Best movies like Desert Dancer
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Inspirational true story of Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian, who risked his life for his dream to become a dancer despite a nationwide dancing ban.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: UK, United Arab Emirates, Romania, Morocco
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, suspense, sad, artsy, captivating, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like Desert Dancer (2014):
Similar in 84%
No One Knows About Persian Cats (2009)
Plot Summary:
Iranian musicians Negar and Ashkan look for band members to play at a London concert ... and the visa that allows them to leave Tehran to do so.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: Iran
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, exciting, sentimental, sincere, humorous, captivating, melancholic, political, art house
Similar in 87%
Yuli: The Carlos Acosta Story (2018)
Plot Summary:
Yuli is the nickname given to Carlos Acosta by his father, Pedro, who considers him the son of Ogun, an African god and a fighter. As a child Yuli avoids discipline and education, learning from the streets of an impoverished and abandoned Havana. His father, however, has other ideas, and knowing that his son has a natural talent for dance, sends him to the National Ballet School of Cuba. Despite his repeated escapes and initial poor behaviour, the boy is inevitably drawn to the world of dance, and begins to shape his legendary career from a young age, becoming the first black dancer to be cast in some of the most prestigious ballet roles, originally written for white dancers, in companies such as the Houston Ballet or the Royal Ballet in London.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Music
Country: Spain, Cuba, UK, Germany
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: psychological, thought provoking, captivating, disturbing, inspirational
Similar in 82%
Marina (2013)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Rocco Granata, an Italian coal miner's son who followed his passion for music against his father's wishes and social barriers.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Belgium, Italy
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, sincere, realistic, feel good, sad, visual, serious
Similar in 77%
Mao's Last Dancer (2009)
Plot Summary:
At the age of 11, Li was plucked from a poor Chinese village by Madame Mao's cultural delegates and taken to Beijing to study ballet. In 1979, during a cultural exchange to Texas, he fell in love with an American woman. Two years later, he managed to defect and went on to perform as a principal dancer for the Houston Ballet and as a principal artist with the Australian Ballet.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, independent film, powerful, captivating, realistic, stylized, crying
Similar in 86%
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010)
Plot Summary:
A biography of Ian Dury, who was stricken with polio at a young age and defied expectations by becoming one of the founders of the punk-rock scene in Britain in the 1970s.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: UK
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, semi serious, cult classic, teen, offbeat, biting, uplifting, suspense
Similar in 78%
Sister Smile (2009)
Plot Summary:
A biography of the Belgian nun Jeannine Deckers, who became a popular singer in the early 1960s and struggled with the contradiction between the church and her true self.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 896
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, captivating, entertaining, gloomy
Similar in 83%
Good Vibrations (2012)
Plot Summary:
The story of music legend Terri Hooley, a key figure in Belfast's punk rock scene. Hooley founded the Good Vibrations store from which a record label sprung, representing bands such as The Undertones, Rudi and The Outcasts.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, sincere, serious, thought provoking, touching, whimsical
Similar in 76%
B-Girl (2009)
Plot Summary:
A young female breakdancer, Angel, moves to Los Angeles after an attack by an ex-boyfriend nearly ends her dance career forever. B-Girl follows Angel through recovery and acceptance of a new life as she busts a move into the male-centric world of underground hip hop.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 715
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, touching, independent film
Similar in 89%
A Time for Dancing (2002)
Plot Summary:
Their love of dance, and their friendship, is challenged for two high school girls when one is diagnosed with cancer.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 952
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, sentimental, touching, sad, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
The Last Ride (2011)
Plot Summary:
The final days of Hank Williams.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 871
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, captivating, sad, road movie, realistic, crying
Similar in 86%
Step Up Revolution (2012)
Plot Summary:
Emily arrives in Miami with aspirations to become a professional dancer. She sparks with Sean, the leader of a dance crew whose neighborhood is threatened by Emily's father's development plans.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 58000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: romantic, feel good, entertaining, teen, light, serious, captivating, realistic, grindhouse, sexy
Similar in 87%
Angus Buchan's Ordinary People (2012)
Plot Summary:
The plot follows the individual journeys of three ordinary South African men in the build up to their attendance of the 2010 Mighty Men Conference, where their lives are forever changed by God's message for them.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 146
Genere: Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, emotional, realistic, art house, christian film, independent film
Similar in 90%
Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict (2013)
Plot Summary:
A feature film about Benjamin Britten, released as part of the 100 year celebrations of his birth. Britten is the most performed British composer worldwide. This film premiered at Gresham's School, which he attended, and focuses on how his life-long pacifism influenced his life and music. Written and directed by Tony Britten (In Love With Alama Cogan), narrated by John Hurt and with a superb cast of young people, including many supporting roles taken by students of Gresham's School, the film weaves dramatisation with a documentary narrative.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 41
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music, War
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 89%
From a Far Country (1981)
Plot Summary:
The film is a biography of Pope John Paul II. It starts in 1926 when the boy Karol Wojtila was celebrating Christmas with his father in Poland. Some years later Nazi Germany attacks Poland and invades the country while Wojtila seeks refuge at the house of Cardinal Wyszynski. Also appear all the other important stations of the life of the Pope.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 199
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Italy, UK, Poland
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: uplifting, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 90%
11.25: The Day He Chose His Own Fate (2012)
Plot Summary:
On November 25th 1970, a man committed ritual suicide inside the Tokyo headquarters of the Japanese Ministry of Defence, leaving behind a legacy of masterpieces and a controversy that echoes to this day. The man was Yukio Mishima, one of Japan's greatest and most celebrated novelists. With four members of his own private army - the Tatenokai - Mishima had taken the commandant hostage and called upon the assembled military outside the Ministry to overthrow their society and restore the powers of the Emperor. When the soldiers mocked and jeered Mishima, he cut short his speech and withdrew to the commandant's office where he committed seppuku - the samurai warrior's death - tearing open his belly with a ceremonial knife before being beheaded by one of his colleagues. What was Mishima truly trying to express through his actions? And what did he witness during his final moments?.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 249
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, serious, exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, offbeat, contemplative
Similar in 75%
Touch of the Light (2012)
Plot Summary:
Yu-Siang is blind – but he has a superb sense of hearing. Born in rural Taiwan, this extremely talented musician moves to the capital Taipei to study the piano. But how will he manage on his own? Even the walk across campus from his halls of residence poses a challenge and he must learn how to make the trip step by step. Yu-Siang began winning awards for his piano playing as a young boy but he once overheard somebody saying he only won because of his blindness. Since then he has avoided public competitions – in spite of his teachers' encouragement. Yu-Siang is not interested in recognition: to him his musical development is more important. One day he meets a young woman working in a snack bar. She dreams of becoming a dancer. The encounter proves to be a turning point for both of them.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000)
Plot Summary:
In the early 1970s, Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval (Andy Garcia) is torn between his own musical dreams and the dreams of his wife, Marianela (Mía Maestro), a fervent supporter of the ideals of the Castro revolution. Also starring Charles S. Dutton as Dizzy Gillespie and José Zúñiga as Paquito D'Rivera, this gripping jazz biopic is at once a detailed portrait of a musician and a stinging critique.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, sincere, serious, independent film
Similar in 90%
Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
Plot Summary:
Biography of Loretta Lynn, a country and western singer that came from poverty to fame.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, emotional, realistic, inspirational, factual, sweet, uplifting, sincere, feel good
Similar in 83%
Risen (2010)
Plot Summary:
As one of the rising talents of amateur boxing, Howard Winstone, a young Welsh boy from Merthyr Tydfil, was fast making a name for himself with his knock out right hand. A long professional fighting career surely beckoned? Then disaster strikes. An industrial accident results in Winstone losing three fingers on his right hand. Through sheer determination, and despite only being able to make a fist with one hand, Winstone develops a dynamic new style and begins boxing his way back up the amateur ranks eventually turning pro. Supported by his family and guided by new trainer, Eddie Thomas, Winstone becomes the Champion of Britain and then Europe. Now, with the hopes of an entire nation on his shoulders, he is stood poised to challenge for the crown of Featherweight Champion of the World.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 221
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 82%
Feel the Noise (2007)
Plot Summary:
After a run-in with local thugs, aspiring Harlem rapper Rob flees to a place and father he never knew, and finds his salvation in Reggaeton, a spicy blend of hip-hop, reggae and Latin beats. Puerto Rico, the spiritual home of Reggaeton, inspires Rob and his step-brother Javi to pursue their dream of becoming Reggaeton stars. Together with a dancer named C.C., they learn what it means to stay true to themselves and each other, while overcoming obstacles in love, greed and pride, all culminating in an explosive performance at New York’s Puerto Rican Day Parade.
IMDB Rating: 3.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: feel good, realistic, hood, serious
Similar in 85%
Nina (2016)
Plot Summary:
The story of the late jazz musician and classical pianist Nina Simone including her rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: captivating, touching, serious, controversial, thought provoking, anamorphic, realistic, black cinema
Similar in 82%
Margot (2009)
Plot Summary:
At the age of forty Dame Margot Fonteyn is considered to be past her best as a prima ballerina and Ninette de Valois is reducing her roles at the Royal Ballet. Then the exciting young Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev, a recent defector to the West, comes into her life and her bed and revitalizes her career. Frederick Aashton creates a new ballet for them and they become the golden couple of the ballet world. However, Margot is married to Roberto 'Tito' Arias, a Panamanian politician of dubious repute who is not sympathetic to her calling and is probably faithless. When he is shot and paralyzed for life Margot must carry on dancing well into her sixties in order to pay for his costly treatment though she still collaborates with Rudolf in the occasional ballet.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 291
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, stylized
Similar in 84%
Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story (2005)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, former parole officer Marilyn Gambrell and a colleague set up a pioneer trial-based program in one of America's toughest high schools to help the children of incarcerated parents regain control of their own lives and not expect the same thing to happen as it did to their parents. To the surprise of everyone, the program works, but the administration warns the duo that it will not last unless every senior student is able to pass his or her final exams and graduate with the class. As the end of the school year approaches, Gertz faces a crisis to save everything she believes in or lose it all.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 402
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
The Least Among You (2009)
Plot Summary:
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, he's close to cracking until he meets an elderly custodian who helps him navigate the trials of racism.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 176
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, captivating, emotional, thought provoking, serious, realistic, contemplative, independent film, period piece
Similar in 77%
Get on Up (2014)
Plot Summary:
A chronicle of James Brown's rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: heartbreaking, emotional, talky, captivating, realistic, sentimental, intellectual, feel good, surreal, period piece
Similar in 76%
Bird (1988)
Plot Summary:
Saxophone player Charlie Parker comes to New York in 1940. He is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 161 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, psychological, factual, stylized, sincere, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
Similar in 88%
Selena (1997)
Plot Summary:
In this biographical drama, Selena Quintanilla is born into a musical Mexican-American family in Texas. Her father, Abraham, realizes that his young daughter is talented and begins performing with her at small venues. She finds success and falls for her guitarist, Chris Perez, who draws the ire of her father. Seeking mainstream stardom, Selena begins recording an English-language album which, tragically, she would never complete.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: touching, sad, factual, sincere, emotional, hispanic, sentimental, historical drama, informative, uplifting
Similar in 84%
Bound for Glory (1976)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 147 min
Plot tags: realistic, road movie, compassionate, talky, period piece, sentimental, touching, serious, political, sincere
Similar in 89%
The Last Sentence (2012)
Plot Summary:
Renowned journalist Torgny Segerstedt declares war against Hitler as he criticizes Swedish politicians who tried to look away from the tyranny of the Nazis with the good excuse of “neutralism”. His only weapon is his pen and his life is full of gossip such as an affair with his boss’ wife, a love scandal with a secretary younger than his daughter, and the suicide of his wife. However, he continues to fight a one man battle against Hitler and the Nazi regime until his death, throwing the question “Can one person really change history?” to the audience.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 839
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Sweden, Norway
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, touching, serious, uplifting, bleak, realistic, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 78%
Goodbye Bafana (2007)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Germany, France, Belgium, South Africa, Italy, UK, Luxembourg
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, serious, realistic, political, inspirational, novela, sincere, clever, contemplative