Movies like East German Schlager is dead. Long live the East German Schlager! (2023)

The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (1998)

A musical study of Los Angeles in the late 90s, where homeless teens roam the streets and profess to live a punk lifestyle of music, drugs, and flouting authority.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger (2026)

Experience the meteoric rise of Oasis through rare footage and untold stories as the band reunites for Oasis Live '25, chronicling their journey from Manchester streets to global rock stardom.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

Justin Bieber's Believe (2013)

A backstage and on-stage look at Justin Bieber during his rise to super stardom.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019)

Part documentary, part concert film, part fever dream, this film captures the troubled spirit of America in 1975 and the joyous music that Dylan performed during the fall of that year.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

The Beach Boys (2024)

A celebration of the legendary band that revolutionized pop music, and the iconic, harmonious sound they created that personified the California dream, captivating fans for generations and generations to come.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

Bad 25 (2012)

Spike Lee pays tribute to Michael Jackson's Bad on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the epochal album, offering behind-the-scenes footage of Jackson recording the album and interviews with confidants, musicians, choreographers, and such music-world superstars as Kanye West, Sheryl Crow, Cee Lo Green and Mariah Carey.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

20 Feet from Stardom (2013)

Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead, until now.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012)

Giving fans unprecedented access to the real life of the music sensation, Katy Perry: Part of Me exposes the hard work, dedication and phenomenal talent of a girl who remained true to herself and her vision in order to achieve her dreams. Featuring rare behind-the-scenes interviews, personal moments between Katy and her friends, and all-access footage of rehearsals, choreography, Katy’s signature style and more, Katy Perry: Part of Me reveals the singer’s unwavering belief that if you can be yourself, then you can be anything.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

The Last Waltz (1978)

Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines footage from The Band's incredible farewell tour with probing backstage interviews and featured performances by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, and other rock legends.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

A Concerto Is a Conversation (2020)

A virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer tracks his family's lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather from Jim Crow Florida to the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022)

After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

Beware of Mr. Baker (2012)

Ginger Baker is known for playing in Cream and Blind Faith, but the world's greatest drummer didn’t hit his stride until 1972, when he arrived in Nigeria and discovered Fela Kuti's Afrobeat. After leaving Nigeria, Ginger returned to his pattern of drug-induced self-destruction, and countless groundbreaking musical works, eventually settling in South Africa, where the 73-year-old lives with his young bride and 39 polo ponies. This documentary includes interviews with Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Carlos Santana and more. Beware of Mr. Baker! With every smash of the drum is a man smashing his way through life.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (2005)

German musician Alexander Hacke explores Istanbul's rich music culture and attempts to create a portrait of Turkey through music genres. On this journey, he encounters a mosaic that covers countless genres from rock to arabesque, electronic to hip-hop.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

Joy Division (2009)

A chronological account of the influential late 1970s English rock band.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

Crossfire Hurricane (2012)

This film is released as part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebration of the Rolling Stones. It tells the story of the Stones' unparalleled journey from blues obsessed teens in the early 60s to their undisputed status as rock royalty. All of the Stones have been newly interviewed and their words form the narrative arc that links together archive footage of performances, news coverage, and interviews, much of it previously unseen. Taking its title from a lyric in "Jumpin' Jack Flash," this film gives the viewer an intimate insight into exactly what it's like to be part of the Rolling Stones as they overcome denunciation, drugs, dissensions, and death to become the definitive survivors. Over a year in the making and produced with the full cooperation and involvement of the Stones, this film is and will remain the definitive story of the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (2003)

A years-in-the-making documentary on the legendary punk band the Ramones. Through a mixture of archival footage, archival and new interviews with all members of the band's various lineups, and new interviews with a number of their contemporaries, the film traces the peaks and valleys the band experienced over the course of its 20-plus year career before disbanding in 1995.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

The Sound of 007 (2022)

Pull back the curtain on the remarkable history of six decades of James Bond music, from Sean Connery’s Dr No through to Daniel Craig’s final outing in No Time to Die.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

Hated: GG Allin and The Murder Junkies (1993)

An overview of the life of the most shocking, vile, and notorious of punk rock legends.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story (2019)

A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & documentary

Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell (2021)

