Movies like Figure 1 (2021)
The best movies like Figure 1 (2021) are Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004), The Unseen (2019) and The Genius of Turner: Painting the Industrial Revolution (2013). If Figure 1 hooked you with its history and animation, these 21 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThumbelina (1994)6.5/10 from 559 votes
- NewestTo Be a Seed (2024)Released 2024
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)
A documentary on the Z Channel, one of the first pay cable stations in the US, and its programming chief, Jerry Harvey. Debuting in 1974, the LA-based channel's eclectic slate of movies became a prime example of the untapped power of cable television.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Unseen (2019)
When Tehran hosts visiting foreign dignitaries, the local authorities clean up the city’s urban image through the controversial process of ‘urban beautification’. Those who are deemed unsavoury are rounded up – drug users, prostitutes and the homeless who sleep in cardboard boxes on sidewalks and who they would rather remain unseen. When these very important people leave, the men are released but the women are kept as wards of the state. An animated documentary made using hand-crafted cardboard miniatures and the voices of women to tell their story, one that has been five years in the making. A story that shows how the face of a city can change, but what is underneath often does not.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & documentary
The Genius of Turner: Painting the Industrial Revolution (2013)
JMW Turner's work is examined in a new light. Beyond his sublime landscapes, Turner painted machines, science, technology and industry. His life spanned the unfolding Industrial Revolution. This programme argues that Turner created a whole new kind of art, by examining nine key works in the light of the scientific and Industrial Revolution. Includes interviews with historian Simon Schama and artist Tracey Emin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & documentary
Sapiens ou la naissance de l’art (2022)
We immerse ourselves in a quest for the origins of Art, among the very first modern humans. The prehistoric works, of incredible richness and diversity, tell a story of beauty and the species. Researchers, including archaeologists, but also art historians, philosophers and contemporary artists, enrich our view of prehistoric art with their different, but also complementary, points of view on the subject.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history
Black Is the Color: African-American Artists and Segregation (2016)
Black Is the Color highlights key moments in the history of Black visual art, from Edmonds Lewis’s 1867 sculpture Forever Free, to the work of contemporary artists such as Whitfield Lovell, Kerry James Marshall, Ellen Gallagher, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Art historians and gallery owners place the works in context, setting them against the larger social contexts of Jim Crow, WWI, the civil rights movement and the racism of the Reagan era, while contemporary artists discuss individual works by their forerunners and their ongoing influence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history
Moments of Resistance (2019)
Widerstandsmomente (Moments of Resistance) carries voices, writings, and objects from the anti-Nazi resistance into the present. Politically engaged women of today respond to historical resistance and make links to current events. A line is drawn from what was before and what is today to what might be: a society based on solidarity without discrimination or exclusion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
La Danse et Degas (2004)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Johanna Dohnal - Visionary of Feminism (2020)
Johanna Dohnal, whose political career spans three decades, was one of the very first explicitly feminist politicians in Europe. As a member of the Austrian socialist government and the first Austrian minister for Women’s Affairs from 1990 to 1994, Dohnal was responsible for founding Austria’s first women’s refuge as well as criminalizing of marital rape. Yet her legacy remains yet to be discovered and re-examined. DIE DOHNAL makes a first step, and it makes Dohnal come alive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Women Composers (1976)
Female composers' names are mentioned throughout history.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
dElas (2021)
Their documentary is the result of an ethnographic audiovisual research. How to research the theme woman and all the themes that surround it, respecting the place of speech of each one? Based on an interview with eighteen women cultural makers from the interior of São Paulo, we open the way to listening and dialogue on macro-themes permeated by their trajectories. The stories are theirs, but they're ours. Expand the debate about being a woman, about feminism and about our pains and delights, about our contradictions and dreams. The documentary is then a research, an open process of listening, reinterpreting and giving voice to them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Achieving the Unachievable (2007)
M.C. Escher is among the most intriguing of artists. In 1956 he challenged the laws of perspective with his graphic Print Gallery and his uncompleted master-piece quickly became the most puzzling enigma of modern art. Fifty years later, can mathematician Hendrik Lenstra complete it? Should he?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Orbits (2013)
Orbitas is the story of an impossible love which revolves around a planet at war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The Disappearance of Shere Hite (2023)
Shere Hite’s 1976 bestselling book, The Hite Report, liberated the female orgasm by revealing the most private experiences of thousands of anonymous survey respondents. Her findings rocked the American establishment and presaged current conversations about gender, sexuality, and bodily autonomy. So how did Shere Hite disappear?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Artist on Fire: Joyce Wieland (1987)
Considered one of Canada's most important women artists of the second half of the 20th century, Joyce Wieland's art embodies the essence of her homeland, feminism, and ecology. Artist on Fire: Joyce Wieland captures the vibrant spirit of this painter, collagist, quilt maker, and filmmaker. In the early '70s, Wieland was involved in filmmaking, producing movies with a political message. In her 30-year career, she worked in a variety of mediums, including cloth, pastels, colored pencil, oils, bronze, and watercolor. Her works and her influence are examined in this detailed video portrait.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Black Women, Sexual Politics and the Revolution (1992)
Focuses on sexual equality in the Black community.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Ours to Tell (2020)
Four people - Brittany, Hannah, Nick, and Ylonda - tell their stories about how access to abortion in their community helped them empower themselves to lead lives they want to live.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Empire of Silver (2009)
In 1899, Lord Kang must decide which of his three sons will take over his family's Chinese banking empire. When circumstances dictate that he appoint his unreliable youngest son, family bonds are pushed to the limit as father and son clash in a climate of political turmoil. Winner of the Special Jury Award at the 2009 Shanghai International Film Festival.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Thumbelina (1994)
Born of a flower and growing to only a couple of inches tall, poor Thumbelina is worried she'll never meet someone her own size, until she happens to catch the eye of Prince Cornelius of the Fairies. Just as soon as she finds love, however, it's torn away when she's kidnapped by Ms. Toad. Now Thumbelina has to escape Ms. Toad's grasp and search for Prince Cornelius. Luckily, there's a whole city of animals willing to help.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTo Be a Seed (2024)
Touching, growing, caring, dancing. Seedlings climbing around fingertips, birds morphing into humans. But the tender touches slowly fade as the shadows grow and the witches of the forest start to disappear. Rooted in patriarchal violence, history keeps repeating itself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Women's Things (1979)
A young sociology student has an unintended pregnancy and is subjected to the terrible humiliation of an incompetent doctor. The girl falls ill from the poorly performed abortion and is taken by a friend to the General Hospital. Film that reports clandestine abortion in Mexico, with interviews with women who have had abortions in that hospital and shocking maternal death statistics from procedures carried out under unsafe conditions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The End of Men (2011)
It used be that everyone knew what it meant to be a man. A man was rugged and reliable and got the job done. But then came the worst recession in 80 years. So what happens now that the job is gone? The End of Men is a compelling new documentary that takes a profound look at how men are coping with the evolving role of masculinity in today's world, where the old rules no longer apply.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Figure 1?
The closest matches to Figure 1 are Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004), The Unseen (2019) and The Genius of Turner: Painting the Industrial Revolution (2013). Below are 18 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Figure 1?
Start with Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004), the closest match to Figure 1.
What is the highest-rated movie like Figure 1?
Thumbelina (1994), rated 6.5/10 by 559 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Figure 1?
To Be a Seed (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Figure 1?
Yes: Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004), The Genius of Turner: Painting the Industrial Revolution (2013) and Women Composers (1976).
How are movies similar to Figure 1 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Figure 1, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.