Movies Similar to Language Matters with Bob Holman

The Yes Men(2003)

A comic, biting and revelatory documentary following a small group of prankster activists as they gain worldwide notoriety for impersonating the World Trade Organization (WTO) on television and at business conferences around the world.

7.0

An Inconvenient Truth(2006)

A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.

7.0

School of Babel(2014)

They just arrived in France. They are Irish, Serbs, Brazilians Tunisians, Chinese and Senegalese ... For a year, Julie Bertuccelli filmed talks, conflicts and joys of this group of students aged 11 to 15 years, together in the same class to learn French.

6.6

Colours of the Alphabet(2016)

It is estimated that 40% of the world’s population lack the opportunity to be educated in their own language. In Colours of the Alphabet we get an insight into the challenges this poses as we follow a group of first graders in Zambia – a country with 72 local languages where education is primarily offered in English.

0.0

Flow: For Love of Water(2008)

From both local and global perspectives, this documentary examines the harsh realities behind the mounting water crisis. Learn how politics, pollution and human rights are intertwined in this important issue that affects every being on Earth. With water drying up around the world and the future of human lives at stake, the film urges a call to arms before more of our most precious natural resource evaporates.

6.5

Inside Job(2010)

A film that exposes the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, Inside Job traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia.

7.7

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.

10.0

Gyani Maiya(2019)

“We left our language and started speaking others’. The girls have got married and have left for the villages. Boys are getting married in villages. It should be taught to children”. — Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda The Gi Mihaq (also known as Kusunda) was a semi-nomadic hunter and gatherer community that settled in villages around the mid-western Nepalese district of Dang. They have long lost their native language Mihaq (Kusunda), to acculturation and other barriers to active use. The community also lost their 83-year-old elder Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda in 2020, the most and the only known fluent Kusunda speaker then. Filmed in Kulmor in the Dang District in 2018, this openly-licensed documentary is a memoir of Sen-Kusunda in her own words and a biography of her people who were forced to leave their language and cultural identity. Kusunda is being revived by Kamala Sen Khatri, Sen-Kusunda’s younger sister, and Uday Raj Aaley, a local researcher who is the key interviewer for this film.

10.0

Novena(2013)

In 2012, Stephen Vaughan and Kay Ferreter are invited to address the congregation at St. Joseph's Redemptorists Church in Dundalk, Ireland for the Solemn Novena Festival. In a powerful speech, the pair describe their experiences being gay and lesbian in Ireland, feeling excluded by Catholic doctrine, and the importance of a more inclusive church.

9.0

The King's Speech(2010)

The King's Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stutter and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war.

7.7

Speak(2012)

About the fear of public speaking and chronicles several characters as they prepare for the World Championships of Public Speaking. One leaves behind a job and his wife and 6 kids on his quest to be the best. Another spends 6 weeks writing and rewriting his speech only to write it once more 72 hours before the contest. For another, it is a fight for life that gives her the strength to speak and tell her story while she still has time. They all want to share with the world their very personal stories of triumph over adversity. But only one will be named the World's Best Speaker.

0.0

Poto and Cabengo(1980)

Documentary by Jean-Pierre Gorin about twin girls who spontaneously developed their own unique language as children.

6.8

Detropia(2012)

Detroit’s story has encapsulated the iconic narrative of America over the last century – the Great Migration of African Americans escaping Jim Crow; the rise of manufacturing and the middle class; the love affair with automobiles; the flowering of the American dream; and now… the collapse of the economy and the fading American mythos.

6.7

Laboratory Greece(2019)

A journey through Greece and Europe’s past and recent history: from the Second World War to the current crisis. It is a historical documentary, a look into many stories. «If Democracy can be destroyed in Greece, it can be destroyed throughout Europe» Paul Craig Roberts

8.0

Bitcoin: The End of Money as We Know It(2015)

A documentary exploring how money and the trading of value has evolved, culminating in Bitcoin.

6.7

The Fight for Greenland(2020)

The world's largest island has been part of Denmark since 1721, but a significant majority of the 56.000 inhabitants now want independence. They feel their culture and language is threatened and is the main reason for the many suicides among young people. But the Danish speaking Greenlanders feel discriminated and want to keep the ties to Denmark. The film follows four strong young Greenlanders, who each in their own way insist on taking responsibility for the future of their country. The documentary explores the difficult balance between the right to self-determination and xenophobic nationalism. Between traditional culture and globalization.

7.0

A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity(2016)

A feature-length documentary that follows a community in Australia who came together to explore and demonstrate a simpler way to live in response to global crises.

7.7

Lincoln(2012)

The revealing story of the 16th US President's tumultuous final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country and abolish slavery. With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come.

6.9

Burn(2012)

A character-driven, action-packed documentary about Detroit, told through the eyes of the Detroit firefighters, the men and women charged with the thankless task of saving a city that many have written off as dead.

7.4

The Monroe Doctrine(1939)

The story of President Monroe's response to attempts by Spain to interfere in South America.

6.7