Movies like Sarafina!

If you like "Sarafina!" you are looking for realistic, retro and political movies about / with teacher, children, broadway, racism, high school, dedicated educator and dance themes of Drama and Musical genre shot in South Africa or UK.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps: 1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below). 2. Look for them in the presented list.
Sarafina! (1992)
 6.3
 2K
Sarafina! (1992)
Genre: Drama, Musical
Country: South Africa, UK, France, USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story: The plot centers on students involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to the implementation of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in schools. The stage version presents a school uprising similar to the Soweto uprising on June 16, 1976. A narrator introduces several characters among them the school girl activist Sarafina. Things get out of control when a policeman shoots several pupils in a classroom. Nevertheless, the musical ends with a cheerful farewell show of pupils leaving school, which takes most of act two. In the movie version Sarafina feels shame at her mother's (played by Miriam Makeba in the film) acceptance of her role as domestic servant in a white household in apartheid South Africa, and inspires her peers to rise up in protest, especially after her inspirational teacher, Mary Masombuka (played by Whoopi Goldberg in the film version) is imprisoned.
Style: realistic, retro, political, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, contemplative, light ...
Plot: teacher, children, broadway, racism, high school, dedicated educator, dance, black cast, girl, apartheid, renaissance, coming of age, girl power, black, black woman, black history, youth, college, politics, teachers and students, human spirit, life is a bitch, interracial relations, rebellion, injustice ...
Time: year 1992, 90s
Place: africa, south africa
Keyword: arabic, gangsters

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teacher movies
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Most similar movies to Sarafina!

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, emotional and uplifting films with plots about society, hopes, life is a bitch, human spirit, racism, injustice and interracial relations mostly in Drama, Biography and History genres. Some movies like Sarafina!: Lost in the Stars (1974), A Lesson Before Dying (1999), Cry Freedom (1987), Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Mandela and de Klerk (1997). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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Lost in the Stars (1974)
Genre: Drama, Musical
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story: Musical from the American Film Theatre series, based on the play Cry The Beloved Country.
Style: serious, realistic
Plot: murder, redemption, fighting the system, society, human spirit, life is a bitch, hopes, injustice, friends, discrimination, courtroom drama, parents and children ...
Time: 70s
Place: africa, south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
A Lesson Before Dying (1999)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story: In the 1940's South, an African-American man is wrongly accused of the killing a a white store owner. In his defense, his white attorney equates him with a lowly hog, to indicate that he didn't have the sense to know what he was doing. ...
Style: powerful, uplifting, thought provoking, sincere, emotional ...
Plot: racism, black, politics, aunt, blaxploitation, stage play, interracial relations, false accusation, urban ghetto, animal life, injustice, power relations ...
Time: 1940s
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.4
 14K
Cry Freedom (1987)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, Zimbabwe, USA
Duration: 157 min.
Story: A dramatic story, based on actual events, about the friendship between two men struggling against apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s. Donald Woods is a white liberal journalist in South Africa who begins to follow the activities of Stephen Biko, ...
Style: inspirational, political, cult classic, political thriller, edutainment ...
Plot: racism, apartheid, journalism, biopic, politics, human rights, civil rights, journalist, social commentary, social injustice, black, african ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 1987, year 1975, year 1977
Place: south africa, africa, cape town south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
Genre: Drama, History, Musical
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: Oscar-nominated film adaptation of the rock opera of the same name, based on the last weeks before the crucifixion of Jesus. The film was directed by Norman Jewison. Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson were nominated for two 1974 Golden Globe Award for ...
Style: stylized, talky, intense, cult classic, controversial ...
Audience: kids, adult
Plot: betrayal, life & death, christianity, music, rock and roll, atheism, dancing, broadway, jesus, storytelling, religion, creativity ...
Time: ancient times, 1st century
Place: middle east, israel, ancient greece, palestine, holy land
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
Mandela and de Klerk (1997)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min.
Story: Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine both received Emmy nominations for their performances in this made-for-TV movie. The plot follows Nelson Mandela's 27-year struggle to end apartheid.
