Best movies like State of Wonder

In the wake of Israel's 2006 bombardment of Lebanon, a determined woman finds her way into the country convincing a taxi driver to take a risky journey around the scarred region in search of her sister and her son.

This documentary tells the personal story of filmmaker Jari Osborne's father, a Chinese-Canadian veteran. She describes her father's involvement in World War II and uncovers a legacy of discrimination and racism against British Columbia's Chinese-Canadian community. Sworn to secrecy for decades, Osborne's father and his war buddies now vividly recall their top-secret missions behind enemy lines in Southeast Asia. Theirs is a tale of young men proudly fighting for a country that had mistreated them. This film does more than reveal an important period in Canadian history. It pays moving tribute to a father's quiet heroism.

Punctuated with stories from the Bible, the film’s purpose was to reinforce Christian values in the atomic age by condemning the consequences of human conflict with scenes of the crucifixion, lynching and Nazi fascism.

The Weight of Chains is a Canadian documentary film that takes a critical look at the role that the US, NATO and the EU played in the tragic breakup of a once peaceful and prosperous European state - Yugoslavia. The film, bursting with rare stock footage never before seen by Western audiences, is a creative first-hand look at why the West intervened in the Yugoslav conflict, with an impressive roster of interviews with academics, diplomats, media personalities and ordinary citizens of the former Yugoslav republics. This film also presents positive stories from the Yugoslav wars - people helping each other regardless of their ethnic background, stories of bravery and self-sacrifice.

After a lifetime of hiding, Chely Wright becomes the first commercial country music singer to come out as gay, shattering cultural stereotypes within Nashville, per conservative heartland family and, most importantly, within herself. With unprecedented access over a two-year period, including her private video diaries, the film layers Chely's rise to fame while hiding in the late 90's with the execution of her coming out plan, culminating in the exciting moment when she steps into the media glare to reveal she is gay. The film shows both the devastation of internalized homophobia and the transformational power of living an authentic life. The film also documents the conflicting responses from Nashville, the heartland and the LGBT community as Chely Wright prepares for an unknown future.

A thought-provoking documentary on the current and historical causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. political involvement.

The San Francisco scene in 1967-68. Documentary about hippies shot during the height of the movement . Viewpoints from many kinds of people. Music by Steve Miller Band, Mother Earth, Quicksilver Messenger Service and others.

This 1922 Frank Borzage film is a masterwork waiting to be rediscovered. Hester Bevins is a simple country girl who yearns for adventure. Though she has a handsome young man, Jerry, who is devoted to her, she leaves her village and goes to New York in search of a grander life. There she becomes the lover of a wealthy and unscrupulous businessman. But when Jerry returns blinded and dying from the war, Hester must choose between her new life and the man whose loyalty to her has never failed.

True story of Ashraf Marwan, who was President Nasser's son-in-law and special adviser and confidant to his successor Anwar Sadat - while simultaneously Israeli Intelligence's most precious asset of the 20th century. Based on NYT bestselling book 'The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel' by Uri Bar-Joseph.

In an alternative future in which the Cold War never ended, a man called David, flees the city with his pregnant wife, Abigail, in search of freedom.

Saadia is a wild, strange Arab girl whose life has been dominated by a local sorceress, a vengeful outcast in the community, who has convinced her she has the "evil eye" and brings disaster to all who love her. French doctor Henrik takes her to his clinic, for rehabilitation purposes, and falls in love with her as does his friend, Si Lahssen, the reigning prince of this small Moroccan state. When a plague falls on the town, Saadia is convinced she is responsible, and rides alone into the mountain country to retrieve the plague serum being held for ransom by bandits. The love triangle dominates most of the rest of the film.

Canadian Lt. General Romeo Dallaire was the military commander of the UN mission in Rwanda and this movie is personal and, all too true, story of his time there during the genocide of 1994. It is not quite as moving as the earlier Hotel Rwanda and is less geared to drama and emotional manipulation, but it is still grim and upsetting.

In the small Southern community of Twin Pines, GA, lives Noah Dearborn, a master craftsman and farmer who cherishes his solitude almost as much as the local townspeople cherish him — especially restaurant owner Sarah McClellan. But when greedy real estate developers set their sights on Noah's land and he rejects their six-figure offer, this taciturn man is forced to summon all his strength in order to defend not only his property and way of life, but his sanity.

