Movies like Timbuktu
If you like "Timbuktu" you are looking for harsh, compassionate and emotional movies about / with islam, desert, terrorist, culture clash, brutality, jihad and political unrest themes of Drama and War genre shot in Mauritania or France.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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Timbuktu (2014)
19K
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Mauritania, France, Qatar
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
A cattle herder and his family who reside in the dunes of Timbuktu find their quiet lives -- which are typically free of the Jihadists determined to control their faith -- abruptly disturbed. A look at the brief occupation of Timbuktu by militant Islamic rebels.
Style:
harsh, compassionate, emotional, intense, social, art house, independent film, intercultural, slow cinema, thought provoking ...
Audience:
family friendly
Plot:
islam, desert, terrorist, culture clash, brutality, jihad, political unrest, legal, family in crisis, religions or cults, religious differences, life turned upside down, violence, religion, black, african, black history, muslim, society, abuse of power, dictator, dictatorship, trial, police, motorcycle ...
Time:
year 2014, 2010s, 21st century, contemporary
Place:
africa, south africa, middle east, rio de janeiro
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Timbuktu
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, disturbing and bleak films with plots about life is a bitch, society, soldier, murder, family relations, death and politics mostly in Drama, War and History genres. Some movies like Timbuktu: A Separation (2011), In Syria (2017), Beasts of No Nation (2015), The Battle of Algiers (1966), Attack on Darfur (2009). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
276K
Genre: Drama
Country: Iran, France, Australia
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
Style:
emotional, realistic, heartbreaking, crying, talky ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
divorce, muslim, poverty, alzheimer's disease, marriage, court, marital problem, hospital, religion, islam, justice, pregnancy ...
Time:
year 2011, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
iran, persia, nebraska, maghreb, middle east ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Belgium, France, Lebanon
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
A mother attempts to keep her family safe as war rages and a sniper lies in wait outside her home.
Style:
thought provoking, atmospheric, suspense, emotional, compassionate ...
Plot:
fear, terrorist, strong female lead, coping, self sacrifice, lawlessness, strong female character, mother, rescue attempt, wartime life, desperation, survival ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
syria, middle east
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min.
Story:
A drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country. Follows the journey of a young boy, Agu, who is forced to join a group of soldiers in a fictional West African country. While Agu fears ...
Style:
political, sexy, harsh, dramatic, atmospheric ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
civil war, war, child soldier, adaptation, children in wartime, terrorist, justice, violent, life is a bitch, military, culture clash, moral ambiguity ...
Time:
year 2015, 90s, 2010s, 20th century, 21st century
Place:
africa, liberia, west africa
Similarity:
49%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Italy, Algeria
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
Tracing the struggle of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale to gain freedom from French colonial rule as seen through the eyes of Ali from his start as a petty thief to his rise to prominence in the organisation and capture by the French in ...
Style:
black and white, political, philosophical, art house, cerebral ...
Plot:
revolution, colonialism, protest, torture, military, muslim, french algerian war, politics, terrorism, insurrection, independence, revolutionary ...
Time:
year 1957, 20th century, 50s, year 1954, year 1966 ...
Place:
africa, algeria, middle east, france, north africa ...
Similarity:
44%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Canada, South Africa, Germany
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
American journalists in Sudan are confronted with the dilemma of whether to return home to report on the atrocities they have seen, or to stay behind and help some of the victims they have encountered.
Style:
disturbing, rough, realistic, captivating, serious ...
Plot:
genocide, journalism, rape, desert, journalist, murder, civil war, tragedy, survival, uncover truth, against humanity, injustice ...
Place:
sudan, africa
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Mali, USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
Melé is a bar singer, her husband Chaka is out of work and the couple is on the verge of breaking up... In the courtyard of the house they share with other families, a trial court has been set up. African civil society spokesmen have taken ...
Style:
touching, serious, realistic, captivating, social ...
Plot:
young lovers, politics, fighting the system, social decay, injustice, legal investigation, dishonesty, society, life is a bitch, legal, unemployment, racism ...
Place:
africa, south africa
Similarity:
43%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Israel, Germany, France
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Salma Zidane, a widow, lives simply from her grove of lemon trees in the West Bank's occupied territory. The Israeli defense minister and his wife move next door; the Secret Service orders the trees removed for security. The stoic Salma seeks ...
Style:
sincere, touching, sentimental, contemplative, emotional ...
Plot:
israeli palestinian conflict, terrorist, politics, injustice, widow, occupation, reconciliation, rules and policies, hopes, life is a bitch, society, legal ...
Time:
year 2008, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
palestine, middle east, israel, jerusalem, persia ...
Similarity:
42%
390K
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, UK, South Africa, Italy
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his ...
Style:
emotional, intense, sincere, rough, political ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
genocide, racism, hotel, against humanity, war, violence, politics, cruelty, civil war, war crime, refugee, un ...
Time:
20th century, year 2004, 90s, 2000s
Place:
rwanda, africa, south africa, congo, somalia ...
Similarity:
42%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: France, Rwanda, USA
Duration: 140 min.
Story:
Debra Winger, Oris Erhuero and Idris Elba star in this drama framed by the Rwandan genocide.
Style:
rough, serious, realistic, bleak, disturbing ...
Plot:
genocide, massacre, coup, racism, against humanity, rwandan genocide, murder, civil war, politics, mass child killing, ethnic cleansing, mass murder ...
Time:
year 2005, year 1994, 90s
Place:
africa, rwanda, washington d.c., uganda, france ...
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
Two westerners, a priest and a teacher find themselves in the middle of the Rwandan genocide and face a moral dilemna. Do they place themselves in danger and protect the refugees, or escape the country with their lives? Based on a true story.
Style:
disturbing, bleak, sad, emotional, sincere ...
Plot:
genocide, politics, coup d'etat, violence, survival, against the odds, rwandan genocide, teacher, survivor, priest, fighting the system, human spirit ...
Time:
year 2005, 90s, year 1994
Place:
africa, rwanda, united kingdom, uganda, tanzania ...
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
Akim, young Muslim will become imam sees his upset when he is touched by the love of Christ ... In a family chaos that opposes his brother identity Akim attempt to be accepted by his family.
Style:
emotional, serious, realistic, thought provoking, captivating ...
Plot:
family problems, self discovery, religions or cults, society, cause and meaning, family in crisis, introspection, life turned upside down, religion, belief in god, culture clash, faith ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
france
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia
Duration: 157 min.
Story:
A historical drama based on the Thiaroye transit camp massacre, Camp de Thiaroye dismantles the myth of colonial assimilation to expose ingrained social and cultural mechanisms of racism, exploitation, and privilege. In 1944, the French army ...
Style:
thought provoking, realistic, serious, bleak, disturbing
Plot:
racism, black, prison, african, racial discrimination, historical event, blaxploitation, urban, imperialism, prison escape, racial issues, interracial relations ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
africa, senegal, france
Similarity:
41%
218
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
On a TV tabloid show, Iya Zetnick exposes Joe Mueller as the Nazi war criminal who killed her family. Mueller is arrested, but prevails in a trial. Zetnick breaks into his house, and kills herself in front of his family. His daughter, who had stood ...
Style:
independent film, thought provoking, biting, serious, psychological ...
Plot:
world war, world war two, immigrant, holocaust survivor, family relations, battles, injustice, parents and children, hotel, courtroom drama, haunted by the past, homecoming ...
Time:
80s
Place:
australia, melbourne
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: France, Cameroon
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Maria is a White farmer who runs a failing coffee plantation in an unnamed African country in the present day. Civil war has broken out and rebel soldiers, many of them child soldiers, are advancing on the area. Rebels on the radio advocate attacks ...
Style:
serious, disturbing, realistic, rough, emotional ...
Plot:
coffee, terrorist, family relations, civil war, chaos, family in danger, family business, political unrest, single parent, state affairs, danger, colonialism ...
Time:
90s, year 2009, 2000s
Place:
africa
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, Komona a 14-year-old girl tells her unborn child growing inside her the story of her life since she has been at war. Everything started when she was abducted by the rebel army at the age of 12.
Style:
disturbing, touching, serious, bleak, social ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
child soldier, civil war, slavery, murder, battles, rebel army, teenager, life is a bitch, wartime life, haunted by the past, rebellion, african ...
Time:
year 2012, 21st century
Place:
africa, canada
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: France, Belarus, Belgium, Cyprus, Italy
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Foreign Legion officer, Galoup, recalls his once glorious life, leading troops in the Gulf of Djibouti. His existence there was happy, strict and regimented, but the arrival of a promising young recruit, Sentain, plants the seeds of jealousy in ...
Style:
surreal, harsh, realistic, touching, serious ...
Plot:
foreign legion, gay, desert, obsession, military, military training, gay interest, discipline, french foreign legion, soldier, homoeroticism, existential loneliness ...
Time:
year 1999, 90s
Place:
africa, france, south africa, marseille, paris france ...
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Algeria, France, Morocco, Belgium
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
During WWII, four North African men enlist in the French army to liberate that country from Nazi oppression, and to fight French discrimination.
Style:
emotional, realistic, rough, serious, political ...
Plot:
battles, war, world war two, politics, brutality, justice, military, muslim, survival, racism, self esteem, ethnic conflict ...
Time:
year 1944, 50s, 20th century, 1940s, year 2006 ...
Place:
africa, algeria, morocco, italy, europe ...
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
In April 1994, the middle-aged Canadian journalist Bernard Valcourt is making a documentary in Kigali about AIDS. He secretly falls in love for the Tutsi waitress of his hotel Gentille, who is younger than him, in a period of violent racial ...
Style:
serious, emotional, political, contemplative, captivating ...
Plot:
genocide, rwandan genocide, fall in love, aids, interracial romance, politics, hopes, journalism, love affair, social differences, against humanity, racism ...
Time:
90s, 21st century
Place:
rwanda, africa, france, east africa, uganda ...
Similarity:
40%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
The true story of the US Government's 1932 Tuskeegee Syphilis Experiments, in which a group of black test subjects were allowed to die, despite a cure having been developed.
Style:
political, historical drama, realistic, serious, thought provoking ...
Plot:
racism, african american, black, resistance, civil rights, feminism, medical, women, racial issues, blaxploitation, black man, government ...
Time:
1940s, 70s, year 1932, year 1973
Place:
alabama, america, usa
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Part drama, part documentary, The Road to Guantánamo focuses on the Tipton Three, a trio of British Muslims who were held in Guantanamo Bay for two years until they were released without charge.
Style:
rough, intense, suspenseful, serious, tense ...
Plot:
terrorism, terrorist, torture, muslim, injustice, warning, war on terror, politics, military, british, pow, life is a bitch ...
Time:
year 2006, 2000s, year 2001, year 2003, year 2002 ...
Place:
middle east, united kingdom, latin america, afghanistan, pakistan ...
Similarity:
40%
966
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A Palestinian family is trapped inside a house commandeered by Israeli soldiers.
Style:
serious, psychological, disturbing, suspenseful, contemplative ...
Plot:
muslim, human rights, soldier, military, dysfunctional family, society, politics, terrorism, rivalry, confined, family problems, isolation ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
middle east, palestine, jerusalem, palestinian authority, israel
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Estonia, Georgia
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
War in Abkhazia 1990. An Estonian man Ivo has stayed behind to harvest his crops of tangerines. In a bloody conflict at his door, a wounded man is left behind, and Ivo is forced to take him in.
Style:
harsh, thought provoking, tense, heartbreaking, compassionate ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
anti war, humanity, brutality, wartime life, civil war, tragedy, life & death, survival, character study, bullet wound, war, caucasian ...
Time:
90s, year 1992, year 2013, year 2014, 20th century
Place:
georgia, caucasus, middle east, iraq, soviet union ...
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
In the Jewish tradition of arguing with God, Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz decide to put God on Trial.
Style:
thought provoking, serious, disturbing, tense, realistic ...
Plot:
holocaust, concentration camp, world war two, atrocity, genocide, gas chamber, debate, atheism, war crime, injustice, confined, human nature ...
Time:
20th century, year 2008, 1940s
Place:
europe, palestine, poland, israel, germany
Similarity:
39%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: France, Canada, Haiti, Germany
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Early 1960s Haiti during Duvallier's dictatorship seen through the eyes of a young girl whose family heavily suffered.
Style:
thought provoking, captivating, realistic, serious, disturbing ...
Plot:
dictator, terrorist, dictatorship, tropics, native, blaxploitation, family relations, oppression, siblings relations, on the run, life is a bitch, rebellion ...
Time:
60s, 20th century
Place:
haiti, africa, caribbean
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: France, Belgium, Liberia
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
A cast of unknown performers are used in this drama about child soldiers fighting a war in an unnamed African country.
Style:
serious, realistic, disturbing, rough, sad ...
Plot:
child soldier, children in wartime, civil war, orphan, life is a bitch, soldier, against humanity, society, youth, atrocity, tourism, realism ...
Time:
year 2008, 21st century
Place:
africa, liberia, rwanda, france
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Ziad Jarrah, a young Lebonese man from a good family goes to Germany to attend college and starts dating a Turkish girl named Aysel. Although not very religious and accustomed to Western ways, Ziad becomes "brothers" with some ...
Style:
serious, psychological, disturbing, bleak, realistic ...
Plot:
terrorism, hijacking, war on terror, muslim, obsession, political conspiracy, political unrest, danger, against humanity, vengeance, head of state, politics ...
Time:
september 11 2001, 90s, 2000s
Place:
northern germany, new york, manhattan new york city, hamburg germany
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: France, Germany, UK, Afghanistan
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
A woman in an unnamed, war-torn Middle Eastern country delivers an engrossing, emotional monologue to her comatose husband, in novelist and filmmaker Atiq Rahimi's poetic and politically charged allegory based on his award-winning novel. (TIFF)
Style:
disturbing, sincere, captivating, realistic, rough ...
Plot:
sexual abuse, rape turns to consensual sex, family problems, injustice, resentment, danger, life is a bitch, couples, couple relations, society, muslim, mother daughter relationship ...
Time:
2010s, 21st century
Place:
afghanistan, middle east, persia
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Belgium, Tunisia, Morocco
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
The film follows two brothers over the course of a decade. While they begin as kids in search of thrills in the sprawling slums of Morocco’s Sidi Moumen, we witness their gradual, and ultimately shocking, radicalisation.
Style:
serious, realistic, rough, disturbing, islamic ...
Plot:
terrorism, muslim, suicide bomber, terrorist, terrorist attack, islam, radical, danger, society, family relations, murder, brother brother relationship ...
Time:
year 2012, 90s, 2000s, september 11 2001, 21st century
Place:
middle east, tunisia, maghreb, africa, morocco
Similarity:
38%
178
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Angola, France, Portugal
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
A 20-year veteran of the Angolan civil war returns to the capital city of Luanda where he faces the challenges of assimilation and survival.
Style:
captivating, entertaining
Plot:
war veteran, social differences, society, social misfits, friendship, assimilation, social problems, social outcast, unlikely friendships, social relations, social issues, conflict ...
Place:
africa
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Follow a group of international journalists into the heart of the once cosmopolitan city of Sarajevo—now a danger zone of sniper and mortar attacks where residents still live. While reporting on an American aid worker who’s trying to get ...
Style:
disturbing, harsh, political, heartbreaking, brutal ...
Plot:
journalism, bosnian war, civil war, journalist, adoption, orphan, genocide, family relations, morality, military, anti war, rescue ...
Time:
year 1997, 90s, year 1992
Place:
bosnia, england, former yugoslavia, sarajevo, europe ...
Similarity:
38%
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