Movies like War Photographer (2001)
The best movies like War Photographer (2001) are For Sama (2019), Night Will Fall (2014) and Matangi / Maya / M.I.A. (2018). If War Photographer hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFor Sama (2019)8.2/10 from 323 votes
- NewestMadu (2024)Released 2024
For Sama (2019)
A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNight Will Fall (2014)
When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMatangi / Maya / M.I.A. (2018)
Drawn from a never before seen cache of personal footage spanning decades, this is an intimate portrait of the Sri Lankan artist and musician who continues to shatter conventions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off (2022)
A wide-ranging, definitive look at Hawk’s life and iconic career, and his relationship with the sport with which he’s been synonymous for decades, featuring unprecedented access, never-before-seen footage, and interviews with Hawk and prominent figures in the sport including Stacy Peralta, Rodney Mullen, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, Neil Blender, Andy MacDonald, Duane Peters, Sean Mortimer, and Christian Hosoi.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRoom 237 (2012)
A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStandard Operating Procedure (2008)
Investigating the infamous Abu Ghraib scandal, Errol Morris interviews American guards and Iraqi prisoners who were at the military jail before images of prisoner torture emerged in 2004. One female guard, who posed alongside fallen Iraqis in notorious images, tells Morris that her crimes were inspired by her love for another soldier, and another explains why she took photographs of her fellow troops. In the process, Morris suggests that the scandal resulted from systemic flaws in the military.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisQT8: The First Eight (2019)
A detailed account of the life and artistic career of legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, from his early days as a video club manager to the scandalous fall in disgrace of producer Harvey Weinstein. A story about how to shoot eight great movies and become an icon of modern pop culture.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBelushi (2020)
Using previously unheard audiotapes recorded shortly after John Belushi’s death, director R.J. Cutler’s documentary feature examines the too-short life of the once-in-a-generation talent who captured the hearts and funny bones of devoted audiences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTravis Scott: Look Mom I Can Fly (2019)
While crafting his Grammy-nominated album "Astroworld," Travis Scott juggles controversy, fatherhood and career highs in this intimate documentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne More Time with Feeling (2016)
Andrew Dominik's One More Time With Feeling is a remarkable black and white documentary which chronicles the creation of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' album Skeleton Tree. Originally a performance based concept, the film evolved into something much more significant as Dominik delved into the tragic backdrop of the writing and recording of the album. The result is stark, fragile and raw, and a true testament to an artist trying to find his way through the darkness. It documents the writing, recording and performing of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ sixteenth studio album, Skeleton Tree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
Documentary about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans, based on his famous 1994 autobiography.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZero Days (2016)
Alex Gibney explores the phenomenon of Stuxnet, a self-replicating computer virus discovered in 2010 by international IT experts. Evidently commissioned by the US and Israeli governments, this malware was designed to specifically sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme. However, the complex computer worm ended up not only infecting its intended target but also spreading uncontrollably.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRobin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (2018)
A funny, intimate and heartbreaking portrait of one of the world’s most beloved and inventive comedians, Robin Williams, told largely through his own words. Celebrates what he brought to comedy and to the culture at large, from the wild days of late-1970s L.A. to his death in 2014.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWelcome to Chechnya (2020)
This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHated: 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFacing Ali (2009)
Ten of Muhammad Ali's former rivals pay tribute to the three-time world heavyweight champion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBobby Robson: More Than a Manager (2018)
The definitive portrait of one of sport's most inspirational, influential figures - whose legacy lives on far beyond the football field.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press (2017)
The courtroom and publicity battles between the superstar wrestler and the notorious website explode in a sensational trial all about the limits of the First Amendment and the new no holds barred nature of celebrity life in an internet dominated society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStop at Nothing: The Lance Armstrong Story (2014)
A portrait of the man behind the greatest fraud in sporting history. Lance Armstrong enriched himself by cheating his fans, his sport and the truth. But the former friends whose lives and careers he destroyed would finally bring him down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOne Child Nation (2019)
Through interviews with both victims and instigators, Nanfu Wang, a first-time mother, breaks open decades of silence on a vast, unprecedented social experiment that shaped — and destroyed — countless lives in China.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Village Detective: A Song Cycle (2021)
Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Iceland, July 9, 2016. The surprising discovery of a canister —containing four reels of The Village Detective (Деревенский детектив), a 1969 Soviet film—, caught in the nets of an Icelandic trawler, is the first step in a fascinating journey through the artistic life of film and stage actor Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (1899-1981), icon and star of an entire era of Russian cinema.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Maria Casarès and Albert Camus, you, my life (2022)
Maria Casarès, a theatre actress and Albert Camus, one of the most important modern french writer, keep a long correspondence (more than 900 letters) about their love and the emotions they feel for each other for 15 years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Madu (2024)
From practicing barefoot on the streets of Lagos to performing on stage in England, twelve year old Anthony Madu leaves his home in Nigeria to study at one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the world. Anthony, who had barely left his neighborhood in Lagos, finds himself thrust into a new world where his wildest dream is suddenly within reach. His journey is a story of extraordinary obstacles, courage, growth, and ultimately, his search for belonging.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Cool Water (1991)
21-year-old Keith Blauschild, formally trained in the culinary arts, is also a self-taught ice carver. Together with his fiancee Angela Boone, Keith sculpts intricate but impermanent artworks for catered affairs, hotels, cruise ships and for advertising promotions. In this short documentary profile, Keith is filmed as he fashions a prototype (a sword-bearing warrior fighting a dragon) for an upcoming ice carving competition. At the contest site, the young man joins scores of other chainsaw-wielding sculptors busily freeing their creations from blocks of ice. Although Keith does not win a prize, his devotion to ice-carving remains intact. Moving from his home in New Jersey to a new life in Florida, Keith is featured as the "Person of the Week" on a Florida news broadcast
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Dark World (1953)
Based on the real life story, the director turned his camera towards the real world of Âşık Veysel, the great poet who wandered around the Anatolian villages.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Cardboard Bernini (2012)
James Grashow is an artist who has built—among many other things-- giant 15 foot tall fighting men, a city, and an ocean-- using paper mache, fabric, chicken wire and cardboard. More recently, he has begun making sculptures entirely out of corrugated cardboard and twist ties.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Mommy, What's a Funkadelic? (TBA)
George Clinton's somewhat absurdist take on Parliament-Funkadelic history. Features never-before-granted access to his archive and spotlights his alter egos and friends
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
El joven Berlanga (2022)
The early days of the future genius of Spanish cinema Luis García Berlanga, from his birth in Valencia in 1921 to his departure to Madrid in 1947 to become a filmmaker.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Pelé the Last Show: The Film (2018)
On August 28, 1977, the "King of Soccer" left his throne vacant. Pelé officially quit his job: mesmerising the world. His last soccer jersey, "that" soccer jersey, became the shroud of the history of soccer. This is a journey through his last match, a long farewell reported by those who were there and left a mark not only on Pelé but also on an era.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Like War Photographer and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like War Photographer?
The closest matches to War Photographer are For Sama (2019), Night Will Fall (2014) and Matangi / Maya / M.I.A. (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after War Photographer?
Start with For Sama (2019), the closest match to War Photographer.
What is the highest-rated movie like War Photographer?
For Sama (2019), rated 8.2/10 by 323 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like War Photographer?
Madu (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like War Photographer?
The closest matches are in other languages.
How are movies similar to War Photographer chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside War Photographer, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.