After 20 years of no contact with his father, Jack McCarthy (played by Hurley) travels from New York to his father Larry's death bed in Cork. Upon arrival he is furious to find his father alive and well and even more so when he then discovers he can't leave. Soon, father and son are forced to deal with a painful history. At the core of their conflict is Larry's denial about the death of his wife, Jack's mother. The story explores the difficult and painful, but often very hilarious ways they try to communicate. Forging a begrudging peace, the reality of life sets in when Larry discloses to Jack another truth that leads to a final reconciliation.

The story of the post World War II Jewish refugee situation from liberation to the establishment of the modern state of Israel.

A pair of city boys get in trouble with a backwoods North Carolina family, when the boys try to stop the abuse of the family's step daughter. A pair of locals decide to step up to help the boys and the girl.

The Draymen Estate has become an urban legend. Amongst the sinister stories of unsavoury locals and brutal violence, several people have apparently gone missing. Even the police won't go there. Enter two naive student filmmakers with a well-meaning plan to make a sympathetic documentary of life on the estate. The unlucky duo quickly discovers that problems of drugs and crime in this community go way beyond the norm. This is a community which is about to present the students with material of unimaginable horror - turning their final project int their darkest nightmare.

A rare astronomical event causes a permanent worldwide black out, forcing residents of a middle-class suburb to get by with no modern conveniences. The community pulls together and adapts to a simpler way of life, but their success draws the attention of the less resourceful residents in the area and soon results in a war between subdivisions. This is their story. Written by Anonymous A catastrophic solar flare plunges Earth into global darkness. As society teeters on the edge of total anarchy the President and top government officials are swept away to a Cold War bunker in search of a solution. While the politicians fight insanity and each other, a group of middle-class suburbanites take survival into their own hands. With bullets and seeds, this neighborhood of schoolteachers and businessmen transform themselves into a village of self-sustaining warriors. Can they hold on until power is restored, or will they fall to the starving masses?

To impress the girl he loves, a naive country boy tries to capture a group of local bootleggers.

This down-to-earth story that takes place in the mountains of North Caucasus, between two adjacent villages – Ossetian Toli and Georgian Teli – tells us about simple and naïve people that governments try to divide today by an official state border. These people wish to live in peace and harmony, in spite of ethnic differences, as their ancestors lived for hundreds of years. They are accustomed to solve all the conflicts peacefully, following Caucasian customs – around a great table, with wine and songs…

Blue Story is a tragic tale of a friendship between Timmy and Marco, two young boys from opposing postcodes. Timmy, a shy, smart, naive and timid young boy from Deptford, goes to school in Peckham where he strikes up a friendship with Marco, a charismatic, streetwise kid from the local area. Although from warring postcodes, the two quickly form a firm friendship until it is tested and they wind up on rival sides of a street war. Blue Story depicts elements of Rapman's own personal experiences and aspects of his childhood.

A haunted soldier just back from war and a boy who has never known peace in his home life embark on a life-changing journey as they become unlikely friends — and one another’s last shot at redemption.

How, in 1945, after the end of World War II and the fall of the Nazi regime, the defeated were atrociously mistreated, especially those ethnic Germans who had lived peacefully for centuries in Germany's neighboring countries, such as Czechoslovakia and Poland. A heartbreaking story of revenge against innocent civilians, the story of acts as cruel as the Nazi occupation during the war years.

The year: 1969. Headlines blare war and civil unrest while John Lennon and Yoko Ono are in love. The eccentic rock 'n' roll couple has just gotten married, and more than happy to be together, they want to change the world. Lying in a hotel bed surrounded by journalists, they announce their mission for peace and invite the rest of the world to symbolically climb into bed with them and share their dream. People call them silly, naive, even ridiculous, yet one famous couple's bed-in spread new hope that there really could be an end to war, hate and violence. Here is rare footage from that amazing time, including footage from John and Yoko's wedding, the infamous bedside confrontation between John and conservative cartoonist Al Capp, Lennon debating media expert Marshall McLuhan, and meeting Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Now twenty years after Lennon's murder, Yoko and others involved in the peace mission reflect on the events of that magical, mystical year.

