Best movies like Life on Earth
A personal reflection on the state of Africa
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Life on Earth Starring Abderrahmane Sissako, Nana Baby, Mohamed Sissako, Bourama Coulibaly, and more. If you liked Life on Earth then you may also like: Waiting for Happiness, Nothing But Time, Century Hotel, Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco, The Room and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
Just before the turn of the 21st century, Dramane, a Malian who lives in Paris, returns to his family's African village to visit his father. After biking around the town, Dramane realizes how different and stagnated his village is compared to the ever-changing modern world, especially at the dawn of a new millennium. While home, Dramane strikes up a friendship with beautiful villager Nana, with whom he contemplates the future. The film earned Sissako awards at the Fribourg International Film Festival, the Ouagadougou Panafrican Film and Television Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival.
Life on Earth
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Nothing But Time
The life of a great city (Paris) from dawn until dusk, including the beautiful and the ragged, the rich and the poor.
Century Hotel
David Weaver makes his feature debut with this omnibus film in which each tale is told during different points during the 20th century, but in the same hotel room -- room 720. The film opens during the swinging '20s when a beautiful young woman, married against her will to a brutish thug of a man, endures a tension-fraught honeymoon. During the Depression segment, a mail-order bride from China meets her husband for the first time. Following the end of WWII, a soldier returns home to meet his girlfriend and his best friend. During the paranoia of the 1950s, a professor searches for his wife. During the 1980s, a lawyer has too much sex and debt, and during the dawn of the millennium, a woman comes to a newly refurbished room 720 to meet her Internet lover. Such acclaimed Canadian actors as Tom McCamus, Sandrine Holt, and Colm Feore star in this film, which was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival.
Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco
When the pets accidentally get separated from their vacationing owners, Chance, Shadow, and Sassy navigate the mean streets of San Francisco, trying to find their home across the Golden Gate Bridge. But the road is blocked by a series of hazards, both man and beast.
Belle
Suzu is a 17-year-old high-school student living in a rural town with her father. Wounded by the loss of her mother at a young age, Suzu one day discovers the massive online world "U" and dives into this alternate reality as her avatar, Belle. Before long, all of U's eyes are fixed on Belle, when, suddenly, a mysterious, dragon-like figure appears before her.
Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco
Frequent comedy co-stars Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand take viewers on a tour of the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. Attractions shown include the U.S. Battleship "Oregon", the Australian convict ship "Success" (complete with such punishment devices as a flogging rack and a spiked Iron Maiden), the world's tallest flagpole (251 feet), the Court of Abundance, the Court of the Universe (with sunken garden) and the Tower of Jewels. Fatty and Mabel also visit Frisco's still-under-construction City Hall, accompanied by Frisco's then-Mayor James Rolph Jr. Also appearing in the film is opera star Ernestine Schumann-Heink.
Millennium Mambo
A young woman's romances with two different young men at the dawn of the 3rd millennium is recalled 10 years later.
Bamako
Caught in the stranglehold of debt and structural adjustment, Africa is fighting for its survival. In the face of disaster, representatives of African society bring an action against international financial institutions. The trial takes place in Bamako, in the yard of a house, among its inhabitants.
Tiger Eyes
After Davey's father is killed in a hold-up, she and her mother and younger brother visit relatives in New Mexico. Here Davey is befriended by a young man who helps her find the strength to carry on and conquer her fears.
Commandos Strike at Dawn
A gentle widower, enraged at Nazi atrocities against his peaceful Norwegian fishing village, escapes to Britain and returns leading a commando force against the oppressors.
In Paris
Paul, depressed from his recent break-up with Anna, returns home to Paris and moves back in with his divorced father and amorous younger brother, Jonathan. While his carefree sibling and doting father try in vain to cheer him up, a visit from his mother seems to be the only thing that brings him joy. When Paul is then left in the house to brood and talk to one of his brother's girlfriends, he begins to realize that while things haven't gone according to plan, one can always find something to live for.
Noura's Dream
With her abusive husband in jail and a coveted divorce pending, hardworking Noura can almost grasp a happy, new life with lover Lassaad — but when the best-laid plans are upended, Noura must tap her unshakable will to fulfill her dream.
Live Nude Girls Unite!
