Best movies like Mandela and de Klerk
Last updated March 2024
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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
Best tv shows and movies like Mandela and de Klerk (1997):
Similar in 80%
Pinochet's Last Stand (2006)
Plot Summary:
In 1998 former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet visits Britain for medical treatment. On being tipped off, Amnesty International seize the chance to bring to justice a man they insist is guilty of multiple human rights violations. The newly-elected Labour government is initially amenable, and soon Pinochet is under house arrest (albeit in a detached house in leafy suburbia) and awaiting extradition to Spain. However, Amnesty are up against the complexities of British law, the vacillations of Home Secretary Jack Straw, Pinochet's former ally Margaret Thatcher - and the Senator's own vast reserves of cunning.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 249
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: disturbing, atmospheric, thought provoking, captivating, realistic, sincere, bleak, serious, dark comedy
Similar in 80%
Adanggaman (2000)
Plot Summary:
In West Africa during the late 17th century, King Adanggaman leads a war against his neighboring tribes, ordering his soldiers to torch enemy villages, kill the elderly and capture the healthy tribesmen to sell to the European slave traders. When his village falls prey to one of Adanggaman's attacks, Ossei manages to escape, but his family is murdered except for his captured mother. Chasing after the soldiers in an effort to free her, Ossei is befriended by a fierce warrior named Naka.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 197
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Switzerland, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Italy
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: disturbing, thought provoking, serious, suspenseful, tense, atmospheric, captivating, realistic, contemplative, baroque
Similar in 80%
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 75%
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 85%
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 80%
A Private Matter (1992)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 306
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, controversial, crying
Similar in 89%
A Gathering of Old Men (1987)
Plot Summary:
A regular day in a Louisiana sugarcane plantation changes course when a local white farmer is shot in self defense. A group of old, black men takes a courageous step by coming forward en masse to take responsibility for the killing of a white racist, whom one of their members has shot. As the sheriff confronts the suspects, the young plantation owner stands alone in her daring defense of this group of men, provoking racial tension that makes a compelling drama.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 749
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, West Germany
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 83%
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 77%
Just Ask My Children (2001)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of a modern-day witch hunt, in which a couple is falsely accused and imprisoned for molesting their own children.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 807
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: disturbing, thought provoking, serious, emotional, sad, captivating, realistic
Similar in 88%
10,000 Black Men Named George (2002)
Plot Summary:
In the 1920s, the rights of American workers to join a labor union was still considered an open question, and African-Americans were routinely denied their civil and economic rights. 10,000 Black Men Named George, the title, refers to the fact Pullman porters were often called "George" by white passengers, which was considered a racial slur.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 349
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, captivating, disturbing, tense, sincere, serious, realistic, contemplative, entertaining
Similar in 88%
The Exonerated (2005)
Plot Summary:
Six people tell their stories on a single subject - how they got wrongfully convicted to death penalty, but later got exonerated.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 463
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, disturbing, suspenseful, mockumentary
Similar in 81%
Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story (2002)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of Clarence Brandley, a black man wrongly accused in 1980 of the murder of a 16-year-old white high school girl named Cheryl Ferguson. Brandley worked at Conroe High School, where Ferguson was visiting as a member of the Belleville High School volleyball team. Three days after her body was discovered, Brandley was arrested as the murderer. Jew Don Boney, a popular activist and Houston city council member, leads the fight to uncover the truth about the Ferguson murder. Mike DeGeurin, a Texas attorney, is brought in to act as the head defense attorney for Brandley, and is joined by a former minister, Jim McCloskey. The lawyers discover that not only is there a complete lack of evidence against Brandley, but the District Attorney, James Keeshan, has been strategizing with the presiding judge. After nine years in prison, three trials and a stay of execution that saved Brandley's life, justice finally prevails as Brandley is granted his freedom.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 165
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: disturbing, emotional, realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious
Similar in 75%
Inside (1996)
Plot Summary:
An emotional and thrilling tale of life and death behind the walls of a maximum security prison. From the acclaimed director of 'Bonnie and Clyde', and featuring a powerful international cast.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 317
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: independent film, tense, rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 89%
The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)
Plot Summary:
Having spent 10 years in prison for nationalist activities, Shack Twala is finally ordered released by the South African Supreme Court but he finds himself almost immediately on the run after a run-in with the police. Assisted by his lawyer Rina Van Niekirk and visiting British engineer Jim Keogh, he heads for Capetown where he hopes to recover a stash of diamonds, meant to finance revolutionary activities, that he had entrusted to a dentist before his incarceration. Along the way, they are followed by Major Horn of the South African State security bureau and it becomes apparent that he has no intention of arresting them until they reach their final destination.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, exciting, captivating, political
Similar in 79%
Blood Done Sign My Name (2010)
Plot Summary:
A drama based on the true story in which a black Vietnam-era veteran is allegedly murdered by a local white businessman who is later exonerated. The plot focuses on the role of a local high school teacher and the civil unrest that followed the acquittal.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 635
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: disturbing, serious, captivating, realistic, thought provoking, tense, bleak, contemplative, entertaining
Similar in 76%
Vendetta (1999)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true tale of power, corruption and murder, Christopher Walken stars in the story of the largest lynching in American history.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
Similar in 89%
Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Story (1986)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 128
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
Sarafina! (1992)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Musical
Country: South Africa, UK, France, USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: realistic, retro, political, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, contemplative, light
Similar in 90%
Red Dust (2004)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, South Africa
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, sincere, political, cult classic
Similar in 83%
Afterburn (1992)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, one woman takes on the U.S. military and General Dynamics; maker of the F-16, thought to be the very best tactical fighter in the world. Air Force Captain Theodore T. Harduvel was one of the best F-16 pilots the U.S. had to offer. After much digging, Janet Harduvel discovers a joint military and General Dynamic cover-up. She proves to be unwavering in her search for the truth to clear his name.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 670
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: captivating, disturbing, thought provoking, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 81%
Once They Marched Through a Thousand Towns (1981)
Plot Summary:
A dramatization of the controversial trial concerning the right for Neo-Nazis to march in the predominately Jewish community of Skokie.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 409
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: political, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 77%
Heavens Fall (2006)
Plot Summary:
Successful New York attorney Sam Leibowitz travels to the South in 1933 to defend nine young black men accused of raping two women on an Alabama freight train.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, sincere, disturbing, independent film, uplifting, emotional, realistic
Similar in 75%
A Lesson Before Dying (1999)
Plot Summary:
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. Nevertheless convicted, he is sentenced to die, but his godmother and the aunt of the local schoolteacher convince school teacher go to the convicted man's cell each day to try to reaffirm to him that he is not an animal but a man with dignity.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: powerful, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 75%
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 87%
Sudie and Simpson (1990)
Plot Summary:
A television movie about the friendship that develops between a young white girl and an older black man in a racist, rural Georgia town during the 1940s.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 169
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 86%
More Than Just a Game (2007)
Plot Summary:
A drama about political prisoners playing soccer at Robben Island prison, where Nelson Mandela was held.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 229
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: South Africa
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: uplifting, sentimental, captivating, realistic, serious
Similar in 86%
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 82%
Harlan County War (2000)
Plot Summary:
A Kentucky woman whose mine-worker husband is nearly killed in a cave-in, and whose father is slowly dying of black lung disease, joins the picket lines for a long, violent strike.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 604
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, disturbing, rough, realistic, independent film, captivating, political, sincere, bleak, serious
Similar in 88%
Black August (2007)
Plot Summary:
The last 14 months of George Jackson's life was an existence under subjective and objective conditions in California's industrial prison complex. George Jackson would spend 11 years in jail (7 of which were in solitary confinement) for a $70 gas station robbery crime in 1960. He was 18 years of age when the sentence of one year-to-life was handed down to him.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 302
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: rough, thought provoking, serious, realistic, political
Similar in 76%
Endgame (2009)
Plot Summary:
The time is the late '80s, a crucial period in the history of South Africa. President P.W. Botha is hanging on to power by a thread as the African National Congress (ANC) takes up arms against apartheid and the country tumbles toward insurrection. A British mining concern is convinced that their interests would be better served in a stable South Africa and they quietly dispatch Michael Young, their head of public affairs, to open an unofficial dialogue between the bitter rivals. Assembling a reluctant yet brilliant team to pave the way to reconciliation by confronting obstacles that initially seem insurmountable, Young places his trust in ANC leader Thabo Mbeki and Afrikaner philosophy professor Willie Esterhuyse. It is their empathy that will ultimately serve as the catalyst for change by proving more powerful than the terrorist bombs that threaten to disrupt the peaceful dialogue.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, South Africa
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, serious, captivating, exciting, thought provoking, epic, realistic, political, contemplative