Mike Mills

Directing

Mike Mills

Born 1966-03-20 · Berkeley, California, USA

Michael Chadbourne Mills (born March 20, 1966) is an American film and music video director, writer and graphic designer. He is best known for his independent films, Beginners (2010) and 20th Century Women (2016). For the latter, Mills was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Acting credits

Fight for Your Right Revisited poster
6.6

Fight for Your Right Revisited stars Danny McBride, Seth Rogen, and Elijah Wood as the "young" Beastie Boys from the past and Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and Will Ferrell as the "old" Beastie Boys from the future. The story begins where the video for "Fight for Your Right (1987)" ended. It features music from the band's album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two.

Fight for Your Right Revisited

2011

No artwork available
NR

Documentary on set of the movie Beginners

A Short Film About Making Beginners

2011

The Magnificent Tati poster
7.0

This documentary traces Jacques Tati's rise from the Parisian Music-Hall stage to his Oscar winning films of the 1950s, the documentary then explains how Tati bet all he had on his fourth film 'PlayTime' and how this mammoth film ended prematurely the career of a genius while also giving the world one of the most beautiful films ever made.

The Magnificent Tati

2009

The National: I Am Easy to Find, Live from New York's Beacon Theatre poster
9.3

The National performed at the New York's historic Beacon Theatre to present their 2019 album and short film project I Am Easy To Find. This concert documentary includes a complete performance of that album, as well as guest appearances from the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Julien Baker, Mina Tindle, Kate Stables and the American Contemporary Music Ensemble.

The National: I Am Easy to Find, Live from New York's Beacon Theatre

2019

R.E.M.: In View 1988-2003 (The Best of R.E.M.) poster
5.0

In View: The Best Of R.E.M. 1988–2003 is a DVD featuring videos by the rock band R.E.M. during 1988–2003, released as a companion to the Warner Bros. compilation In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003. All but two of the songs included on the audio CD made the DVD—the exceptions being "All the Right Friends" (which had no official music video) and "Animal" (the video not having been shot until early 2004.)

R.E.M.: In View 1988-2003 (The Best of R.E.M.)

2003

Beautiful Losers poster
6.5

This documentary follows the lives and careers of a collective group of do-it-yourself artists and designers who inadvertently affected the art world.

Beautiful Losers

2008

No artwork available
NR

Lance Bangs makes a film about contemporary culture in Los Angeles centered around Family Bookstore, Hope Gallery, The Smell, Cinefamily, and Ooga Booga.

Family Portrait

2009

Creative Life Store poster
NR

Documentary about a group of 14 artists including Margaret Killgallen, Stephen Powers (ESPO), and Ed Templeton who go on a trip to Tokyo together in 2000.

Creative Life Store

2007

Air: Eating, Sleeping, Waiting and Playing poster
5.9

This documentary follows the French electronic duo Air during their 1998 Moon Safari tour, highlighting the monotony of travel and waiting to perform. The routine is punctuated by Godard-inspired segments featuring philosophical Q&A sessions with everyday people.

Air: Eating, Sleeping, Waiting and Playing

1999

No artwork available
NR

In this documentary, Mike Mills engages in thought-provoking conversations with individuals from diverse backgrounds, spanning various ages and genders. Through these interviews, he explores a profound question: what would people do if they had only three months to live? He then asks how their plans would change if they had just one week, uncovering the differences between long-term and immediate priorities. This approach reveals how timeframes shape our deepest desires and choices.

Not How, Or When, Or Why, But Yes

2000

Behind the camera

C'mon C'mon poster
7.1

Johnny and his young nephew forge a tenuous but transformational relationship when they embark on a cross-country trip to see life away from Los Angeles.

C'mon C'mon

2021

C'mon C'mon poster
7.1

Johnny and his young nephew forge a tenuous but transformational relationship when they embark on a cross-country trip to see life away from Los Angeles.

C'mon C'mon

2021

20th Century Women poster
7.3

In 1979 Santa Barbara, California, Dorothea Fields is a determined single mother in her mid-50s who is raising her adolescent son, Jamie, at a moment brimming with cultural change and rebellion. Dorothea enlists the help of two younger women – Abbie, a free-spirited punk artist living as a boarder in the Fields' home and Julie, a savvy and provocative teenage neighbour – to help with Jamie's upbringing.

20th Century Women

2016

20th Century Women poster
7.3

In 1979 Santa Barbara, California, Dorothea Fields is a determined single mother in her mid-50s who is raising her adolescent son, Jamie, at a moment brimming with cultural change and rebellion. Dorothea enlists the help of two younger women – Abbie, a free-spirited punk artist living as a boarder in the Fields' home and Julie, a savvy and provocative teenage neighbour – to help with Jamie's upbringing.

20th Century Women

2016

No artwork available
NR

A woman progressively gets more psychologically unwell day by day.

Talking Heads: Psycho Killer

2025

Beginners poster
6.8

Oliver meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna only months after his father Hal Fields has passed away. This new love floods Oliver with memories of his father, who, following the death of his wife of 44 years, came out of the closet at age 75 to live a full, energized, and wonderfully tumultuous gay life – which included a younger boyfriend.

