Movies like Anselm (2023)
The best movies like Anselm (2023) are Pina (2011), Gerhard Richter Painting (2011) and Wheel of Time (2003). If Anselm hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Salt of the Earth (2014)8.1/10 from 700 votes
- NewestTheater of Thought (2024)Released 2024
- In GermanPina (2011)Also in German
Pina (2011)
Pina is a feature-length dance film in 3D with the ensemble of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, featuring the unique and inspiring art of the great German choreographer, who died in the summer of 2009.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGerhard Richter Painting (2011)
Gerhard Richter has spent over half a century experimenting with a tremendous range of techniques and ideas, addressing historical crises and mass media representation alongside explorations of chance procedures. This first glimpse inside his studio in decades is exactly that: a thrilling document of the 79-year-old's creative process, juxtaposed with rare archival footage and intimate conversations with his critics and collaborators.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Wheel of Time (2003)
Wheel of Time is Werner Herzog's photographed look at the largest Buddhist ritual in Bodh Gaya, India.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisImages of the World and the Inscription of War (1991)
Farocki’s intriguing and troubling film explores the processes of visual perception and how they affect our understanding of history and society. In a work reminiscent of the writings of Paul Virilio and Michel Foucault, Farocki examines a range of phenomena including aerial reconnaissance photos of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present (2012)
Performance artist Marina Abramovic prepares for a major retrospective of her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France, capturing the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind in their astonishing natural setting.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRivers and Tides (2001)
Portrait of Andy Goldsworthy, an artist whose specialty is ephemeral sculptures made from elements of nature.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft (2024)
Filmmaker Werner Herzog combs through the film archives of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft to create a film that celebrates their legacy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Beyond The Visible - Hilma af Klint (2019)
How can an artist discover abstraction by the beginning of the 20th century and nobody is noticing? A woman, misjudged and concealed, rocks the art world with her mind-blowing oeuvre. Hilma af Klint was a pioneer creating her first abstract painting in 1906, four years before Vassily Kandinsky. But why was she ignored? Why are her paintings not available on the market? This first film on her is about her life and work, the role of women in art history and the discovery of an art scandal. Her quest for meaning in life and a boundless thinking led into a timeless, outstanding oeuvre.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer (2019)
An account of the life and work of Russian filmmaker Andrey Tarkovsky (1932-86) in his own words: his memories, his vision of art and his reflections on the fate of the artist and the meaning of human existence; through extremely rare audio recordings that allow a complete understanding of his inner life and the mysterious world existing behind his complex cinematic imagery.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Theater of Thought (2024)
Werner Herzog sets his sights on yet another mysterious landscape — the human brain — for clues as to why a hunk of tissue can produce profound thoughts and feelings while considering the philosophical, ethical, and social implications of fast-advancing neural technology.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
My Best Fiend (1999)
A film that describes the love-hate relationship between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski, the deep trust between the director and the actor, and their independently and simultaneously hatched plans to murder one another.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVan Gogh: Brush with Genius (2009)
An artistic view of Van Gogh as if this movie is self narrated by himself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Tokyo-Ga (1985)
German director Wim Wenders tries to explore the Tokyo that was depicted in the films of Yasujiro Ozu and finds a very different city.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisExit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
Banksy is a graffiti artist with a global reputation whose work can be seen on walls from post-hurricane New Orleans to the separation barrier on the Palestinian West Bank. Fiercely guarding his anonymity to avoid prosecution, Banksy has so far resisted all attempts to be captured on film. Exit Through the Gift Shop tells the incredible true story of how an eccentric French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe White Diamond (2004)
This 2004 documentary by Werner Herzog diaries the struggle of a passionate English inventor to design and test a unique airship during its maiden flight above the jungle canopy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCathedrals of Culture (2014)
"If buildings could talk, what would they say about us?" CATHEDRALS OF CULTURE offers six startling responses. This 3D film project about the soul of buildings allows six iconic and very different buildings to speak for themselves, examining human life from the unblinking perspective of a manmade structure. Six acclaimed filmmakers bring their own visual style and artistic approach to the project. Buildings, they show us, are material manifestations of human thought and action: the Berlin Philharmonic, an icon of modernity; the National Library of Russia, a kingdom of thoughts; Halden Prison, the world's most humane prison; the Salk Institute, an institute for breakthrough science; the Oslo Opera House, a futuristic symbiosis of art and life; and the Centre Pompidou, a modern culture machine. CATHEDRALS OF CULTURE explores how each of these landmarks reflects our culture and guards our collective memory.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Aquarela (2018)
From massive waves to melting ice, filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky travels around the world to capture stunning images of the beauty and raw power of water.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Salt of the Earth (2014)
During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTim's Vermeer (2013)
Tim Jenison, a Texas based inventor, attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all art: How did Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer manage to paint so photo-realistically 150 years before the invention of photography? Spanning a decade, Jenison's adventure takes him to Holland, on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artista David Hockney, and eventually even to Buckingham Palace. The epic research project Jenison embarques on is as extraordinary as what he discovers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRoom 666 (1985)
During the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, Wim Wenders asked a number of global film directors to, one at a time, go into a hotel room, turn on the camera, and answer a simple question: "What is the future of cinema?"
