Movies Similar to Squatters: The Other Philadelphia Story

Wild Lilly(2011)

Lilly is nine years old and lives with her mother and brothers Robbin and Melvin in a squatter community deep in the woods.

7.3

The Shooting on Mole Street(1998)

On March 1, 1996, 15-year-old Shafeeq Murrel was killed on the street in South Philadelphia — innocently caught in the crossfire between rival pairs of crack dealers out for revenge. Shafeeq’s murder was one of 435 in Philadelphia that year, and it was soon shelved as a cold case. Then, detectives David Baker and Julie Hill took it on— two middle-aged white cops working a Black neighborhood in their battered Plymouth Gran Fury. Filmed like a taut police procedural, THE SHOOTING ON MOLE STREET chronicles the investigation, as Baker and Hill knock on doors, shake down dealers, and beg, threaten and cajole residents in an effort to get someone — anyone — to talk. Baker rejects any accusation of police racism in the unsolved murders of young Black men. Isn’t he out here trying to close the case? But racism is more complicated than intent.

0.0

Super Bowl Champions: The 2024 Philadelphia Eagles(2025)

The documentary, Super Bowl Champions: The 2024 Philadelphia Eagles, is from NFL Films and Dan Silver’s BD4, and takes viewers behind the scenes during the team’s season, with quarterback Jalen Hurts and stars like Saquon Barkley leading the team to a dominating 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs

0.0

Quest(2017)

For over a decade, this portrait of a North Philadelphia family and the creative sanctuary offered by their home music studio was filmed with vérité intimacy. The family's 10-year journey is an illumination of race and class in America, and it's a testament to love, healing and hope.

7.2

Kelce(2023)

An intimate and emotional documentary that chronicles Philadelphia Eagles team captain and All-Pro center Jason Kelce’s 2022 season, which began with him confronting one of the most challenging decisions any professional athlete will ever face—is now the time to hang it up?

6.6

Where the Water Goes

In Tacony Creek Park, home to one of Philadelphia's lesser-known watersheds, Julie Slavet and Malcolm Bundy reflect on their involvement with and love for the park, made bittersweet by the continuous and increasing amount of pollution that flows into its river. Combined wastewater and stormwater sewage outfalls have affected Philadelphia's rivers for years, but as one innovative program mitigates this for the Schuylkill and Delaware, Tacony gets left behind. Scientist Laura Toran educates the audience on green infrastructure and its potential positive impacts, while Slavet and Bundy discuss how they're still waiting—not without hope—for those impacts to reach their community.

0.0

The Pruitt-Igoe Myth(2012)

Destroyed in a dramatic and highly-publicized implosion, the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex has become a widespread symbol of failure amongst architects, politicians and policy makers. The Pruitt-Igoe Myth explores the social, economic and legislative issues that led to the decline of conventional public housing in America, and the city centers in which they resided, while tracing the personal and poignant narratives of several of the project's residents. In the post-War years, the American city changed in ways that made it unrecognizable from a generation earlier, privileging some and leaving others in its wake. The next time the city changes, remember Pruitt-Igoe.

6.7

The Swede of Philadelphia(2025)

Pelle Lindbergh was one of the rising stars of the NHL after winning the Vezina trophy (best goalie in the NHL) and leading the Philadelphia Flyers to the finals, both in 1985. At 26, he seemingly had his whole life ahead of him. On November 10th, 1985 Pelle crashed his Porsche in Somerdale, NJ and died the following day. Two others survived the accident. "The Swede of Philadelphia" is an in-depth and intense look at the "goalie, the man, the decision." Acclaimed director Charlie Minn(Lionsgate, ID channel and Amazon Prime video) interviews many of Pelle's teammates, team staff and journalists to shape every aspect of a hockey player that paved the way for future European and Swedish goalies to follow their dreams into the NHL.

0.0

Vick(2020)

A comprehensive reminisce at each chapter of former NFL quarterback Michael Vick’s saga–the incredible rise, shocking fall and polarizing return.

6.8

Berlin Utopiekadaver(2024)

A taxi drives through the city of Berlin. Its driver is a punk, left and a well-known figure in the autonomous scene. The stations of his trip are the most important places of the autonomous scene: all in the struggle for survival. The last evictions have not yet been processed and the next ones are coming right up.

0.0

How to Squash a Squat(1989)

1989, New York City's Alphabet City and East Village. A year after the Tompkins Square Park Riot, squatters and their community allies try to stop the demolition of their building after an arson. Police forces occupy the neighborhood while the demolition continues. A portrait of an East Village that is no more. An homage to the voices and sounds of a neighborhood before its gentrification.

0.0

The Shame of a City(2006)

In 1904, author Lincoln Steffens wrote, Philadelphia is a city that is corrupt and contented. In 2003 filmmaker Tigre Hill chronicled the Philadelphia mayoral race between Democrat incumbent mayor, John Street and Republican challenger Sam Katz. Early polls showed Katz with a small lead. Hill had inside access to the Katz campaign and although rebuffed by the Street campaign, managed to get footage. Twenty-seven days before the election an FBI bug was found in the mayor s office. It looked like 1904 all over again-blatant corruption. The discovery of the bug at first seemed like a death knell to the Street campaign and a near certain victory for Katz. How did the mayor react to the bug? This powerful documentary shows how-drum up support by polarizing the electorate.

0.0

Hotel Mokum(2024)

Pak Mokum Terug is the name of a group of Amsterdam activists that refuse to accept that the basic right to housing no longer appears to apply. The group’s name means “Take Back Amsterdam,” Mokum being the traditional nickname for a capital city in which today, for more and more people, a home is becoming unaffordable. Against this background, Hotel Mokum reports on the squatting of a dilapidated hotel in the city center, narrated in the voice of a fictitious activist.

0.0

Broad Street Bullies(2010)

The HBO Sports documentary Broad Street Bullies, a look at one of pro sport’s most polarizing teams, the legendary Philadelphia Flyers Stanley Cup championship squads of the 1970s. This exclusive presentation tells the backstories of these engaging and colorful athletes, who won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975 with a bold, aggressive style that sparked controversy and criticism.

5.9

Legendary(2020)

An inside look into the effort to preserve Philadelphia's ballroom scene, a black LGBTQ safe-space that has endured for 30 years.

8.0

Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles(2011)

An urban mystery unfurls as one man pieces together the surreal meaning of hundreds of cryptic tiled messages that have been appearing in city streets across the U.S. and South America.

6.6

Motivation 2: The Chris Cole Story(2015)

The story of a man that earned his place as an innovator, motivator and legend in skateboarding that now creates inspiration and opportunity for a new generation. Cole's progression from humble neighborhood beginnings to the world of elite street skateboarding is revealed through recently discovered archival footage, presenting a skater that went on to achieve the highest amount of skate contest wins, a list of defining video parts, being twice selected as Thrasher magazine's Skater of the Year, back-to-back X-Games gold medals, and becoming the 2013 Street League Super Crown World Champion

7.1

Schade, daß Beton nicht brennt(1981)

A documentary about the clashes between squatters and the police in Berlin in early 1981. Despite the absence of commentary, this is an openly partisan film that aims less for political analysis than for an up-close description of the situation and mood.

0.0

Farewell AKAB Okretnica(2025)

As one of Belgrade’s last DIY anti-nationalist spaces faces closure, its community gathers for a final night — a farewell that becomes a quiet act of resistance.

10.0

Philadelphia by the Delaware(2025)

In wake of the Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost trade, a fan comes to terms with their new reality during a journey to the sea.

10.0