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Movies that feel like Powaqqatsi (1988)

If you loved Powaqqatsi, the closest films we have are Sans Soleil (1983), Cane Toads: An Unnatural History (1988) and The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988). 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Amazon Prime Video, Criterion Channel and Kanopy and others, checked against today's data.

An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.

πŸ… 56% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.2 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Godfrey Reggio

When is Powaqqatsi streaming? β†’

If Powaqqatsi hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Koyaanisqatsi (1983) Β· Naqoyqatsi (2002)

Sans Soleil poster
Sans Soleil
1983 Β· dir. Chris Marker
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.7documentary

Common ground: poetic documentary

The difference: Reviewed even better

A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco.

Feels alike?
Cane Toads: An Unnatural History poster
Cane Toads: An Unnatural History
1988 Β· dir. Mark Lewis
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.6documentary

Both keep coming back to the same thing: nature documentary

A documentary detailing the spread of Hawaiian sugar-cane toads through Australia in a botched effort to introduce them as counter pests.

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The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years poster
πŸ… 76%β˜… 7.2documentary Β· music

Both know what they want from documentary

The difference: Sits closer to music than Powaqqatsi does

An exploration of the heavy metal scene in Los Angeles, with particular emphasis on glam metal. It features concert footage and interviews of legendary heavy metal and hard rock bands and artists such as Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Megadeth, MotΓΆrhead, Ozzy Osbourne and W.A.S.P..

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Brother's Keeper poster
Brother's Keeper
1992 Β· dir. Joe Berlinger
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.5documentary

Documentary approached the same way

This documentary by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky details the murder trial of Delbert Ward. Delbert was a member of a family of four elderly brothers, working as semi-literate farmers and living together in isolation from the rest of society until William's death.

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The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On poster
The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On
1987 Β· dir. Kazuo Hara
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.2documentary

Two films working the same documentary territory

Kenzo Okuzaki, a 62-year-old veteran of the New Guinea campaign in World War II, sets out to conduct interviews with survivors and relatives to find the truth behind atrocities committed by Japanese military, in particular the unexplained killing of two Japanese privates in his unit.

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Vernon, Florida poster
Vernon, Florida
1981 Β· dir. Errol Morris
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7documentary

Documentary in the same key

Early Errol Morris documentary intersplices random chatter he captured on film of the genuinely eccentric residents of Vernon, Florida. A few examples? The preacher giving a sermon on the definition of the word "Therefore," and the obsessive turkey hunter who speaks reverentially of the "gobblers" he likes to track down and kill.

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Streetwise poster
Streetwise
1984 Β· dir. Martin Bell
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8.2documentary

Both are documentary through and through

This documentary about teenagers living on the streets in Seattle began as a magazine article. The film follows nine teenagers who discuss how they live by panhandling, prostitution, and petty theft.

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Burden of Dreams poster
Burden of Dreams
1982 Β· dir. Les Blank
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.9documentary

The documentary is handled with the same confidence

The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems related to casting, tribal struggles and accidents, among many other setbacks; but nothing compared to dragging a huge steamboat up a mountain, while Herzog embraces the path of a certain madness to make his vision come true.

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Gates of Heaven poster
Gates of Heaven
1978 Β· dir. Errol Morris
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.3documentary

Documentary of the same temperament

A documentary about a pet cemetery in California, and the people who have pets buried there.

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Trekkies poster
Trekkies
1997 Β· dir. Roger Nygard
πŸ… 88%β˜… 6.9documentary

Both play documentary straight

Denise Crosby takes a first look at the huge fans of "Star Trek" from around America and how the series has affected and shaped their lives.

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Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist poster
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.5documentary

The same documentary instincts

The story of Robert Flanagan, a man who was born with cystic fibrosis and told he wouldn't live past 20, who through a unique odyssey of masochism, art and love found a way to live decades past his expiration date.

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Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary poster
Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary
1997 Β· dir. S.R. Bindler
πŸ… 84%β˜… 7.6documentary

Cut from the same documentary cloth

Filmmaker S.R. Bindler profiles Texas contestants trying to win a truck by keeping one hand on it longer than everyone else.

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