Rick Rowley

Directing

Rick Rowley

Known for

Directing

Credits

27 titles

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 Hat…

Known for

Critical Incident: Death at the Border poster
5.6

Revisits the 2010 death of Anastasio Hernández-Rojas, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who died while in custody at the border. When eye-witness video emerges, it sparks a far-reaching investigation from a border checkpoint to Washington D.C. CRITICAL INCIDENT chronicles journalists’, lawyers’, and family members’ efforts to explore the Border Patrol’s involvement in the incident, ultimately pointing to cover-ups, and uncovering the existence of a little-known unit inside the agency that had been involved in other border related incident.

Critical Incident: Death at the Border

2025

Hell's Army poster
NR

A dissident Russian journalist chases the world’s most feared mercenary army, Wagner, across the globe—Ukraine, Syria, the Central African Republic, and beyond. Her team faces death threats and three of her colleagues are murdered as they race to unmask a new model of violence that is transforming the world for all of us.

Hell's Army

2026

This Is What Democracy Looks Like poster
7.3

This film, shot by 100 amateur camera operators, tells the story of the enormous street protests in Seattle, Washington in November 1999, against the World Trade Organization summit being held there. Vowing to oppose, among other faults, the WTO's power to arbitrally overrule nations' environmental, social and labour policies in favour of unbridled corporate greed, protestors from all around came out in force to make their views known and stop the summit. Against them is a brutal police force and a hostile media as well as the stain of a minority of destructively overzealous comrades. Against all odds, the protesters bravely faced fierce opposition to take back the rightful democratic power that the political and corporate elite of the world is determined to deny the little people.

This Is What Democracy Looks Like

2000

Zapatista poster
5.6

"Zapatista" is the definitive look at the uprising in Chiapas. It is the story of a Mayan peasant rebellion armed with sticks and their word against a first world military. It is the story of a global movement that has fought 175,000 federal troops to a stand still and transformed Mexican and international political culture forever.

Zapatista

1999

Dirty Wars poster
7.0

Investigative journalist, Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America's expanding covert wars, and examines how the US government has responded to international terrorist threats in ways that seem to go against the established laws of the land.

Dirty Wars

2013

Kingdom of Silence poster
8.0

A political thriller examining the complex relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and how the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi amplified entanglements between the two countries.

Kingdom of Silence

2020

Behind the camera

Critical Incident: Death at the Border poster
5.6

Revisits the 2010 death of Anastasio Hernández-Rojas, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who died while in custody at the border. When eye-witness video emerges, it sparks a far-reaching investigation from a border checkpoint to Washington D.C. CRITICAL INCIDENT chronicles journalists’, lawyers’, and family members’ efforts to explore the Border Patrol’s involvement in the incident, ultimately pointing to cover-ups, and uncovering the existence of a little-known unit inside the agency that had been involved in other border related incident.

Critical Incident: Death at the Border

2025

Critical Incident: Death at the Border poster
5.6

Revisits the 2010 death of Anastasio Hernández-Rojas, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who died while in custody at the border. When eye-witness video emerges, it sparks a far-reaching investigation from a border checkpoint to Washington D.C. CRITICAL INCIDENT chronicles journalists’, lawyers’, and family members’ efforts to explore the Border Patrol’s involvement in the incident, ultimately pointing to cover-ups, and uncovering the existence of a little-known unit inside the agency that had been involved in other border related incident.

Critical Incident: Death at the Border

2025

Hell's Army poster
NR

A dissident Russian journalist chases the world’s most feared mercenary army, Wagner, across the globe—Ukraine, Syria, the Central African Republic, and beyond. Her team faces death threats and three of her colleagues are murdered as they race to unmask a new model of violence that is transforming the world for all of us.

Hell's Army

2026

Hell's Army poster
NR

A dissident Russian journalist chases the world’s most feared mercenary army, Wagner, across the globe—Ukraine, Syria, the Central African Republic, and beyond. Her team faces death threats and three of her colleagues are murdered as they race to unmask a new model of violence that is transforming the world for all of us.

