Movies like The Brain of Soviet Russia (1919)
The best movies like The Brain of Soviet Russia (1919) are Man with a Movie Camera (1929), Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018) and Kino-Eye (1924). If The Brain of Soviet Russia hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMan with a Movie Camera (1929)7.9/10 from 842 votes
- NewestSyria's Woman at the Top (2026)Released 2026
Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
A cameraman wanders around with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBe Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018)
The epic life story of Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), a French screenwriter, director and producer, true pioneer of cinema, the first person who made a narrative fiction film; author of hundreds of movies, but banished from history books. Ignored and forgotten. At last remembered.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKino-Eye (1924)
Promoting the joys of life in a Soviet village centering on the activities of the Young Pioneers. These children are constantly busy, pasting propaganda posters on walls, distributing hand bills, exhorting all to 'buy from the cooperative' as opposed to the Public Sector, promoting temperance, and helping poor widows. Experimental portions, projected in reverse, feature the un-slaughtering of a bull and the un-baking of bread.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAndrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer (2019)
An account of the life and work of Russian filmmaker Andrey Tarkovsky (1932-86) in his own words: his memories, his vision of art and his reflections on the fate of the artist and the meaning of human existence; through extremely rare audio recordings that allow a complete understanding of his inner life and the mysterious world existing behind his complex cinematic imagery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisPutin's Witnesses (2018)
Russian Federation, December 31, 1999. After President Boris Yeltsin's unexpected resignation, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin becomes acting president of the country. From that day and for a year, Vitaly Mansky's camera documented Putin's rise to power. The story of a privileged witness. The harsh explanation of the reason why politics is the art of possibility of achieving the best with the support of many, but also of giving the worst in return.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 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 thisInterstellar: Nolan's Odyssey (2014)
A look behind the lens of Christopher Nolan's space epic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaking Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019)
The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVampir Cuadecuc (1972)
An atmospheric essay, which is an alternative version of Count Dracula, a film directed by Jess Franco in 1970; a ghostly narration between fiction and reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFuck (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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSidney (2022)
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisObi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return (2022)
This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they create new heroes and villains that live alongside new incarnations of beloved Star Wars characters, and an epic story that dramatically bridges the saga films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCameraperson (2016)
As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAquaman: Heroines of Atlantis (2019)
Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman discuss their characters Mera and Atlanna.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSide by Side (2012)
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVisions of Light (1992)
Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Matrix Revisited (2001)
The film goes behind the scenes of the 1999 sci-fi movie The Matrix.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeavers (1988)
A story about several beaver families in their wild surroundings. The interesting process of building a dam can be watched as well as the dangers arising from hungry bears and other influences on the new-built home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Over the Limit (2018)
Margarita Mamun, an elite Russian rhythmic gymnast, is struggling to become an Olympic champion. It is the most important year of her career and her last chance to achieve the ultimate goal, the gold Olympic medal. The film creates a captivating portrait of a young woman who is desperately trying to handle her own ambitions and meet the expectations of the official Russian training system.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Congrès de Tours 1920: The Birth of the French Communist Party (2020)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Que faire ? (1993)
How did the end of the Soviet Union change the way of thinking, the way of behaviour of militant French Communists ? For the first time and during several months meetings of a Communist Party cell in one of Paris' industrial suburbs were filmed by André Van In. Set against these meetings, the militants are filmed discussing their commitments, their dreams, their mistakes. Beyond questions about power or the political machinery, they share their faith in militancy and their hopes for a fairer society.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Paris, June 1971 (1971)
On June 20th, 1971, thousands of Spanish Republicans from all around Europe meet up in Montreuil, France to take part in an event initiated by the French and the Spanish Communist Parties, to protest against Franco's dictatorship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Postcard (Or, from afar, you are a mirage) (2024)
"The palm trees on the reverse are a delusion; so is the pink sand". This line, taken from a poem by Margaret Atwood, lights the path traced in "Postcard". As the years go by, landscapes transform, take on new meanings, and hold onto joys that will never be regained. The sea and the beach, once stages of happy summers, romances, and encounters, will turn into concentration camps or centers of detention and torture. This occurs across different times and places. In this piece, I embark on a journey through some of my works that explore the relationship between testimony, spaces, and time, engaging in dialogue with the beautiful film directed by Alejandro Segovia in 1972.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
NASCAR: The IMAX Experience (2004)
A big-screen look into one of America's most successful entertainment industries, NASCAR racing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Volcanoes of the Deep Sea (2003)
12,000 feet down, life is erupting. Alvin, a deep-sea mechanized probe, makes a voyage some 12,000 feet underwater to explore the Azores, a constantly-erupting volcanic rift between Europe and North America.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Mystery of the Nile (2005)
Filmed in IMAX, a team of explorers led by Pasquale Scaturro and Gordon Brown face seemingly insurmountable challenges as they make their way along all 3,260 miles of the world's longest and deadliest river to become the first in history to complete a full descent of the Blue Nile from source to sea.
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
Like The Brain of Soviet Russia and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Brain of Soviet Russia?
The closest matches to The Brain of Soviet Russia are Man with a Movie Camera (1929), Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018) and Kino-Eye (1924). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Brain of Soviet Russia?
Start with Man with a Movie Camera (1929), the closest match to The Brain of Soviet Russia.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Brain of Soviet Russia?
Man with a Movie Camera (1929), rated 7.9/10 by 842 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Brain of Soviet Russia?
Syria's Woman at the Top (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Brain of Soviet Russia chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Brain of Soviet Russia, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.