Movies like Steal a Pencil for Me (2007)
The best movies like Steal a Pencil for Me (2007) are Why We Fight: Prelude to War (1942), Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) and Last Days in Vietnam (2014). If Steal a Pencil for Me hooked you with its documentary and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedApollo 11 (2019)7.9/10 from 745 votes
- NewestIndigo Girls: It's Only Life After All (2024)Released 2024
Why We Fight: Prelude to War (1942)
Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Pentagon and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II. This film examines the differences between democratic and fascist states.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTen Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002)
Ten Minutes Older is a 2002 film project consisting of two compilation feature films entitled The Trumpet and The Cello. The project was conceived by the producer Nicolas McClintock as a reflection on the theme of time at the turn of the Millennium. Fifteen celebrated film-makers were invited to create their own vision of what time means in ten minutes of film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLast Days in Vietnam (2014)
During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats confront a moral quandary: whether to obey White House orders to evacuate only U.S. citizens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988)
Marcel Ophuls' riveting film details the heinous legacy of the Gestapo head dubbed "The Butcher of Lyon." Responsible for over 4,000 deaths in occupied France during World War II, Barbie would escape—with U.S. help—to South America in 1951, where he lived until a global manhunt led to his 1983 arrest and subsequent trial.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIndie Game: The Movie (2012)
Follows the dramatic journeys of video game developers as they create and release their games to the world. It's about making video games, but at its core, it's about the creative process, and exposing yourself through your work.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLife in a Day (2011)
A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (1995)
"Trinity and Beyond" is an unsettling yet visually fascinating documentary presenting the history of nuclear weapons development and testing between 1945-1963. Narrated by William Shatner and featuring an original score performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, this award-winning documentary reveals previously unreleased and classified government footage from several countries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeyond the Edge (2013)
A 3D feature film about Sir Edmund Hillary's monumental and historical ascent of Mt. Everest in 1953 - an event that stunned the world and defined a nation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAntarctica: A Year on Ice (2013)
Filling the giant screen with stunning time-lapse vistas of Antarctica, and detailing year-round life at McMurdo and Scott Base, Anthony Powell’s documentary is a potent hymn to the icy continent and the heavens above.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFive Came Back (2017)
The extraordinary story of how Hollywood changed World War II – and how World War II changed Hollywood, through the interwoven experiences of five legendary filmmakers who went to war to serve their country and bring the truth to the American people: John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens. Based on Mark Harris’ best-selling book, “Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War.”
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOceans (2010)
An ecological drama/documentary, filmed throughout the globe. Part thriller, part meditation on the vanishing wonders of the sub-aquatic world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLoose Change 9/11: An American Coup (2009)
With the departure of the Bush Administration and the arrival of an “era of transparency,” opportunities are arising for the disclosure of new information that may shed more light on the events that took place before and after 9/11/2001. Loaded with powerful, new footage and in-depth interviews this documentary presents a wide array of evidence both known and unknown…until now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFive Broken Cameras (2011)
Five broken cameras – and each one has a powerful tale to tell. Embedded in the bullet-ridden remains of digital technology is the story of Emad Burnat, a farmer from the Palestinian village of Bil’in, which famously chose nonviolent resistance when the Israeli army encroached upon its land to make room for Jewish colonists. Emad buys his first camera in 2005 to document the birth of his fourth son, Gibreel. Over the course of the film, he becomes the peaceful archivist of an escalating struggle as olive trees are bulldozed, lives are lost, and a wall is built to segregate burgeoning Israeli settlements.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Memphis Belle (1944)
This WW2 documentary centers on the crew of the American B-17 Flying Fortress Memphis Belle as it prepares to execute a strategic bombing raid on Nazi submarine pens in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNanook of the North (1922)
This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisApollo 11 (2019)
A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisShowbiz Kids (2020)
A documentary chronicling the shared experiences of prominent former child stars and the personal and professional price of fame and failure on a child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Invisible War (2012)
An investigative and powerfully emotional documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military, the institutions that perpetuate and cover up its existence, and its profound personal and social consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOperation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal (2021)
An examination that goes beyond the celebrity-driven headlines and dives into the methods used by Rick Singer, the man at the center of the shocking 2019 college admissions scandal, to persuade his wealthy clients to cheat an educational system already designed to benefit the privileged.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStep Into Liquid (2003)
No special effects. No stuntmen. No stereotypes. No other feeling comes close. Surfers and secret spots from around the world are profiled in this documentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Beautiful Woman Without Mercy (1921)
"Taking its title from John Keats’s early 19th-century poem, this highly personal melodrama finds Dulac interrogating the archetype of the femme fatale. La belle dame sans merci follows a famous actress who was once seduced and abandoned by a rich man and subsequently resolved to become a “merciless woman,” forever scheming to hurt others (men in particular) in a ruthless yet captivating manner. Dulac challenges the Romantic archetype embodied in Keats’s poem by way of symbolist mise en scène, self-reflexive narration, and her typically associative approach to editing, locating a modern ambiguity within the stereotypical figures of 19th-century art." - Film Society of Lincoln Center
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Summertime (2015)
In 1971, a young woman moves from the French countryside to Paris and begins a passionate love affair with a feminist leader.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnnalyn (2012)
Agnes is not satisfied with her life. She wants a change, but her relationship with her single parent father and dominant girlfriend inhibit her to do something about it. When the father introduces his new wife, Annalyn, everything changes. The same-aged Filipino stepmother helps Agnes see a new path. Soon emerges something that no one could have foreseen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
The Extremists' Opera (2016)
The semi-biographical The Extremists' Opera follows the everyday and inner struggles of a women-only alternative theater group delivering explosive and politically controversial explosive stage performances under the control of tough mannered director Naoko.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Salt of This Sea (2008)
Born in Brooklyn to Palestinian refugee parents, Soraya decides to journey to the country of her ancestry when she discovers that her grandfather's savings have been frozen in a Jaffa bank account since his 1948 exile. However, she soon finds that her simple plan is a complicated undertaking — one that takes her further from her comfort zone than she'd imagined.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Mother of Many Children (1977)
This film is an album of Native womanhood, portraying a proud matriarchal society that for centuries has been pressured to adopt different standards and customs. All of the women featured share a belief in the importance of tradition as a source of strength in the face of change.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Dark Matter (2013)
Materia oscura tells the story of a war zone in peacetime. The film location is the Salto di Quirra test range (Sardinia, Italy) where, for over fifty years, governments around the world have tested 'new weapons' and where the Italian government has carried out controlled explosions of old weapon stocks, inexorably endangering the territory.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Am I Beautiful? (1998)
Between Munich and Seville, the destinies of sixteen characters intertwine and intersect, missing each other or colliding head-on. They are all, without knowing it, at a pivotal moment in their lives...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All (2024)
An intimate look into the lives of one of the most iconic folk-rock bands in America - the Indigo Girls. With never-before-seen archival and intimate vérité the film dives into the songwriting and storytelling of the music that transformed a generation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Cartoonists: Footsoldiers of Democracy (2014)
This movie takes us in the daily battle of 12 cartoonists around the world : France, Mexico, Israël, China, Russia, Ivory Coast...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Steal a Pencil for Me?
The closest matches to Steal a Pencil for Me are Why We Fight: Prelude to War (1942), Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) and Last Days in Vietnam (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Steal a Pencil for Me?
Start with Why We Fight: Prelude to War (1942), the closest match to Steal a Pencil for Me.
What is the highest-rated movie like Steal a Pencil for Me?
Apollo 11 (2019), rated 7.9/10 by 745 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Steal a Pencil for Me?
Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Steal a Pencil for Me?
Yes: Why We Fight: Prelude to War (1942), Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) and Last Days in Vietnam (2014).
How are movies similar to Steal a Pencil for Me chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Steal a Pencil for Me, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.