you emotionally; whether you need recovery time. Browse their heavy movies.
Demand · Emotional cost
easyheavy

Easy watch 1 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 4

Open-ended: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their open-ended movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 3 · Open-ended 5 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
5
Contemplative
6
Hopeful
2
Melancholic
2
Dread
2
Other
5

How their films linger

Thought-provoking7 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteInfuriating5 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end

  • Happy1
  • Bittersweet3
  • Ambiguous4

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Rick Rowley's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 7 of their 8 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Rick Rowley's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

24 credits, 8 with a MovieCove page.

  • Hell's Army (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)

    Director · Producer

  • Critical Incident: Death at the Border(2025)

    Director · Cinematographer · Executive Producer · Writer

    Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films

  • Michael Flynn's Holy War (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)

    Director

  • Plot to Overturn the Election (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)

    Cinematographer

  • American Insurrection (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)

    Director · Cinematographer · Writer

  • Kingdom of Silence(2020)

    Director · Cinematographer

    Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films

  • Rejectors (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)

    Cinematographer

  • Documenting Hate: New American Nazis (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Director

  • Documenting Hate: Charlottesville (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Director

  • 16 Shots(2019)

    Director · Cinematographer · Writer

    Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films

  • American Patriot: Inside the Armed Uprising Against the Federal Government (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Director

  • The Best Democracy Money Can Buy(2016)

    Cinematographer

    Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films

  • Where to Invade Next(2015)

    Cinematographer

    Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films

  • Terror in Little Saigon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)

    Director · Producer · Writer

  • Years of Living Dangerously (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)

    Show 17 episodes · Camera Technician

  • Dirty Wars(2013)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor

    Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films

  • Big Noise Dispatches: Vol. 06 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)

    Cinematographer · Producer

  • The War of 33(2007)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor

    Midcredits score: 10th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • Deserter (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)

    Director · Cinematographer

  • I Know I’m Not Alone (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)

    Cinematographer

  • The Fourth World War (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)

    Director · Producer

  • Black & Gold(2001)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor · Producer

    Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • This Is What Democracy Looks Like (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)

    Director · Editor · Producer

  • Zapatista (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)

    Director · Cinematographer · Producer

Career shape

A full career of 23 titles from 1999 to 2026.

Biggest box office

Where to Invade Next (2015)

$4.7M worldwide

Highest rated

Dirty Wars (2013)

Midcredits 91st

Most popular right now

Where to Invade Next (2015)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Directing17 of 23: 8 only directing, 9 with another role · typical Midcredits score73rdWriting4 of 23: 0 only writing, 4 with another roleProducing7 of 23: 0 only producing, 7 with another roleCinematography10 of 23: 4 only cinematography, 6 with another roleEditing1 of 23: 0 only editing, 1 with another roleOther crew1 of 23: 1 only other crew, 0 with another role

23 titles, 10 with more than one role — directing and cinematography overlap on 5 of them.

By decade

1990s1 · crew2000s6 · crew2010s10 · crew2020s6 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

Awards

1 major award from 3 major nominations, 2013–2014.

WinNomination
  1. 2014
    • Oscar, nominated · Best Documentary, Features
  2. 2013
    • Sundance award, won · Documentary
    • Sundance award, nominated · Documentary

Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.

How do Rick Rowley's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 73rd percentile, the median of all 8; across their 8 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 82nd percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

82ndpercentile
Typical film, the median of 8

Approval · how many liked their films

63rdpercentile
Typical film, the median of 8

Reach · how many have seen their films

40thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 8

Midcredits score across 8 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up4
  • 50th to 74th3
  • Below 25th1

Shape of the crowd

2 of their 8 titles are Divisive.

  • Universally Loved1
  • Divisive2
  • Cult Classic2
  • Crowd Pleaser1
  • Mixed2

Most divisive · cinematographer

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (2016)

98th percentile spread · 44% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · director, cinematographer, editor

Dirty Wars (2013)

Midcredits 91st · 80% liked

Reviewers score the atmosphere 56/100 and the pacing 49/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Rick Rowley work with?

People who share at least 2 of Rick Rowley's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Brian McOmber shares the most, 3.

Composers and editors

Producers