Beginners

2011

Beginners poster
6.8

Oliver meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna only months after his father Hal Fields has passed away. This new love floods Oliver with memories of his father, who, following the death of his wife of 44 years, came out of the closet at age 75 to live a full, energized, and wonderfully tumultuous gay life – which included a younger boyfriend.

Beginners

2011

Thumbsucker poster
6.2

Justin Cobb, a teenager in suburban Oregon, copes with his thumb-sucking problem, romance, and his diagnosis with ADHD and subsequent experience using Ritalin.

Thumbsucker

2005

Thumbsucker poster
6.2

Justin Cobb, a teenager in suburban Oregon, copes with his thumb-sucking problem, romance, and his diagnosis with ADHD and subsequent experience using Ritalin.

Thumbsucker

2005

I Am Easy to Find poster
7.1

A life in one-hundred-sixty-four moments.

I Am Easy to Find

2019

I Am Easy to Find poster
7.1

A life in one-hundred-sixty-four moments.

I Am Easy to Find

2019

The Architecture of Reassurance poster
4.5

Dissatisfied with life at home, a young girl travels through other residences in her suburban neighborhood. She does what all of us would like to do: experience the domestic stories being played out by our neighbors. This tale is a voyeurist's paradise.

The Architecture of Reassurance

1999

The Architecture of Reassurance poster
4.5

Dissatisfied with life at home, a young girl travels through other residences in her suburban neighborhood. She does what all of us would like to do: experience the domestic stories being played out by our neighbors. This tale is a voyeurist's paradise.

The Architecture of Reassurance

1999

Does Your Soul Have a Cold? poster
6.3

This documentary follows the lives of five Japanese individuals to explore how depression is perceived in Japan and how the marketing of anti-depressants since the late 1990s has shifted public awareness. Once a term used only by psychiatric professionals, "utsu" is now commonly used as anti-depressant use has surged.

Does Your Soul Have a Cold?

2007

Does Your Soul Have a Cold? poster
6.3

This documentary follows the lives of five Japanese individuals to explore how depression is perceived in Japan and how the marketing of anti-depressants since the late 1990s has shifted public awareness. Once a term used only by psychiatric professionals, "utsu" is now commonly used as anti-depressant use has surged.

Does Your Soul Have a Cold?

2007

Paperboys poster
6.5

This documentary follows six paperboys from Stillwater, Minnesota, showcasing interviews and scenes of them biking through their daily delivery routes. It highlights the shift in American culture, where adults are now taking on a job once dominated by young teens.

Paperboys

2001

Cinema16: American Short Films poster
7.5

CINEMA16 celebrates the short film by showcasing some of the best classic and award-winning shorts on DVD. With over three hours of films CINEMA16: AMERICAN SHORT FILMS is essential viewing for anyone with an interest in the moving image. Films include Gus Van Sant's 1982 adaptation of a William S. Burroughs short story, The Discipline Of DE, Tim Burton's early stop motion animated classic Vincent, George Lucas' USC short Freiheit, Alexander Payne's previously unreleased UCLA graduation short Carmen, Paperboys by Mike Mills, D.A. Pennebaker's Duke Ellington scored Daybreak Express, Todd Solondz's NYU short Feelings, along with Oscar Winner The Lunch Date by Adam Davidson, Stefan Nadelman's multi- award winning documentary Terminal Bar, Joe Nussbaum's cult classic George Lucas In Love and 2006 Sundance Winner The Wraith Of Cobble Hill by Adam Parrish King. Films are subtitled in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese, and include commentaries from many of the directors involved.

Cinema16: American Short Films

2006

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Untitled Mike Mills Project

No artwork available
NR

Ornette Coleman is always asked, “what is Harmolodics?” Harmolodics is the term he coined to describe his music and his philosophy of life. He decided to do a short film about Harmolodics. A few artists were in enlisted, including Lou Reed, Thurston Moore, Yoko Ono and dancer Wunmi Olaiya. The film only went out to journalists as part of the Tone Dialing press kit. It was released publicly in honor of the occasion of Ornette’s 90th birthday March 9, 2020.

An Introduction to Harmolodics

1995

A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought Alone poster
NR

Filmmaker Mike Mills interviewed a group of children whose parents work in the tech industry — from high-level product managers to a director at Google — and asked them about how they see the future. The work was part of a triptych, created on commission for SFMOMA for the exhibition Project Los Altos (2013), inspired by the Northern California tech hub and birthplace of Apple computers.

A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought Alone

2014

Air: Eating, Sleeping, Waiting and Playing poster
5.9

This documentary follows the French electronic duo Air during their 1998 Moon Safari tour, highlighting the monotony of travel and waiting to perform. The routine is punctuated by Godard-inspired segments featuring philosophical Q&A sessions with everyday people.

Air: Eating, Sleeping, Waiting and Playing

1999

Skating with Dave and Jared poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Skating with Dave and Jared

1995

No artwork available
NR

In this documentary, Mike Mills engages in thought-provoking conversations with individuals from diverse backgrounds, spanning various ages and genders. Through these interviews, he explores a profound question: what would people do if they had only three months to live? He then asks how their plans would change if they had just one week, uncovering the differences between long-term and immediate priorities. This approach reveals how timeframes shape our deepest desires and choices.

Not How, Or When, Or Why, But Yes

2000

The Boy and the Creature, 1981 poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Boy and the Creature, 1981

2009