Christopher Wallace, AKA The Notorious B.I.G., remains one of Hip-Hop’s icons, renowned for his distinctive flow and autobiographical lyrics. This documentary celebrates his life via rare behind-the-scenes footage and the testimonies of his closest friends and family.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & music

Look Out! (2003)

Hard, harder, hardest! This film orders you from the start to turn up the volume and pay attention. "Look out! We're Coming to Get You!" is a flood of images driven by a tempest of guitars. The film's creators jam 20 years of German music history into 120 minutes of film. Musicians from BLIND PASSENGERS, DIE SKEPTIKER, SANDOW and other bands explode their way through the film. Fans of the DEFA documentary "Flüstern und Schreien" ("Whisper and Shout") already know the stars of that film, Aljoscha, Paul and Flake of the band Feeling B. Here they have a chance to see how these musicians survived the period after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the "escalation of possibilities" that came with it. And you're allowed to laugh, too!

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & music

Becoming Black (2019)

In the 1960s, a white couple living in East Germany tells their dark-skinned child that her skin color is merely a coincidence. As a teenager, she accidentally discovers the truth. Years before, a group of African men came to study in a village nearby. Sigrid, an East German woman, fell in love with Lucien from Togo and became pregnant. But she was already married to Armin. The child is Togolese-East German filmmaker Ines Johnson-Spain. In interviews with Armin and others from her childhood years, she tracks the astonishing strategies of denial her parents, striving for normality, developed following her birth. What sounds like fieldwork about social dislocation becomes an autobiographical essay film and a reflection on themes such as identity, social norms and family ties, viewed from a very personal perspective.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Change of Scenery (2022)

Born in Germany in 2002, Noa Blanche Beschorner evokes the memory of those who, a generation before her, lived through the separation of East and West Germany. Tapetenwechsel (Change of Scenery) is the story of youth seeking their identity when confronting their collective memory.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Hotel Astoria (2020)

At Hotel Astoria, the former hotspot of Leipzig, guests were served champagne and turtle soup while the Stasi listened in. Animated memories from times gone by.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Wenn Mutti früh zur Arbeit geht (2022)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Der Sturz - Honeckers Ende (2012)

Erich Honecker ruled the GDR for 18 years. His fall in 1989 heralded the downfall of the state that had called itself "the better Germany" for 40 years. Nazi victim and autocrat, bourgeois and power-conscious: Honecker was an ideological hardliner who coordinated the construction of the Wall in 1961 and whose regime was known as an unjust state for Wall deaths, firing orders, the Stasi and forced adoptions. In the wake of the fall of communism, the former model socialist fell into homelessness and found himself on the run in his own country. Suffering from cancer, he managed to evade responsibility before a court by emigrating to Chile, where he died in 1994. This gripping documentary portrays the rise and fall of this contradictory German politician with an impressive array of top-class international and national contemporary witnesses. Erich Honecker would have been 100 years old on August 25, 2012.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Bowlingtreff (2015)

The “Bowlingtreff” is a bowling alley situated right in the centre of Leipzig opened in July 1987. At that time the quality of life in Leipzig and the whole GDR got worse. Houses collapsed because of poor conditions, public life and amusement was on a very low level. The “Bowlingtreff” was not merely an urban entertainment centre but a revolution in those days. Built with the help of hundreds of volunteers without permission of the state authorities in Berlin the building expresses a free and international architecture known as postmodernism. It is an architecture that was never seen before in Leipzig. Marble and parquet on the floor, a glass roof and beautiful pink pillars. The atmosphere was western as time witnesses remember it.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Paradies der Tiere (1979)

On the 160-hectare grounds of the former Friedrichsfelde Palace Park, the Berlin Animal Park was established in the 1950s with the active support of the local population. In 1980, more than 7,800 animals from all continents live here. The film describes the foundation, the construction and the care of the animals in the extensive park.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Zielitz - Der Kampf ums Weiße Gold (2020)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Dance Dance Documentary (2004)

In 1999, Konami Corp. introduced a Japanese-influenced coin-operated arcade stand-up to the U.S. Its draw was unheard of for a video game: the combination of music, competition, and interactive video-gameplay along with actual physical activity. Four years later, Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) has become one of the most popular game crazes stateside and found easily in video game stores and in nationwide retail markets. This story explores the youth culture surrounding the game and follows a group of devoted players and documents their interactions at various arcades and tournaments.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary