Best movies like Mandela
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Nelson Mandela becomes South Africa's first Black President, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership in negotiating a bloodless revolution in that country.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 259
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like Mandela (1987):
Similar in 83%
The March (1990)
Plot Summary:
A group of several thousand Africans migrate westward across northern Africa and sail across the Strait of Gibraltar to Europe. Their message is: "We are poor because you are rich.".
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 153
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 80%
Babylon (1980)
Plot Summary:
Drama telling the story of Blue, a young man of Jamaican descent living in Brixton in 1980, as he hangs out with his friends, fronts a dub sound system, loses his job, struggles with family problems and has his friendships tested by racism.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Italy
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
Pressure (1976)
Plot Summary:
A British-born younger son of an immigrant family from Trinidad finds himself adrift between two cultures.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 309
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: black cinema, cult film
Similar in 87%
Sophie and the Moonhanger (1996)
Plot Summary:
A woman pits herself against her husband and his Ku Klux Klan member friends when she learns that they are planning an attack against her black maid and her husband.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 146
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
My Sweet Charlie (1970)
Plot Summary:
A pregnant white Southern girl and a black New York lawyer, both on the run in rural Texas, meet up in a boarded-up, abandoned house and realize they both need each other in order to survive.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 272
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: tension, suspense
Similar in 81%
Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation (2007)
Plot Summary:
Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation is a 2007 epic film on the Namibian independence struggle against South African occupation as seen through the life of Sam Nujoma, the leader of the South-West Africa People's Organisation and the first president of the Republic of Namibia.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 103
Genere: Drama
Country: Namibia
Duration: 161 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
Disgrace (2008)
Plot Summary:
Disgrace is the story of a South African professor of English who loses everything: his reputation, his job, his peace of mind, his good looks, his dreams of artistic success, and finally even his ability to protect his cherished daughter. After having an affair with a student, he moves to the Eastern Cape, where he gets caught up in a mess of post-apartheid politics.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia, South Africa
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, thought provoking, rough, captivating, sexy, educational, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 87%
Chocolate (1988)
Plot Summary:
A young French woman returns to the vast silence of West Africa to contemplate her childhood days in a colonial outpost in Cameroon. Her strongest memories are of the family's houseboy, Protee - a man of great nobility, intelligence and beauty - and the intricate nature of relationships in a racist society.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, West Germany, Cameroon
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, contemplative, psychological, sincere, atmospheric, thought provoking, serious, erotic, sentimental
Similar in 87%
Kin (2000)
Plot Summary:
While on a hunt for elephant poachers in Namibia, a white female conservationist and a black lawyer fall for each other despite the condemnation by the local community.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 164
Genere: Drama
Country: South Africa, UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sentimental, captivating, emotional, erotic, independent film, serious, realistic, sexual, touching, sexy
Similar in 79%
Across the Line (2015)
Plot Summary:
Out of the approximately 600 players in the National Hockey League, thirty are Black. Mattie Slaughter, a hockey phenom from the rural Black community of North Preston, wants to make it thirty-one. To reach his goal, Mattie needs to keep his nose clean and avoid trouble. Hard to do though, when you go to a school where racism taints every interaction, your older brother is a hustler and you’re crushing on a girl who’s already hooked up.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 524
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 75%
Flame in the Streets (1961)
Plot Summary:
Flame in the Streets is a 1961 British drama film directed by Roy Ward Baker. Racial tensions manifest themselves at home, work and on the streets during Bonfire Night in the burgeoning West Indian community of early 1960s Britain. Trades union leader (Mills) fights for the rights of a black worker but struggles with the news that his own daughter is planning to marry a West Indian, much against his own logic and the prejudice of his wife.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 402
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: independent film, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 79%
Cry, the Beloved Country (1995)
Plot Summary:
A South-African preacher goes to search for his wayward son who has committed a crime in the big city.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: South Africa, USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: christian film, touching, political, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 90%
Freedom Road (1979)
Plot Summary:
Muhammad Ali, in a rare acting role, plays Gideon Jackson, an ex-slave in 1870's Virginia who gets elected to the U.S. Senate in Washington D.C. and battles other former slaves and white sharecroppers to keep the land they tended all their lives.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 205
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 186 min
Plot tags: political, crying, period piece
Similar in 81%
Crisis at Central High (1981)
Plot Summary:
Story of the federally-ordered integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 163
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
The Color of Courage (1998)
Plot Summary:
Based on the landmark civil rights case Sipes vs. McGhee, The Color of Courage chronicles the friendship between a white woman and a black woman whose family, the McGhees, has moved into a previously all-white neighborhood. A McGhee granddaughter, Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, wrote the script.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 381
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: inspirational
Similar in 81%
Bopha! (1993)
Plot Summary:
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 movement, he finds himself torn between his family (including long-suffering wife Alfre Woodard) and what he believes is his duty.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: independent film, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, emotional, realistic, historical drama, political drama
Similar in 81%
The Negro (2002)
Plot Summary:
A black teenager vandalizes a racist lawn ornament.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 519
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, serious, disturbing, thought provoking, realistic
Similar in 89%
Cadence (1990)
Plot Summary:
As punishment for drunken, rebellious behavior, a young white soldier is thrown into a stockade populated entirely by black inmates. But instead of falling victim to racial hatred, the soldier joins forces with his fellow prisoners and rises up against the insanely tyrannical and bigoted prison warden.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: inspirational, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 79%
The Kitchen Toto (1987)
Plot Summary:
The son of a priest slain by the Mau Mau moves in with a police officer and his wife in 1950 Kenya.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 266
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: independent film, grindhouse, sincere, thought provoking, serious, realistic, disturbing, biting, suspense
Similar in 85%
Poor Boy's Game (2007)
Plot Summary:
Donnie Rose went to prison for beating a young man so brutally it left him handicapped for life. Nine years later, Donnie is out. He's a different man with only one place to go: back home to the same violent and racist neighborhood that created him. At the other end of town, the black community still wants revenge. The instrument of justice will be Ossie Paris, a devastatingly talented boxer who challenges Donnie to a match; a match Donnie's family and peers won't let him refuse. George Carvery has waited nine years to avenge his son's fate at the hands of Donnie. When finally they meet face to face, however, both realize they share a similar desire to overcome the past.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, rough, realistic, crying
Similar in 84%
Manderlay (2005)
Plot Summary:
In 1933, after leaving Dogville, Grace Margaret Mulligan sees a slave being punished at a cotton farm called Manderlay. Officially slavery is illegal and Grace stands up against the owners of the farm. She stays with some gangsters in Manderlay and tries to influence the situation. But when harvest time comes Grace sees the social and economic reality of Manderlay.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, France, Germany, UK, Italy, USA
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: disturbing, bleak, psychological, art house, thought provoking, political, controversial, clever, offbeat, serious
Similar in 87%
A Raisin in the Sun (2008)
Plot Summary:
Dreams can make a life worth living, but they can also be dashed by bad decisions. This is the crossroads whare the Younger family find themselves when their father passes away and leaves them with $10,000 in life insurance money. Should they buy a new home for the family? Perhaps a liquor store? While no choice is easy, life on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s is even harder.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, emotional, uplifting, touching, serious, family saga, captivating, realistic
Similar in 85%
Panther (1995)
Plot Summary:
Panther is a semi-historic film about the origins of The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The movie spans about 3 years (1966-68) of the Black Panther's history in Oakland. Panther also uses historical footage (B/W) to emphasize some points.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: political, disturbing, controversial, philosophical, hood, cult classic, tense, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
Mississippi Masala (1991)
Plot Summary:
An Indian family is expelled from Uganda when Idi Amin takes power. They move to Mississippi and time passes. The Indian daughter falls in love with a black man, and the respective families have to come to terms with it.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: romantic, light, talky, realistic, touching, serious, sexy, emotional, sex comedy, multicultural
Similar in 84%
Color of Justice (1997)
Plot Summary:
Four young black men kill a white woman, the D.A. is very cautious in how to proceed.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 228
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, rough, thought provoking, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
Freedom Song (2000)
Plot Summary:
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 the Freedom Summer, a group of high school students in the small town are eager to make grassroots changes in their own community. The young activists meet resistance not only from white southerners, but from their parents, who have experienced firsthand the violence that can result from speaking out.[1] As high school students band together with the support of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, they make strides in registering African-American voters and gaining awareness for their cause.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 891
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, captivating, emotional, political, tense, serious, realistic
Similar in 86%
A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
Plot Summary:
Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: black and white, retro, social, existential, aesthetic, sentimental, sincere, thought provoking, touching, serious
Similar in 90%
Mandela and de Klerk (1997)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 667
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, disturbing, contemplative
Similar in 79%
The Color Purple (1985)
Plot Summary:
An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing "Mister" Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa. Based on the novel by Alice Walker.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 94000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 154 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, inspirational, sad, sincere, emotional, compassionate, period piece, heartbreaking
Similar in 90%
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