Documentary look at the 1996-97 effort of the dancers and support staff at a San Francisco peep show, The Lusty Lady, to unionize. Angered by arbitrary and race-based wage policies, customers' surreptitious video cameras, and no paid sick days or holidays, the dancers get help from the Service Employees International local and enter protracted bargaining with the union-busting law firm that management hires. We see the women work, sort out their demands, and go through the difficulties of bargaining. The narrator is Julia Query, a dancer and stand-up comedian who is reluctant to tell her mother, a physician who works with prostitutes, that she strips.
The Marsh
Two social outcasts in 19th century Eastern Europe, Alexandre and Ulysse, become friends and settle down to live alone on the edge of a marsh that is reputedly haunted by demons, monsters and goblins. These two men have been outcasts all their lives. Alexandre was raised in a nomad family that traveled from town to town, being rejected by the people of his homeland. Due to his physical abnormalities, Ulysse has always been pushed aside ever since his childhood. When a strange murder is committed in a nearby village, the peasants turn their suspicions on Alexandre and Ulysse, because they are different. In the eyes of the villagers, they are demons that must be hunted, burned and killed.
Sandra Brown's White Hot
A single and strikingly beautiful interior designer, enjoying success in San Francisco, returns to her Louisiana hometown because of a family tragedy, ten years after running away.
In My Father's Den
Paul (Macfadyen), a prize-winning war journalist, returns to his remote New Zealand hometown due to the death of his father, battle-scarred and world-weary. For the discontented sixteen-year-old Celia (Barclay) he opens up a world she has only dreamed of. She actively pursues a friendship with him, fascinated by his cynicism and experience of the world beyond her small-town existence. But many, including the members of both their families (Otto, Moy), frown upon the friendship and when Celia goes missing, Paul becomes the increasingly loathed and persecuted prime suspect in her disappearance. As the violent and urgent truth gradually emerges, Paul is forced to confront the family tragedy and betrayal that he ran from as a youth, and to face the grievous consequences of silence and secrecy that has surrounded his entire adult life.
Lake Effects
Sara and Lily grew up at Smith Mountain Lake. Sara became estranged from the family and without explanation moved to Los Angeles to study law. Her sister Lily, an artist, teaches locally and lives with their parents, Ray and Vivian, until Dad dies in an accident. Sara returns to help settle his estate, and all our ladies cross paths with an eclectic group of local oddballs, as they search for a Loch Ness-style monster they believe lurks in the lake's depths. A few real Smith Mountain Lake characters make appearances. The next week at the lake is filled with adventure, tears, and laughter as Vivian and her two daughters finally understand, through the guidance of Dad's spirit, if they still belong on the lake, even though Ray is gone. All paths converge at the Smith Mountain Lake Wine Festival, on course for a heart-warming and hilarious collision. Written by Mike McKay
Season for Love
When a talented chef returns to her Texas hometown, she winds up entering the town's famous BBQ cook off and gets more than she bargained for when the surprise judge turns out to be her high school love.
Still Kicking
Still Kicking: William Shatner and 'Christopher Plummer' is a one-hour television special that captures the memories and insights of these two icons. The setting is the stage of the renowned Stratford Shakespeare Festival Stage, where both men launched their careers in the 1950s, and were then propelled to international stardom. Both continue to produce incredible work. Plummer earned an Academy Award in 2012 for his performance in Beginners. He recently wrote a best-selling autobiography, and will soon be returning to the stage of the Stratford Festival for the theatre's 60th anniversary season. Shatner won four Emmys for his portrayal of Denny Crane on Boston Legal, and also recently wrote a best-selling book, and currently has an amazing four television series on air.
Marry Go Round
Abby Foster and Luke Walker were high school sweethearts who were married for a brief time. Many years later, Abby’s life seems perfect as she gets ready for a new life in Paris along with her soon-to-be husband, Edward. When an unexpected letter arrives throwing Abby off course, she must decide what her heart really wants.
Raise a Glass to Love
Aspiring Master Sommelier Jenna returns to her family vineyard to study and is intrigued by the natural methods of the handsome new, Argentinian winemaker, Marcelo.
A Country Romance
When Sarah Kress learns her family’s vineyard is up for sale, she leaves her busy urban life and visits her hometown to help with the sale and have her last harvest. With the help of handsome neighbor Gabe, huge challenge becomes fun as she and Gabe fall in love. But when the job is done, Sarah must decide whether to return to her fast-paced life or follow her heart.
Christmas Under Wraps
When a driven doctor doesn't get the prestigious position she planned for, she unexpectedly finds herself moving to a remote Alaskan town. While she meets the locals and even starts a new romance, she has to learn to let the life she planned for give way to a love she never could have imagined, and finds this festive small town is hiding one big holiday secret.
Amazing Earth
Join narrator Patrick Stewart on a sweeping journey through Earth's fascinating history -- from the formation of ancient, geological artifacts to the modern exploration of the moon. The film is a storehouse of facts you probably didn't know. For instance, more than 18,000 meteorites strike Earth each year; it's 3,000 degrees four miles below Earth's surface; and Mount Everest's peak was once part of the ocean floor.
Nostradamus: 21st Century Prophecies Revealed
How did a French prophet living in 16th century France predict so many modern day disasters? From the tragic events of 9/11, to recent tsunamis in the Pacific, to the Ebola outbreak in 2014–how could one man see so far into the future so accurately? It’s because he had a secret–and now, we know what it was. This documentary takes a look at Nostradamus in a whole new light. New, innovative analysis gives us the chance to finally crack his cryptic code. The emerging truth is that Nostradamus may indeed have possessed a special gift that made his predictions so accurate, but it’s a gift we may all be able to tap into. And, of course the question is, if he was right about so many things in the past, what does the future have in store?
The 21st Century Race For Space
A new age of space exploration, and exploitation, is dawning. But surprisingly, some of the boldest efforts at putting humans into space are now those of private companies started by a handful of maverick billionaire businessmen. Beyond mass space travel, and even space mining and manufacturing, the dream of Elon Musk and others is true space exploration. His company, SpaceX, already delivers supplies to the International Space Station, and their next step is delivering astronauts too. But their true ambition is to ensure the survival of the human race by crossing our solar system and colonizing Mars in the next decade. Could commercial spaceflight companies eventually make us a space-faring civilization?
Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco - The Castro
Now known internationally as the world's first "gay hometown," San Francisco's Castro District was a quiet, working-class neighborhood of European immigrants only a few decades ago. In this documentary, the story of the Castro's transformation is told by those who lived it, young and old, straight and gay. It's a tale of social upheaval, exuberant street culture, political assassination, and the inspiring coming-of-age of an entire community an ongoing saga even today.
Christmas in Love
Ellie Hartman is an aspiring crafter working in her small town’s bakery making famous Christmas Kringles. When the new, big-city CEO Nick Carlingson visits the bakery, he arrives filled with modernization ideas destined to lay off many employees.
That Certain Summer
The first US teleplay to deal sympathetically with homosexuality. Divorced San Francisco contractor Doug Salter is looking forward to a summer visit from his fourteen-year-old son Nick, who lives in Los Angeles with his mother Janet. The boy does not know that his father is gay and committed to Gary McClain, his life partner of several years.
A Gingerbread Christmas
Follows Hazel, who goes to spend the holidays in her home town, where a romance begins to bloom with a local contractor who has been helping her father with their family bakery, but some misunderstandings threaten to tear them apart.
The San Francisco Story
After five years of being away, Rick Nelson (Joel McCrea) returns to San Francisco to find it filled with corruption - and crooked politicians. It isn't until he meets a beautiful San Franciscan (Yvonne De Carlo), that Nelson decides to get involved with bringing law-and-order to the city by the bay!
Together We Live
A ham-handed cautionary fable against communism, the film concerns a group of Civil War veterans who are appalled by the burgeoning radical movement in America.
A Feeling of Home
Web entrepreneur Abby hides her Texas roots to convince a backer she's from New England, a task complicated by a trip home and an unexpected reunion with Ryan, her high school sweetheart.
Waiting for Happiness
Before immigrating to the West, Abdallah travels to the coastal city of Nouadhibou, Mauritania, to visit his mother. Although he grew up there, Abdallah feels anything but at home in his old neighborhood: He can no longer speak the local dialect, and he wears western clothes that immediately cast him as an outsider. But, as Abdallah spends time with a young boy and an elderly electrician, he can't help but feel a sense of loss for the life he's abandoning.