Style: tense, thought provoking, uplifting, captivating, realistic ...
Plot: discrimination, apartheid, social change, racism, prison, legal, society, life is a bitch, state affairs, rebellion, politics, fighting the system ...
Time: 20th century, 70s, 60s, 80s
Place: south africa, africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
Master Harold ... and the Boys (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 87 min.
Story: This movie is of Hally, an adolescent white South African. He is stuck between his intolerant father's outlook of him and those of his caretaker, Sam. Sam is a black waiter and Hally's friend and teacher. Hally is required to laugh at his ...
Style: touching, serious, emotional, captivating, realistic ...
Plot: youth, interracial relations, racism, friendship, dysfunctional family, redemption, life is a bitch, social decay, family problems, human spirit, hopes, parents and children ...
Time: 21st century
Place: south africa, africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
32%
 6.5
 1K
Bopha! (1993)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story: In this story of a black policeman during South African apartheid, Danny Glover plays the cop, who believes he's trying to help his people, even while serving as a pawn of the racist government. When his son gets involved in the anti-apartheid ...
Style: independent film, thought provoking, uplifting, realistic, serious ...
Plot: racism, slavery, independence, social commentary, african american, human trafficking, apartheid, family relations, police brutality, father son conflict, police station, afrikaans ...
Time: 80s, year 1980
Place: africa, south africa, johannesburg south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
31%
To Sir, with Love II (1996)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story: Mark Thackeray (Poitier) is a West Indian, who in the 1967 film had taken teaching in a London East End school. He spent twenty years teaching and ten in administrative roles. He has taught the children of his former pupils, but is now retiring.
Style: political, realistic, serious, uplifting, touching ...
Plot: teacher, education, black, juvenile delinquency, african american, high school, idealism, hopes, society, youth, hardcase students, dedicated educator ...
Time: 20th century, 90s
Place: chicago, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Movie in collections
The Least Among You (2009)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story: Black college graduate Richard Kelly reluctantly accepts a plea bargain requiring him to spend two semesters at an all-white seminary after he's wrongly accused of crimes committed during the 1965 Watts riots. Facing bigotry on all sides, ...
Style: emotional, touching, uplifting, captivating, independent film ...
Plot: racism, college, rebellion, human spirit, against the odds, self discovery, life is a bitch, social relations, hopes, student life, clergy, society ...
Time: 60s, 20th century, 21st century
Place: california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
 7.3
 898
Freedom Song (2000)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: Freedom Song (2000) is a made-for-TV film based on true stories of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi in the 1960s. It tells the story of the struggle of African Americans to register to vote in the fictional town of Quinlan. In the midst of ...
Style: thought provoking, sincere, captivating, emotional, political ...
Plot: african american, racism, fighting the system, interracial relations, rebellion, life is a bitch, injustice, teenage life, discrimination, parents and children, politics, society ...
Time: 90s
Place: mississippi, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
 7.3
 2K
Conrack (1974)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: A young, white teacher is assigned to an isolated island off the coast of South Carolina populated mostly by poor black families. He finds that the basically illiterate, neglected children there know so little of the world outside their island.
Style: deep, realistic, serious, uplifting, thought provoking ...
Plot: teacher, racism, education, youth, african american, american south, black history, teaching, american culture, blaxploitation, humanist, civil rights ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 1969, 60s
Place: south carolina, america, usa, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
 5.3
 226
The Beat (1988)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story: A new kid moves into a tough neighborhood controlled by gangs, and tries to teach them poetry.
Style: serious, emotional, realistic, touching, independent film ...
Plot: gang, poetry, teenage life, fighting the system, youth, idealism, rebellion, life is a bitch, society, dedicated educator, stoner, school ...
Time: year 1988, 80s
Place: new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
 6.1
 994
Winnie Mandela (2011)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: South Africa, Canada
Duration: 104 min.
Story: A drama that chronicles the life of Winnie Mandela from her childhood through her marriage and her husband's incarceration.
Style: thought provoking, captivating, realistic, serious, political
Plot: ambition, politics, state affairs, society, confined, feminism, hopes, political unrest, isolation, black, biopic, black cast ...
Time: 20th century
Place: africa, south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
A World Apart (1988)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Zimbabwe
Duration: 112 min.
Story: A White enclave in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the 1960s. Molly Roth, 13 years old, is the daughter of leftist parents, and she must piece together what's happening around her when her father disappears one night, barely evading arrest, and, ...
Style: cult classic, political, retro, independent film, realistic ...
Audience: family outing
Plot: racism, mother daughter relationship, politics, bad father, mother and daughter, harassment, interracial relations, political unrest, family relations, injustice, prison, police raid ...
Time: 60s, year 1963
Place: south africa, africa, johannesburg south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
 6.1
 1K
Shackles (2005)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story: An aspiring teacher (Hughley) takes the one job he's offered, a position at a school inside a prison.
Style: realistic, touching, captivating, suspense, semi serious
Plot: dedicated educator, prison, ambition, human spirit, idealism, hardcase students, starting over, prison life, rehabilitation, rivalry, life is a bitch, confined ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
Knights of the South Bronx (2005)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story: A business man decides that he wants to teach school in the inner city and chooses a tough school in the South Bronx. He teaches the children how to play the game of chess, and along the way they learn a lot about life.
Style: uplifting, touching, realistic, serious, spiritual
Audience: family outing
Plot: chess, teacher, misfit, youth, against the odds, hardcase students, lifestyle, ambition, juvenile delinquency, life is a bitch, hopes, human spirit ...
Time: 21st century
Place: new york, bronx new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
 7.5
 2K
Yesterday (2004)
Genre: Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 90 min.
Story: After falling ill, Yesterday learns that she is HIV positive. With her husband in denial and young daughter to tend to, Yesterday's one goal is to live long enough to see her child go to school.
Style: sincere, uplifting, touching, emotional, realistic ...
Plot: aids, society, terminal illness, human spirit, village, parents and children, kindness, family problems, injustice, life is a bitch, hopes, down on your luck ...
Place: south africa, africa, johannesburg south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
 6.8
 3K
Red Dust (2004)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, South Africa
Duration: 110 min.
Story: Sarah Barcant, a lawyer in New York City who grew up in South Africa, returns to her childhood dwelling place to intercede for Alex Mpondo, a Black South African politician who was tortured during apartheid.
Style: realistic, serious, captivating, sincere, cult classic ...
Plot: apartheid, missing person, politics, courtroom drama, state affairs, rivalry, injustice, haunted by the past, life is a bitch, law enforcement, society, courtroom ...
Time: year 2004, 21st century
Place: south africa, africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
24%
Movie in collections
Cry, the Beloved Country (1995)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: South Africa, USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: A South-African preacher goes to search for his wayward son who has committed a crime in the big city.
Style: touching, political, thought provoking, captivating, serious ...
Plot: racism, apartheid, interracial relations, politics, self discovery, priest, psychology, social justice, afrikaans, narration, murder, racial tension ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, year 1946, post world war two
Place: south africa, africa, johannesburg south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
24%
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, France, South Africa
Duration: 141 min.
Story: A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.
Style: emotional, realistic, serious, political, inspirational ...
Plot: prison, civil rights, rebellion, apartheid, biopic, human spirit, racism, prison life, oppression, courage, politics, brutality ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 2013, 1950s, 60s ...
Place: south africa, africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
24%
 7.1
 12K
Goodbye Bafana (2007)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Germany, France, Belgium, South Africa, Italy, UK, Luxembourg
Duration: 118 min.
Story: The true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner's name was Nelson Mandela.
Style: uplifting, realistic, serious, touching, political ...
Plot: racism, apartheid, racial violence, leadership, prison life, interracial relations, freedom fighter, friendship, rebellion, human spirit, fighting the system, self discovery ...
Time: 20th century, 80s, 70s, 90s
Place: south africa, africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
24%
Won't Back Down (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story: Two determined mothers­, one a teacher, look to transform their children's failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children
Style: touching, realistic, uplifting, serious, emotional ...
Audience: family outing
Plot: education, teacher, fighting the system, school, human spirit, hopes, parents and children, teachers and students, youth, society, changing lives, family relations ...
Time: 21st century
Place: pittsburgh, pennsylvania, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
23%
A Private Matter (1992)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story: The true story of Romper Room host "Miss Sherri" Finkbine, who, after the devastating effects of thalidomide were discovered in the early 1960s, sparked a firestorm of controversy with her determination to obtain an abortion.
Style: controversial, realistic, serious, emotional, sincere ...
Plot: abortion, courtroom drama, abortion rights, family relations, pregnancy, scandal, husband wife relationship, injustice, society, couple relations, human spirit, doctors and patients ...
Time: 60s, year 1962
Place: arizona, phoenix arizona
⇓ similarity ⇓
23%
Movie in collections
The Explosive Generation (1961)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story: Peter Gifford is a likable, dedicated schoolteacher that teaches a senior life skills class. When student Janet Sommers brings up the topic of sex and dating, he asks students to write questions on the topic, and will cover them in the next class. ...
Style: realistic, serious, sexual, psychotronic
Plot: teacher, high school, couples, power relations, urban ghetto, teachers and students, high school life, teenage life, school, looking for sex, urban ghetto life, youth ...
Time: year 1961, 60s
⇓ similarity ⇓
23%
More Than Just a Game (2007)
Genre: Drama, Sport
Country: South Africa
Duration: 90 min.
Story: A drama about political prisoners playing soccer at Robben Island prison, where Nelson Mandela was held.
Style: uplifting, realistic, captivating, sentimental, serious
Plot: prison, racism, fighting the system, human spirit, friendship, against the odds, prison life, injustice, sport team, life is a bitch, society, hopes ...
Time: 60s, 20th century
Place: africa, south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
23%
For Colored Girls (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story: About existence from the perspective of 20 nameless black females. Each of the women portray one of the characters represented in the collection of twenty poems, revealing different issues that impact women in general and women of color in ...
Style: thought provoking, sincere, contemplative, serious, emotional ...
Plot: feminism, female protagonist, black, family problems, society, life is a bitch, crumbling marriage, hopes, rape, woman, black history, women ...
Time: 21st century
Place: indiana, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
 6.8
 437
Nightjohn (1996)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story: Charles Burnett directs this movie about John, a man of many talents, including one forbidden skill: he can read. When he teaches a young slave girl named Sarny to read and write, she learns an unforgettable lesson about the power of words and the ...
Style: contemplative, serious, realistic, uplifting, touching ...
Plot: racism, slave, slavery, teaching, plantation, american civil war, human exploitation, civil rights, blaxploitation, racial issues, black, american history ...
Time: 19th century
Place: america
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
Red Like the Sky (2006)
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 96 min.
Story: A nearly sightless boy is sent to a school for blind children, where he secretly discovers the possibilities of the recorded sound.
Style: uplifting, contemplative, realistic, serious, touching ...
Plot: disability, coming of age, blind character, against the odds, fighting the system, rebellion, follow your dream, friendship, human spirit, hopes, society, rebelliousness ...
Time: 70s, 20th century
Place: italy, europe, tuscany
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
Bamako (The Court) (2006)
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: serious, realistic, touching, captivating, social ...
Plot: politics, fighting the system, social decay, injustice, society, young lovers, life is a bitch, dishonesty, legal investigation, legal, courtroom drama, unemployment ...
Place: africa, south africa
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
 6.8
 304
Our America (2002)
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story: The true story of two African-American teen radio reporters and their documentary investigation of a notorious child murder.
Style: serious, realistic, rough, emotional, controversial ...
Plot: journalism, murder, uncover truth, juvenile delinquency, social decay, teenage life, human spirit, society, life is a bitch, youth, hopes, idealism ...
Place: chicago, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
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