Tony Robinson’s VE Day: Minute By Minute will take a unique look at a pivotal day in the history of the modern world, delving into the key events that made VE Day such a momentous twenty-four hours. This is the story of what happened on that most celebrated and important day, including original interviews with historians and veterans who tell their stories and share their first-hand experiences. Using unseen archive footage and stills, plus never told accounts from veterans who were there, this one-off special will chart the moment the clock struck midnight, to 24 hours later, when fighting officially stopped across Europe. Up and down the country it was dawning on people that they were waking up not with fear or anxiety, but with relief and excitement. This was a Great Britain no one had experienced for six years. A Britain at peace. At almost no notice street celebrations were being prepared and tens of thousands were flocking to London and other city centres.

The true story of negotiations between implacable enemies — the secret back-channel talks, unlikely friendships and quiet heroics of a small but committed group of Israelis, Palestinians and one Norwegian couple that led to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords.

An army veteran discovers an abandoned boy lurking in the woods behind her childhood home. After taking in the boy, she searches for clues to his identity, and discovers local folklore about a malevolent life-draining spirit that comes in the form of a child: The Tatterdemalion.

On the day before Mother's Day 1993, Colin and Wendy Parry's lives are torn apart when their youngest son Tim is killed in a terrorist attack by the IRA in Warrington's town centre. The attack shocks ordinary people on both sides of the Irish Sea. Sue McHugh, an unassuming and normally shy Dublin housewife, is deeply affected by the tragedy. Spurred into action by the events in Warrington and the hope that she can make a difference, Sue urges people across Ireland to demonstrate that the killings on all sides must stop. But has Sue underestimated the challenge of brokering peace in a community that has known only conflict? As the grieving Parrys search desperately for answers to their son's senseless killing, they form an alliance with Sue, her husband Arthur, and her Peace '93 movement, travelling to Dublin in a bid to bring about peace and ensure Tim's enduring legacy is one of hope and tolerance. Based on real events.

A former war journalist now writing for a paper in Northern California is drawn into conflict at home.

Committed pacifist Tom Jordan's decision to help former President Rivera escape a military coup is a simple act of mercy that takes him and his wife to the edge of despair. It turns them into outlaws and fugitives, hunted by a vicious regime; yet it could also bring them together in a way they have never been before.

TIMETRAVEL_0 is an extraordinary docudrama that follows Cris McCarthy as she explores the urban web legend of John Titor, the man that came from the future. Cris searches for evidence of Timetravel and John Titor's predictions of a massive civil war. In the process of her filming, her work was investigated by authorities and eventually confiscated by the government. Its recent release has allowed it to be edited and produced. (IMDb)

When cattle mysteriously start dying of anthrax in a small Alberta ranching community, an RCMP officer tries to keep the peace as ranchers lay the blame on a local agricultural research center. A reporter encourages the angry ranchers - led by the Mountie's mother-in-law - to stage a sit-in at the research center. When an eccentric old rancher dies after being exposed to a deadly strain of anthrax, the protesters are quarantined. No one notices that the reporter has disappeared - along with several vials of the deadly bacteria. The RCMP officer begins his own investigation, gleaning information from a U.S. government agent. He finds himself racing against time to recover the stolen anthrax.

Atikamekw Suns is based on the tragic true story of five young people from the Atikamekw First Nation community of Matawan, Quebec who were found dead in a truck in a river in 1977, and the apathy of the authorities investigating their deaths. The film chronicles the police force’s reluctance or inability to pinpoint whether this was a simple accident, or an act of racial hatred.

After the Robb Elementary school shooting in Texas, local Uvalde Leader-News journalists are left to report on the fallout – and on one of their staff members. Reporter Kimberly Rubio rises to national prominence as an advocate for gun reform after her ten-year-old daughter, Lexi, is killed in the shooting. Through the journalists’ reporting, we witness the social fabric of this small Texas town unravel as Kimberly and other victims’ families search for accountability from law enforcement and local leaders. The documentary also shines a light on the critical role of community journalism, at a time when local newspapers are folding rapidly across the country.

The story is set in the midst of war-torn Gaza during the Second Intifada in 2003, where two 12-year-old boys, one Palestinian and the other Israeli, along with an ex-surfing champion, form an unlikely friendship over their mutual love for the water. The lessons they learn from one another go beyond the waves, helping influence their decision-making and show their community that peace can exist.