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSketches of Frank Gehry (2006)
First and foremost, Frank Gehry is an artist. Described as a young child as having golden hands, Frank begins his creation through sketch. Forming thought into substantive sculpture, the marriage of art and architechure is brought to life. Join director Sydney Pollack on a journey into the world and work of the most important architect of our Age.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Deutschland privat (1980)
"Deutschland privat" is a special project by Robert van Ackeren, who in 1979 asked people to send him their 8mm home movies by placing ads in several magazines in Berlin, Germany. In the ads he announced that he was planning to blow up and mount the best of those movies into a feature documentary to be released in German cinemas. He was surprised how many home movies he received and how generously people allowed him to use them for his feature. Part 1 of "Deutschland privat" gives us typical German home movies of the 1970s, i.e. private holidays, family parties, etc. Part 2 consists of what is now called "amateur porn"; home made 8mm movies featuring real porn action.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Banksy and the Rise of Outlaw Art (2020)
Banksy is the world's most infamous street artist, whose political art, criminal stunts and daring invasions have outraged the establishment for over two decades. Featuring rare interviews with Banksy, this is the story of how an outlaw artist led a revolutionary new movement and built a multi-million dollar empire, while his identity remained shrouded in mystery.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Fata Morgana (1972)
Shot under extreme conditions and inspired by Mayan creation theory, the film contemplates the illusion of reality and the possibility of capturing for the camera something which is not there. It is about the mirages of nature—and the nature of mirage.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLa Soufrière: Waiting for an Inevitable Catastrophe (1977)
Werner Herzog takes a film crew to the island of Guadeloupe when he hears that the volcano on the island is going to erupt. Everyone has left, except for one old man who refuses to leave.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLessons of Darkness (1992)
Shortly after the Gulf War, oil fires were raging all through Kuwait. In the week before this sea of fire would be extinguished, Werner Herzog filmed this apocalyptic landscape with its murky skies, scorched earth and capricious flames.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBanksy Does New York (2014)
On October 1, 2013, the elusive street artist Banksy launched a month-long residency in New York, an art show he called Better Out Than In. As one new work of art was presented each day in a secret location, a group of fans, called “Banksy Hunters,” took to the streets and blew up social media.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInto Great Silence (2005)
An intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, high in the French Alps (Chartreuse Mountains). The idea for the film was proposed to the monks in 1984, but the Carthusians said they wanted time to think about it. The Carthusians finally contacted Gröning 16 years later to say they were now willing to permit Gröning to shoot the movie, if he was still interested.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Substance: Albert Hofmann's LSD (2011)
By coincidence rather than by design, the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann makes a sensational discovery in the spring of 1943. He realizes that he is dealing with a powerful molecule that will have an impact that reaches far beyond the scientific world. THE SUBSTANCE is an investigation into our troubled relationship with LSD, told from its beginnings to today.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Anselm?
The closest matches to Anselm are Pina (2011), Gerhard Richter Painting (2011) and Wheel of Time (2003). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Anselm?
People who watched Anselm most often go on to Pina (2011), Gerhard Richter Painting (2011) and Wheel of Time (2003).
What is the highest-rated movie like Anselm?
The Salt of the Earth (2014), rated 8.1/10 by 700 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Anselm?
Theater of Thought (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Anselm?
Yes: Pina (2011), Wheel of Time (2003) and Images of the World and the Inscription of War (1991).
How are movies similar to Anselm chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Anselm, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.





























