Movies like Al Amal: A Journey of Hope (2025)

Who Are You, Charlie Brown? (2021)

Lupita Nyong'o narrates a documentary about Peanuts and its creator, Charles M. Schulz. Famous fans—including Drew Barrymore, Kevin Smith, and Al Roker—share its influence on them, and a new animated story finds Charlie Brown on a quest.

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

Tower (2016)

Combining archival footage with rotoscopic animation, Tower reveals the action-packed untold stories of the witnesses, heroes and survivors of America's first mass school shooting, when the worst in one man brought out the best in so many others.

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

Camp Confidential: America's Secret Nazis (2021)

Camp Confidential: America's Secret Nazis, is a documentary short featuring animation that focuses on the story of a top secret POW camp that was classified for over 5 decades. In the midst of WWII, a group of young Jewish refugees are assigned to guard a top secret POW camp near Washington D.C. The Jewish soldiers soon discover that their prisoners are no other than Hitler's top scientists - What starts out as an intelligence mission to gather information from the Nazis, soon gets a shocking twist when the Jewish soldiers are tasked with a very different mission altogether. A mission that would question their moral values - exposing a dark secret from America's past.

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

Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (2013)

A series of interviews featuring linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky done in hand-drawn animation.

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

Another Day of Life (2018)

In 1975, Ryszard Kapuściński, a veteran Polish journalist, embarked on a seemingly suicidal road trip into the heart of the Angola's civil war. There, he witnessed once again the dirty reality of war and discovered a sense of helplessness previously unknown to him. Angola changed him forever: it was a reporter who left Poland, but it was a writer who returned…

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

Piece by Piece (2024)

A unique cinematic experience that invites audiences on a vibrant journey through the life of cultural icon Pharrell Williams. Told through the lens of LEGO® animation, turn up the volume on your imagination and witness the evolution of one of music's most innovative minds.

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

The White Helmets (2016)

As daily airstrikes pound civilian targets in Syria, a group of indomitable first responders risk their lives to rescue victims from the rubble.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

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

Human Flow (2017)

More than 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war, the greatest displacement since World War II. Filmmaker Ai Weiwei examines the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact. Over the course of one year in 23 countries, Weiwei follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretch across the globe, including Afghanistan, France, Greece, Germany and Iraq.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Beyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to Lightyear (2022)

Explore the evolution of Buzz Lightyear from toy to human in the making of Pixar’s Lightyear. Dive into the origin and cultural impact of everyone’s favorite Space Ranger, the art of designing a new “human Buzz,” and the challenges faced by the Lightyear crew along the way.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Aquaman: Heroines of Atlantis (2019)

Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman discuss their characters Mera and Atlanna.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Beyond Utopia (2023)

A courageous pastor uses his underground network to rescue and aid North Korean families as they risk their lives to embrace freedom.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Fuck (2006)

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Audrey (2020)

An unprecedented and intimate look at the life, work and enduring legacy of British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)

Featuring never-before-seen footage, this documentary delivers a startling new look at the Peoples Temple, headed by preacher Jim Jones who, in 1978, led more than 900 members to Guyana, where he orchestrated a mass suicide via tainted punch.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

All the Empty Rooms (2025)

A journalist and a photographer set out to memorialize the bedrooms left behind by children killed in school shootings.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Sherman's March (1986)

Documentarian Ross McElwee originally set out to make a travelogue of sorts tracing General William T. Sherman's infamous scorched-earth march through the Confederacy in the latter stages of the Civil War. Instead, haunted by a recent breakup with a girlfriend, McElwee ends up documenting his progress -- or lack thereof -- in starting a new relationship. His journey then becomes one of self-reflection and self-discovery rather than a historical/sociological exploration.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Come See Me in the Good Light (2025)

In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Trainwreck: Balloon Boy (2025)

A homemade flying saucer lifts off, and a 6-year-old boy might be inside. National panic ensues — but what truly happened? This documentary investigates.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country (2008)

Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, the acclaimed filmmaker, Anders Østergaard, brings us close to the video journalists who deliver the footage. Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Speeding, of Course (2025)

70-year-old Timo makes the most of his short ride to work. Speeding up on a bicycle ends up in a ditch, but the adrenaline rush leaves a feeling of pleasure.

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

7 Days in Syria (2015)

In the most dangerous country in the world for journalists, Newsweek Middle East editor, Janine di Giovanni, risks it all to bear witness, ensuring that the world knows about the suffering of the Syrian people.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Windows of the Soul (2011)

A documentary film about Syria with its diverse civilizations and history. Where the hero of the film gets lost between his questions about history, culture, and identity, and his attempts to see the story of Syrian history. In the film, the narrator takes us on a journey through Syrian history that diversifies into five basic civilizational shifts, from the agricultural revolution to writing and the emergence of cities to trade until the advent of Christianity and up to the cultural achievement of Islamic civilization.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Syria's Woman at the Top (2026)

Lyse Doucet speaks to Hind Kabawat, Syria's minister for social affairs and labour and the only female minister in the transitional government.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

The Communes of Rojava Six Years On: Towards Many Democracies of Neighbors (2024)

Six years later sequel of "The Communes of Rojava" (2018), made in the face of some of the most dire attacks yet faced by the pluralist, women-led, radically democratic project in North and East Syria. Though deeply inspired by the Rojava Revolution, this film is not about the Kurdish and Syrian Revolutions’ influence for an activist in America.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Syria: the Legions of Holy War (2015)

A camera crew follows a Jihadi group for a week in Syria

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Warehoused (2017)

An estimated 12 million people live in refugee camps worldwide and only 0.1% are resettled, repatriated, or integrated into normal society each year. The feature-length documentary.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

A Casa de Lucia (2017)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Nacht Grenze Morgen (2013)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

Palmyra: Rising from the Ashes (2017)

Documentary following a team of technicians in Italy as they reconstruct a number of historic Middle Eastern artifacts that were vandalized at the hands of Islamic State.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary