Folk music movies and TV shows

The list contains the best, new and most relevant folk music movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out realistic, captivating, serious, sincere, sentimental and touching films and TV shows about / with folk music, musician, music, singer, song, musician's life, singing, dancing, ambition and friendship plots mostly in Drama, Music and Comedy genres shot in USA, UK, France and other countries.
folk music
 100
folk music movies
TOP 10 movies tagged as folk music: Bound for Glory (1976), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Only Yesterday (1991), Cold War (2018), Fisherman's Friends (2019), Fleisch ist mein Gem?se (2008), Alice's Restaurant (1969), Mountain of Gems (2004), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003).

List of folk music movies

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Bound for Glory (1976)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 147 min.
Story: A biography of Woody Guthrie, one of America's greatest folk singers. He left his dust-devastated Texas home in the 1930s to find work, discovering the suffering and strength of America's working class.
Style: realistic, road movie, compassionate, talky, period piece ...
Plot: music, biopic, great depression, character study, depression, friendship, artists and showbiz, musician's life, couple relations, love and romance, musician, labor union ...
Time: 1930s, year 1976, 20th century
Place: texas, california, oklahoma, usa, new mexico ...
Is relevant ?
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Genre: Drama, Music
Country: USA, UK, France
Duration: 104 min.
Story: In Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, gifted but volatile folk musician Llewyn Davis struggles with money, relationships, and his uncertain future following the suicide of his singing partner.
Style: depressing, atmospheric, bleak, meditative, clever ...
Plot: music, homeless, musician, loneliness, cat, musician's life, financial problem, road trip, aspiring singer, depression, art, eccentricity ...
Time: 60s, year 2013, 2010s, year 1961, 20th century
Place: new york, usa, somalia, indiana, chicago ...
Is relevant ?
 7.6
 37K
Only Yesterday (1991)
Genre: Animation, Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 119 min.
Story: It’s 1982, and Taeko is 27 years old, unmarried, and has lived her whole life in Tokyo. She decides to visit her family in the countryside, and as the train travels through the night, memories flood back of her younger years: the first immature ...
Style: touching, anime, melancholic, atmospheric, sentimental ...
Audience: kids, date night, girls' night, adult
Plot: countryside, childhood, friendship, coming of age, adolescence, self discovery, introspection, village life, childhood memory, deadend life, strong female character, children ...
Time: year 1991
Place: japan, tokyo, asia
Is relevant ?
 7.5
 62K
Cold War (2018)
Genre: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Poland, UK, France, Belgium
Duration: 89 min.
Story: A Cold War-era love story follows the passionate love affair between a mismatched couple.
Style: black and white, romantic, sad, thought provoking, art film ...
Audience: date night, adult
Plot: cold war, musician, communism, audition, female singer, loveless marriage, love story, suicide, tragic love, jazz, folklore, defector ...
Time: 1950s, 50s, 60s, 2010s, 90s ...
Place: poland, paris france, east berlin, former yugoslavia, eastern europe ...
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
Fisherman's Friends (2019)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: UK
Duration: 112 min.
Story: Ten fisherman from Cornwall are signed by Universal Records and achieve a top ten hit with their debut album of Sea Shanties. Based on the true-life story of Cornish folk band, Fisherman's Friends.
Style: feel good, realistic, semi serious, captivating, disturbing ...
Plot: fisherman, remote village, music, coastal town, friendship, choir, artist, musician, society, ambition, musician's life, rise to the top ...
Time: year 1968, year 2011, year 2010, year 1964
Place: cornwall, london
Is relevant ?
Fleisch ist mein Gem?se (2008)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Germany
Duration: 97 min.
Story: No overview found.
Style: realistic, semi serious, humorous, romantic, offbeat ...
Plot: singer, music band, musician's life, alcohol abuse, virgin, family reunited, shyness, coming of age, music, desire for fame, artists and showbiz, youth ...
Time: 80s, year 1986, 20th century
Place: hamburg germany, germany, europe
Is relevant ?
Alice's Restaurant (1969)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story: Alice's Restaurant is a 1969 movie adapted from a song by Arlo Guthrie. The song is Arlo Guthrie's most famous work, a talking blues based on a true story that began on Thanksgiving Day 1965. The movie reproduces the events of the song, in ...
Style: psychedelic, humorous, semi autobiographical, realistic, semi serious ...
Plot: hippie, thanksgiving, counterculture, restaurant, drug addiction, garbage dump, drug abuse, hospital, addiction, bittersweet, church, small town ...
Time: 60s, year 1969, 20th century
Place: massachusetts, california, vietnam, asia, usa ...
Is relevant ?
Mountain of Gems (2004)
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
Country: Russia
Duration: 13 min.
TV show
Story: Fairytales of nations of Russia
Style: captivating, sincere, feel good, folk tale, anthology ...
Audience: kids
Plot: storytelling, tradition, legends and myths, hotshot hero, heroes, obsessive quest, folk hero, indigenous people, adventure hero, customs, male protagonist, mythology ...
Is relevant ?
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Music
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story: In the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them. On their journey they come across many comical characters and incredible situations. Based upon Homer's ...
Style: road movie, funny, dark comedy, slapstick comedy, surreal ...
Audience: date night, teens
Plot: prison escape, blues, on the run, treasure hunt, small town, music, great depression, obsessive quest, country music, on the road, runaway, dark humor ...
Time: 1930s, year 2000, 20th century, y2k, 2000s ...
Place: mississippi, ancient greece, america, greece, persia ...
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 29K
A Mighty Wind (2003)
Genre: Comedy, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story: In "A Mighty Wind", director Christopher Guest reunites the team from "Best In Show" and "Waiting for Guffman" to tell tell the story of 60's-era folk musicians, who inspired by the death of their former manager, ...
Style: mockumentary, humorous, funny, talky, stylized ...
Plot: music, satire, musician, folk singer, singer, love and romance, music band, showbiz, musician's life, buddies, lifestyle, lovers reunited ...
Time: 2000s, 60s, 20th century, 21st century
Place: new york, usa
Is relevant ?
 6.8
 61K
I'm Not There (2007)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Germany, Canada, USA, France, UK
Duration: 135 min.
Story: Six actors portray six personas of music legend Bob Dylan in scenes depicting various stages of his life, chronicling his rise from unknown folksinger to international icon and revealing how Dylan constantly reinvented himself.
Style: non-linear, meditative, stylized, talky, lyrical ...
Plot: music, musician, biopic, actor, poet, rock, musician's life, art, brutality, african american, artist, drug addiction ...
Time: 60s, 70s, 2000s, year 2007, 90s ...
Place: usa, minnesota, new york, manhattan new york city, california ...
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 4K
Songcatcher (2000)
Genre: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story: After being denied a promotion at the university where she teaches, Doctor Lily Penleric, a brilliant musicologist, impulsively visits her sister, who runs a struggling rural school in Appalachia. There she stumbles upon the discovery of her life - ...
Style: sentimental, touching, lyrical, sincere, emotional ...
Plot: lesbian, culture clash, music, self discovery, fish out of water, social differences, love and romance, opposites attract, human nature, isolation, writers, sister sister relationship ...
Time: 1900s, 20th century
Place: scotland, appalachia, england, spain
Is relevant ?
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Masked and Anonymous (2003)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: Amidst unrest, organizers put on a benefit concert.
Style: lyrical, semi serious, witty, humorous, cynical ...
Plot: concert, journalist, revolution, ambition, lifestyle, desire for fame, rebelliousness, artists and showbiz, promotion, music, destiny, musician ...
Time: year 2003
Is relevant ?
Radio Whirlwind Calls Andjelija (1979)
Genre: Comedy
Country: Yugoslavia, West Germany
Duration: 99 min.
Story: The phenomenon of tourism arrives to a remote village. A married couple sells their property to open a motel, which would be a starting point for their daughter Andjelija's singing career. The local radio-amateur (and Andjelija's ...
Plot: radio, motel, tourism, hotel, male female relationship, pub, insanity, night, tourist, river, fight, dreaming ...
Place: former yugoslavia
Is relevant ?
 7.1
 5K
American Pop (1981)
Genre: Animation, Drama, History, Music, Musical
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story: American Pop is an American animated film that tells the story of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians whose careers parallel the history of American popular music.
Style: adult animation, intense, disturbing, sentimental, captivating ...
Audience: adult
Plot: jazz, music, music business, songwriter, rock and roll, justice, dysfunctional family, multiple storylines, family relations, love and romance, musician's life, ambition ...
Time: 20th century, 1940s, 60s, 80s, 70s ...
Place: usa, new york, israel, russia, kansas ...
Is relevant ?
Those Snow White Notes (2021)
Genre: Animation, Drama, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min.
TV show
Story: Sawamura Matsugorou is a shamisen player of legendary talent. Upon his death, his grandson, Sawamura Yuki, lost his ability to play. Having lost his beloved sound, Yuki finds himself in Tokyo in search of a new sound to love. Tachimura Yuna, who ...
Style: anime, sincere, captivating, psychological
Plot: music, slice of life, musician's life, grandson, teenager, introspection, musician, self discovery, legacy, cause and meaning, high school life, school ...
Place: tokyo
Is relevant ?
 6.4
 507
American Folk (2017)
Genre: Drama, Musical
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story: Two strangers, both folk musicians stranded in California, take a road trip to New York in the days after 9/11. A story about the kindness of strangers and the power of music.
Style: captivating, thrilling, romantic, romantic drama, psychological
Plot: love interest, travel, music, country music, couple relations, love affair, love and romance, romantic friendship, male female relationship, romantic relationship, musician, relationships ...
Is relevant ?
Our Shining Days (2017)
Genre: Drama, Music
Country: China
Duration: 103 min.
Story: A youth inspirational film, about how a group of high school students try to revive Chinese orchestra ensemble. They face many challenges along the way to compete nationally, including a rivalry with the more popular Western orchestra club.
Style: captivating, disturbing, entertaining
Plot: high school student, high school, orchestra, coping, school club, musician, student, problem solving, ambition, high school life, school, contest ...
Is relevant ?
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 7.2
 2K
Heartstrings (2011)
Genre: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: South Korea
Duration: 65 min.
TV show
Story: Lee Gyu Won is the daughter of one of the top three maestros of pansori and is also a gayageum protégé herself. Following her grandfather’s wishes for her to study the gayageum, she enrolls as a major of gugak, or traditional Korean music. Lee ...
Style: romantic, touching, sincere, captivating, dorama ...
Plot: college life, musician's life, traditional versus modern, relationships, lifestyle, music, family relations, male female relationship, musician, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, society, asian ...
Place: korea
Is relevant ?
Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life (2019)
Genre: Animation, Drama, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 23 min.
TV show
Story: Since the graduation of the senior members of the club, Takezou ends up being the sole member of the "Koto" (traditional Japanese string instrument) club. Now that the new school year has begun, Takezou will have to seek out new members ...
Style: anime, humorous, sincere, sentimental, entertaining ...
Audience: teens
Plot: friendship, competition, slice of life, school, music, love and romance, friends, school club, training, fall in love, musician, high school life ...
Place: japan
Is relevant ?
The Blue Beads from Greece (1967)
Genre: Comedy, Musical
Country: Greece
Duration: 94 min.
Story: A feud develops between a taverna with bouzoukia and a club next door that plays modern music.
Plot: fall in love, rich girl, nightclub, dancing, wealth, girl, barber, street kid, gypsy, vocalist, street urchin, merchant ...
Time: 60s
Place: greece, athens greece
Is relevant ?
 7.1
 3K
Yellow Earth (1984)
Genre: Drama, History, Music, Romance
Country: China
Duration: 86 min.
Story: Yellow earth focuses on the story of a Communist soldier who is sent to the countryside to collect folk songs for the Communist Revolution. There he stays with a peasant family and learns that the happy songs he was sent to collect do not exist; the ...
Style: political, realistic, serious, thought provoking, sentimental ...
Plot: communist, world war two, drought, peasant, farm, children, communist party, journey, colonialism, musician, foreign legion, asian history ...
Time: 1930s, 20th century, year 1984, year 1939
Place: china, asia
Is relevant ?
 7.0
 16K
Bob Roberts (1992)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 102 min.
Story: Mock documentary about an upstart candidate for the U.S. Senate written and directed by actor Tim Robbins. Bob Roberts is a folksinger with a difference: He offers tunes that protest welfare chiselers, liberal whining, and the like. As the ...
Style: mockumentary, political, cynical, witty, talky ...
Plot: political satire, election campaign, politics, journalism, satire, manipulation, political campaign, conspiracy, republican, senator, society, ambition ...
Time: year 1992, 90s
Place: pennsylvania, usa, nicaragua, new york
Is relevant ?
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The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967)
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is an American comedy and variety show hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969.
Style: parody, sketch comedy
Plot: variety show, sketch, talk show, music and dance, stand up comedy, satire, current affairs, summer of love, monologue, comedy team, social satire, stand up comedian ...
Is relevant ?
 7.7
 1K
Bagpuss (1974)
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Country: UK
Duration: 15 min.
TV show
Story: Classic Children's Animation
Style: children's program, folk tale
Audience: kids
Plot: mouse, store, cat, toad, toy comes to life, woody woodpecker, puppet, surrealism, melancholy, toys, renovation, stop motion ...
Is relevant ?
Six Days of June (1985)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada, Yugoslavia
Duration: 90 min.
Story: A young man finds a way to spend his last few days of freedom before joining the army. Set in eastern Bosnia in summer of 1968.
Plot: soccer, army, picnic, fight, summer, pain, tragic event, river, fall in love, friend, girl, beach ...
Time: 60s
Place: bosnia, former yugoslavia
Is relevant ?
Truckers Ride Again (1984)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Yugoslavia
Duration: 88 min.
Story: New adventures of truck drivers Jare and Paja, long-time fellow associates and close friends. Jare is forced to pay off his debt for the loans he was raising to build a house for his numerous family. He must find heaps of money as soon as possible, ...
Plot: household, gang of thieves, friends, river, debt, truck driver, restaurant, truck, fair, folk music
Place: balkan
Is relevant ?
Song of the Sea (2014)
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: Ireland, Denmark, Belgium, France
Duration: 93 min.
Story: The story of the last Seal Child’s journey home. After their mother’s disappearance, Ben and Saoirse are sent to live with Granny in the city. When they resolve to return to their home by the sea, their journey becomes a race against time as ...
Style: touching, emotional, stylized, fairy tale, captivating ...
Audience: family outing, kids, family friendly, date night, pre-teens ...
Plot: folklore, young heroes, children, supernatural, supernatural ability, curses spells and rituals, ocean, getting home, celtic, legends and myths, lighthouse, seal the animal ...
Time: year 2014, 2010s, 80s, 20th century
Place: ireland, europe
Is relevant ?
Neapolitan Songs (2010)
Genre: Documentary, History, Music
Country: Italy, USA, Germany
Duration: 90 min.
Story: John Turturro tells, shooting alleys and testimonies of real neapolitan people, the history and musical culture of Napoli, attending every event and tale with a song.
Style: captivating, serious, sentimental, realistic, sincere ...
Plot: music, mafia, city life, musician's life, society, lifestyle, artists and showbiz, folklore, urban, performer's life, dancing, world war two ...
Time: 21st century
Place: italy, naples italy, europe
Is relevant ?
 6.6
 175
Windhorse (1998)
Genre: Drama, Music, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story: Clandestinely filmed on location in Chinese-ruled Tibet (several actors and crew members had their names withheld for fear of reprisal), documentarian Paul Wagner's compelling drama follows three young Tibetans faced with moral dilemmas: a ...
Style: independent film, contemplative, realistic, serious, thought provoking ...
Plot: buddhism, buddhist, politics, murder, buddhist monk, life is a bitch, society, innocence lost, coming of age, state affairs, clergy, dishonesty ...
Time: 90s, year 1998, year 1979
Place: tibet, himalaya, china, asia, nepal
Is relevant ?
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