Movies by Billy Corben

Billy Corben: The Gritty Chronicler of Miami's Underworld Billy Corben is a documentary filmmaker who has carved out a distinctive niche, chronicling the gritty, seedy underbelly of his hometown of Miami. As the co-founder of the Rakontur studio, Corben has built a filmography that delves deep into the city's illicit drug trade, criminal subcultures, and sports scandals, always with a keen eye for visual flair and meticulous research. Corben's breakthrough came with the 2006 cult classic "Cocaine Cowboys," a sprawling, cinematic exploration of Miami's cocaine epidemic in the 1970s and 80s. With its rich archival footage and larger-than-life characters, the film established Corben's signature style – gritty, immersive, and unafraid to explore the darker corners of American culture. He would go on to expand this universe with sequels like "Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded," cementing his reputation as a master of the true-crime documentary. But Corben's work extends beyond the drug trade, tackling subjects as diverse as the sex scandal that brought down a prominent televangelist family ("God Forbid") and the controversial 2000 presidential election in Florida ("537 Votes"). Across these projects, Corben demonstrates a remarkable ability to blend investigative journalism with cinematic flair, creating films that are as entertaining as they are enlightening. Whether delving into the world of underground bare-knuckle fighting or examining the rise and fall of a culinary icon, Billy Corben has become one of the most distinctive and compelling documentarians working today.