Movies Similar to Personal Documentary

30s Are (NOT) the New 20s(2023)

David turns the terrible 30s. He celebrates it with his friends from the town, those of a lifetime. They have not seen each other for a long time, although there is desire, something changes. The celebration becomes a reflection of their lifes and a memory of those who no longer come. A docufiction about the Millennial generation.

Models(1999)

A revealing and devastating portrait of a trio of aspiring real-life Viennese models. Vivian will stop at nothing to be a magazine cover girl. Lisa fills her time with routine plastic surgery and cocaine binges, while innocent Tanja focuses on the mystical through tarot cards, yoga, and raw animal energy.

Operation Silence – The Flükiger Affaire(2024)

Autumn 1977: the Bernese officer trainee Flükiger is found dead. Who is to blame for his death? The RAF or the Béliers, was it an accident or intentional? The director goes in search of clues and tries to shed light on the mysterious events surrounding the vote to form the Canton Jura.

The Hugo's Brain(2012)

The Hugo's Brain is a French documentary-drama about autism. The documentary crosses authentic autistic stories with a fiction story about the life of an autistic (Hugo), from childhood to adulthood, portraying his difficulties and his handicap.

Born in Flames(1983)

In near-future New York, ten years after the “social-democratic war of liberation,” diverse groups of women organize a feminist uprising as equality remains unfulfilled.

Guadalupe: Mother of Humanity(2024)

No mother has ever been as tender and powerful as the Virgin Mary who appeared to the Mexican Indian Juan Diego 500 years ago. Today, more than ever, Our Lady of Guadalupe shows her tenderness and power in so many places around the world. What seemed impossible happened. Why? Who made it possible? What secrets does the "Tilma" hold? Are these miraculous stories true? Thrilling historical reenactments take us to experience the apparitions as if we were actually there. Shocking testimonies from people in Mexico, the United States and other countries, add a universal dimension to Mary's crucial message. They reveal to us how the irresistible love of the Mother of God and of Humanity consoles and heals the wounds of the hearts of those who turn to Her.

A Night of Knowing Nothing(2022)

L, a student in India witness to the government's violent response to university protests, writes letters to her estranged lover while he is away.

Flora(2022)

A metacinematic reflection on the nature of representation and the ongoing drug war in Mexico, Nicolás Pereda’s Flora revisits locations and scenes from the mainstream 2010 narco-comedy El Infierno, exploring the paradoxes of depicting narco-trafficking on film—its tendency both to romanticize and to obscure. To screen is both to project and to conceal.

Fox & Penguin(2021)

How do German couples communicate in private? What are they arguing about? Is the way to a man’s heart really through his stomach? This docu-fictional hybrid production discusses such questions with the help of authentic interview snippets that were edited under the staged plot. We get an insight into the life of an animal couple, who experience typical everyday situations on behalf of us humans. At first, our fox is emotionally contained, while the penguin lady may get wild as hell. With a wink, the filmmakers hold up a mirror to the audience in the cinema.

No One Knows About Persian Cats(2009)

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.

I Dreamed a Dream(2025)

In this hybrid docu-fiction, a group of young male rappers is invited to a tropical beach resort to participate in a film project under the guidance of an absent auteur. Without a script or assigned roles, they spend their days sunbathing and their nights producing music, aiming to advance their careers. As time progresses, the lack of direction leads to confusion and frustration among the musicians. Gradually, each is engulfed by profound and unsettling dreams, blurring the lines between reality and imagination.

Man with a Movie Camera(1929)

A cameraman wanders around with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.

Louisiana Story(1948)

The idyllic life of a young Cajun boy and his pet raccoon is disrupted when the tranquility of the bayou is broken by an oil well drilling near his home.

Searching for Oscar(2019)

Óscar Peyrou is a veteran Spanish film critic who writes his reviews according to a very peculiar method: in his opinion, it is not really necessary to watch the films since it is possible to judge them simply by looking at their promotional poster.

Atlantis: End of a World, Birth of a Legend(2011)

Tells the story of the greatest natural disaster of the ancient world, an event that experts believe inspired the legend of Atlantis.

Agatha Christie contre Hercule Poirot : Qui a tué Roger Ackroyd ?(2017)

Atlal (Remnants)

'Atlal (Remnants)' is a fictional documentary that follows Bassam, a Palestinian man in his fifties, on a journey between the past and present. An abandoned school, the remains of a beach club, and a dusty cinema hold Bassam's cherished memories from his life in Qatar. Through personal archives and interviews with Bassam and his wife, Laila, we get a deeper look into their stories—slowly revealing the dismaying thoughts behind Bassam's nostalgia.

London(1994)

A psycho-geographic journey through London and its history, as undertaken by an unseen narrator and his companion, Robinson, at the time of the 1992 general election.

Exergo(2024)

Departing from peripheral details of some paintings of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, a female narrator unravels several stories related to the economic, social and psychological conditions of past and current artists.

Moana(1926)

Robert J. Flaherty's South Seas follow-up to Nanook of the North is a Gauguin idyll moved by "pride of beauty... pride of strength."