Movies like Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema (2015)
The best movies like Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema (2015) are Burden of Dreams (1982), As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000) and Koyaanisqatsi (1983). If Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedBaraka (1992)8.2/10 from 735 votes
- NewestI Looked Outside and Saw Us All (2026)Released 2026
Burden of Dreams (1982)
The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems related to casting, tribal struggles and accidents, among many other setbacks; but nothing compared to dragging a huge steamboat up a mountain, while Herzog embraces the path of a certain madness to make his vision come true.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAs I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)
A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKoyaanisqatsi (1983)
Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNaqoyqatsi (2002)
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Realms of the Unreal (2004)
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVoyage of Time: The IMAX Experience (2016)
A celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its final collapse. This film examines all that occurred to prepare the world that stands before us now: science and spirit, birth and death, the grand cosmos and the minute life systems of our planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMcQueen (2018)
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCapital in the Twenty-First Century (2019)
Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeing James Bond (2021)
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCharlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Director and the Jedi (2018)
An intimate documentary delving into Rian Johnson's process as he comes in as a director new to the Star Wars universe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeduced and Abandoned (2013)
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006)
A hilarious introduction, using as examples some of the best films ever made, to some of Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek's most exciting ideas on personal subjectivity, fantasy and reality, desire and sexuality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPowaqqatsi (1988)
An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLost in La Mancha (2002)
Fulton and Pepe's 2000 documentary captures Terry Gilliam's attempt to get The Man Who Killed Don Quixote off the ground. Back injuries, freakish storms, and more zoom in to sabotage the project.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Skywalker Legacy (2020)
The story lives forever in this feature-length documentary that charts the making of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Pervert's Guide to Ideology (2012)
A journey into the labyrinthine heart of ideology, which shapes and justifies both collective and personal beliefs and practices: with an infectious zeal and voracious appetite for popular culture, Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek analyzes several of the most important films in the history of cinema to explain how cinematic narrative helps to reinforce prevailing ethics and political ideas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (2015)
A documentary directed by Winding Refn's wife, Liv Corfixen, and it follows the Danish-born filmmaker during the making of his 2013 film Only God Forgives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Queen of Versailles (2012)
With the epic dimensions of a Shakespearean tragedy, The Queen of Versailles follows billionaires Jackie and David’s rags-to-riches story to uncover the innate virtues and flaws of their American dream. We open on the triumphant construction of the biggest house in America, a sprawling, 90,000-square-foot mansion inspired by Versailles. Since a booming time-share business built on the real-estate bubble is financing it, the economic crisis brings progress to a halt and seals the fate of its owners. We witness the impact of this turn of fortune over the next two years in a riveting film fraught with delusion, denial, and self-effacing humor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBaraka (1992)
A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNo Other Land (2024)
This film made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective shows the destruction of the occupied West Bank's Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers and the alliance which develops between the Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisI Looked Outside and Saw Us All (2026)
A variety of storefront mannequins look at, contemplate on, and talk about public space.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (1895)
“The workers leave the Lumière factory.” Workers pass through the gate of the Lumière factory and are followed by a carriage drawn by two horses.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe White Gold of Greenland (2025)
A documentary that challenges the notion of Greenland being the eternal cost for Denmark.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Sans Soleil (1983)
A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStimmungsbilder aus Berchtesgaden und vom Königssee (Tirol) (1915)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
France, il était une fois demain (2026)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
France 2100, le pourquoi du comment (2026)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The Mountain (1947)
A film on mountain-climbing in Grand Teton National Park, Wyo. Glenn Exum, Virginia Garner, and Paul Petzoldt demonstrate mountaineering techniques and equipment. They reach the peak, shake hands, and rappel and glissade to base of mountain.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Last Shot at Messenger (2023)
As the construction of a motorway bypass quickly approaches, a Taranaki farmer and the Poutama hapu take a final stand to protect the ancient wetlands that the proposed new road threatens to destroy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Like Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema?
The closest matches to Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema are Burden of Dreams (1982), As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000) and Koyaanisqatsi (1983). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema?
Start with Burden of Dreams (1982), the closest match to Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema.
What is the highest-rated movie like Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema?
Baraka (1992), rated 8.2/10 by 735 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema?
I Looked Outside and Saw Us All (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema?
Yes: Burden of Dreams (1982), As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000) and Koyaanisqatsi (1983).
How are movies similar to Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.




