Hell's Army

2026

This Is What Democracy Looks Like poster
7.3

This film, shot by 100 amateur camera operators, tells the story of the enormous street protests in Seattle, Washington in November 1999, against the World Trade Organization summit being held there. Vowing to oppose, among other faults, the WTO's power to arbitrally overrule nations' environmental, social and labour policies in favour of unbridled corporate greed, protestors from all around came out in force to make their views known and stop the summit. Against them is a brutal police force and a hostile media as well as the stain of a minority of destructively overzealous comrades. Against all odds, the protesters bravely faced fierce opposition to take back the rightful democratic power that the political and corporate elite of the world is determined to deny the little people.

This Is What Democracy Looks Like

2000

This Is What Democracy Looks Like poster
7.3

This film, shot by 100 amateur camera operators, tells the story of the enormous street protests in Seattle, Washington in November 1999, against the World Trade Organization summit being held there. Vowing to oppose, among other faults, the WTO's power to arbitrally overrule nations' environmental, social and labour policies in favour of unbridled corporate greed, protestors from all around came out in force to make their views known and stop the summit. Against them is a brutal police force and a hostile media as well as the stain of a minority of destructively overzealous comrades. Against all odds, the protesters bravely faced fierce opposition to take back the rightful democratic power that the political and corporate elite of the world is determined to deny the little people.

This Is What Democracy Looks Like

2000

Zapatista poster
5.6

"Zapatista" is the definitive look at the uprising in Chiapas. It is the story of a Mayan peasant rebellion armed with sticks and their word against a first world military. It is the story of a global movement that has fought 175,000 federal troops to a stand still and transformed Mexican and international political culture forever.

Zapatista

1999

Zapatista poster
5.6

"Zapatista" is the definitive look at the uprising in Chiapas. It is the story of a Mayan peasant rebellion armed with sticks and their word against a first world military. It is the story of a global movement that has fought 175,000 federal troops to a stand still and transformed Mexican and international political culture forever.

Zapatista

1999

Dirty Wars poster
7.0

Investigative journalist, Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America's expanding covert wars, and examines how the US government has responded to international terrorist threats in ways that seem to go against the established laws of the land.

Dirty Wars

2013

Kingdom of Silence poster
8.0

A political thriller examining the complex relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and how the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi amplified entanglements between the two countries.

Kingdom of Silence

2020

16 Shots poster
5.6

Documentary examining the 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke and the cover-up that ensued.

16 Shots

2018

16 Shots poster
5.6

Documentary examining the 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke and the cover-up that ensued.

16 Shots

2018

American Patriot: Inside the Armed Uprising Against the Federal Government poster
NR

FRONTLINE investigates how the Bundy family’s fight against the federal government invigorated armed militias and “patriot” groups — helping them grow to levels not seen in decades.

American Patriot: Inside the Armed Uprising Against the Federal Government

2017

American Insurrection poster
8.0

Over the last three years, FRONTLINE has collaborated with ProPublica to investigate the rise of extremism in America. In the aftermath of the assault on the U.S. Capitol, FRONTLINE and ProPublica team up again to examine how far-right groups were emboldened and encouraged by former President Trump and how individuals were radicalized and brought into the political landscape.

American Insurrection

2021

American Insurrection poster
8.0

Over the last three years, FRONTLINE has collaborated with ProPublica to investigate the rise of extremism in America. In the aftermath of the assault on the U.S. Capitol, FRONTLINE and ProPublica team up again to examine how far-right groups were emboldened and encouraged by former President Trump and how individuals were radicalized and brought into the political landscape.

American Insurrection

2021

Terror in Little Saigon poster
10.0

Between 1981 and 1990, five Vietnamese-American journalists in cities across the U.S. were murdered, and many others in the community were intimidated and attacked. Who was responsible for this reign of terror — and why did that question go unanswered for so long? FRONTLINE, ProPublica and correspondent A.C. Thompson reopen a domestic terrorism case that went unsolved for decades.

Terror in Little Saigon

2015

Terror in Little Saigon poster
10.0

Between 1981 and 1990, five Vietnamese-American journalists in cities across the U.S. were murdered, and many others in the community were intimidated and attacked. Who was responsible for this reign of terror — and why did that question go unanswered for so long? FRONTLINE, ProPublica and correspondent A.C. Thompson reopen a domestic terrorism case that went unsolved for decades.

Terror in Little Saigon

2015

Terror in Little Saigon poster
10.0

Between 1981 and 1990, five Vietnamese-American journalists in cities across the U.S. were murdered, and many others in the community were intimidated and attacked. Who was responsible for this reign of terror — and why did that question go unanswered for so long? FRONTLINE, ProPublica and correspondent A.C. Thompson reopen a domestic terrorism case that went unsolved for decades.

Terror in Little Saigon

2015

Big Noise Dispatches: Vol. 06 poster
NR

Wars crush our humanity. Defeats splinter our movements. Corporate media turns a blind eye to our mounting crises and a cynical one to the people who stand up against them. Against a tide of ignorance, isolation and cynicism, Big Noise Dispatches take you around the world to look war and crisis in the face, but also to witness a shared struggle for survival and dignity in this time of violence. Jeremy Scahill investigates Blackwater's role in the Nisur Square massacre, Greg Palast tracks American debt speculators to Liberia, Big Noise goes inside the resurgent white power movement in America, and we visit East St. Louis.

Big Noise Dispatches: Vol. 06

2010

Michael Flynn's Holy War poster
NR

How did Michael Flynn go from being an elite soldier overseas to waging a "spiritual war" in America?

Michael Flynn's Holy War

2022

The Fourth World War poster
7.0

From the front-lines of conflicts in Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Palestine, Korea, 'the North' from Seattle to Genova, and the 'War on Terror' in New York, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It is the story of men and women around the world who resist being annihilated in this war. While our airwaves are crowded with talk of a new world war, narrated by generals and filmed from the noses of bombs, the human story of this global conflict remains untold. "The Fourth World War" brings together the images and voices of the war on the ground. It is a story of a war without end and of those who resist. The product of over two years of filming on the inside of movements on five continents, "The Fourth World War" is a film that would have been unimaginable at any other moment in history. Directed by the makers of "This Is What Democracy Looks Like" and "Zapatista", produced through a global network of independent media and activist groups, it is a truly global film from our global movement.

The Fourth World War

2003

The Fourth World War poster
7.0

From the front-lines of conflicts in Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Palestine, Korea, 'the North' from Seattle to Genova, and the 'War on Terror' in New York, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It is the story of men and women around the world who resist being annihilated in this war. While our airwaves are crowded with talk of a new world war, narrated by generals and filmed from the noses of bombs, the human story of this global conflict remains untold. "The Fourth World War" brings together the images and voices of the war on the ground. It is a story of a war without end and of those who resist. The product of over two years of filming on the inside of movements on five continents, "The Fourth World War" is a film that would have been unimaginable at any other moment in history. Directed by the makers of "This Is What Democracy Looks Like" and "Zapatista", produced through a global network of independent media and activist groups, it is a truly global film from our global movement.

The Fourth World War

2003

Documenting Hate: Charlottesville poster
7.0

Exposing the white supremacists and Neo-Nazis involved in the 2017 Charlottesville rally. An investigation with ProPublica shows how some of those behind the racist violence went unpunished and continued to operate around the country.

Documenting Hate: Charlottesville

2018

The War of 33: Letters from Beirut poster
NR

The War of 33 is an intimate, personal and powerful telling of the story of the 2006 war in Lebanon. A series of letters written by Hanady Salman--a mother living through the war in Beirut--carve a narrative arc through the intense and haunting images of conflict. She tells the stories of her family and the people she lives the war with--the refugees, the wounded, and the everyday Lebanese, struggling to maintain their sanity and their humanity during a time of war.

The War of 33: Letters from Beirut

2008

Documenting Hate: New American Nazis poster
6.0

Exposing a Neo-Nazi group that has actively recruited inside the U.S. military. An investigation with ProPublica shows the group's terrorist objectives and how it gained strength after the 2017 Charlottesville rally.

Documenting Hate: New American Nazis

2018

Deserter poster
6.0

Deserter follows Ryan Johnson and his wife Jen during their flight from the Central Valley of California to Toronto, Canada. Johnson deserted the American army after hearing that he was going to be deployed to Iraq, despite assurances that this would not happen. Like many of his contemporaries, Johnson only joined the army because he could not find a job, and he sees the war in Iraq as both illegal and immoral. Desertion means imprisonment, so he decides to flee, realising that there will be no way back. Johnson seeks advice from various helpful organisations that guide him and Jen to Canada. The employees include both Vietnam veterans and young soldiers who have already served in Iraq.

Deserter

2007

Black & Gold poster
8.0

In 1994, the Latin Kings became the Latin King and Queen Nation. They claimed to have abandoned their criminal past and to be following in the footsteps of the Black Panthers and the Young Lords.

Black & Gold

2001