Best movies like The Square

The people demand the downfall of the regime

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The Square Starring Khalid Abdalla, Dina Abd Allah, Dina Amer, Magdy Ashour, and more. If you liked The Square then you may also like: The War on Democracy, The War at Home, We Were Here, The Wife of an Important Man, Winter of Discontent 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.

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The Square looks at the hard realities faced day-to-day by people working to build Egypt’s new democracy. Cairo’s Tahrir Square is the heart and soul of the film, which follows several young activists. Armed with values, determination, music, humor, an abundance of social media, and sheer obstinacy, they know that the thorny path to democracy only began with Hosni Mubarak’s fall. The life-and-death struggle between the people and the power of the state is still playing out.

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The War on Democracy

Set both in Latin America and the United States, the film explores the historic and current relationship of Washington with countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile. Pilger says that the film "...tells a universal story... analysing and revealing, through vivid testimony, the story of great power behind its venerable myths. It allows us to understand the true nature of the so-called "war on terror". According to Pilger, the film’s message is that the greed and power of empire is not invincible and that people power is always the "seed beneath the snow".

The War at Home

Documentary film about the anti-war movement in the Madison, Wisconsin area during the time of the Vietnam War. It combines archival footage and interviews with participants that explore the events of the period on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus.

We Were Here

A reflective look at the arrival and impact of AIDS in San Francisco and how individuals rose to the occasion during the first years of the crisis.

The Wife of an Important Man

When Mona marries the seemingly decent police officer Hisham, she finds out there is more into him than what he shows to the people.

Winter of Discontent

Amr is a 35 year old man who wakes up one day to a very different Egypt. Amr rarely leaves home as he works from his place designing software. It is January 25, 2011 and Amr starts the day with news of protests all over Cairo and marches leading to Tahrir square. Something tells him that these protests will lead to major political change. Farah, a woman in her early 30’s, is a news anchor on Egyptian television. The news Farah gives her audience is very different from the news presented online or on international news channels.

Navalny

Follows the man who survived an assassination attempt by poisoning with a lethal nerve agent in August 2020. During his months-long recovery, he makes shocking discoveries about the attempt on his life and decides to return home.

Orange Revolution

Filmmaker Steve York explores the controversial 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, during which candidate Viktor Yushchenko suffered a near-fatal poisoning and his unpopular opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, was declared the winner. In the aftermath, more than a million people -- including the ailing Yushchenko -- took to the streets of Kiev, protesting the results that contradicted exit polls showing Yushchenko with an impressive lead.

Rebel Hearts

A group of pioneering nuns bravely stand up to the Catholic Church patriarchy, fighting for their livelihoods, convictions and equality against an all-powerful Cardinal. From marching in Selma in 1965 to the Women’s March in 2018, these women have reshaped our society with their bold acts of defiance.

Karama Has No Walls

'Karama has no walls' is set amidst Yemen's 2011 uprising. The film illustrates the nature of the Yemeni revolution in stark contrast to the gross violations of human rights that took place on Friday, March 18th 2011. Juma'at El-Karama (Friday of Dignity) marks a turning point in the Yemeni revolution as the tragic events that took place on this day -when pro-government snipers shot dead 53 protestors - shook the nation and propelled hundreds of thousands more to flock to the square in solidarity with their fellow citizens. Through the lenses of two cameramen and the accounts of two fathers, the film retells the story of the people behind the statistics and news reports, encapsulating the tragic events of the day as they unfolded.

Citizen Ruth

"Citizen Ruth" is the story of Ruth Stoops, a woman who nobody even noticed -- until she got pregnant. Now, everyone wants a piece of her. The film is a comedy about one woman caught in the ultimate tug-of-war: a clash of wild, noisy, ridiculous people that rapidly dissolves into a media circus.

The Corporation

Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.

Cairo Station

Qinawi, a physically challenged peddler who makes his living selling newspapers in the central Cairo train station, is obsessed with Hanuma, an attractive young woman who sells drinks. While she jokes with him about a possible relationship, she is actually in love with Abu Siri, a strong and respected porter at the station who is struggling to unionize his fellow workers to combat their boss' exploitative and abusive treatment.

Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World

A feature-length documentary that explores the immense changes that occurred for gays, lesbians and transgender people living in the Global South. In the last decade of the 20th Century, a new heightened visibility began spreading throughout the developing world and the battles between families, fundamentalist religions, and governments around sexual and gender identity had begun. But in the West, few people knew about this historic social upheaval, until 52 men on Cairo’s Queen Boat discothèque were arrested for crimes of debauchery. That explosive story focused attention to the lives and trials of gay people coming out in the developing world and the film chronicles those events.

A Dry White Season

During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.

Freedom Fields

In post-revolution Libya, a group of women are brought together by one dream: to play football for their nation. But as the country descends into civil war and the utopian hopes of the “Arab Spring” begin to fade, can they realise their dream? And is there even a country left to play for? Freedom Fields is a film about hope and sacrifice in a land where dreams seem a luxury. Through the eyes of these accidental activists we see the reality of a country in transition, where the personal stories of love, struggle and aspirations collide with History.

F@ck This Job

In 2008, Natasha, a newly rich woman, decides to open an independent TV station in Russia and builds an open-minded team of outcasts. By 2020, Natasha has lost everything to Russia's war between Propaganda and Truth.

I, Daniel Blake

A middle aged carpenter, who requires state welfare after injuring himself, is joined by a single mother in a similar scenario.

The Trial of the Chicago 7

What was supposed to be a peaceful protest turned into a violent clash with the police. What followed was one of the most notorious trials in history.

The Lady

The story of Aung San Suu Kyi as she becomes the core of Burma's democracy movement, and her relationship with her husband, writer Michael Aris.

The Long Breakup

Ukrainian journalist Katya Soldak, currently living in New York City and working for Forbes magazine, chronicles Ukraine's history: its strong ties to Russia for centuries; how it broke away from the USSR and began to walk alone; the Orange Revolution, the Maidan Revolution, the Crimea annexation, the Donbass War; all through the eyes of her family and friends settled in Kharkiv, a large Ukrainian city located just eighteen miles from the Russian border.

Bopha!

In this story of a black policeman during South African apartheid, Danny Glover plays the cop, who believes he's trying to help his people, even while serving as a pawn of the racist government. When his son gets involved in the anti-apartheid movement, he finds himself torn between his family and what he believes is his duty.

Too Early / Too Late

Inspired by a letter by Friedrich Engels and a 1974 account of two militant Marxist writers who had been imprisoned by the Nasser regime, Straub-Huillet filmed this film in France and Egypt during 1980. They reflect on Egypt’s history of peasant struggle and liberation from Western colonization, and link it to class tensions in France shortly before the Revolution of 1789, quoting texts by Engels as well as the pioneering nonfiction film Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (1895).

The Man From Cairo

"The Man from Cairo", a Michaeldavid production for distribution by Lippert, with Ray Enright the only credited director on the film print, finds Mike Canelli, the man from Cairo, nosing around Algiers with mystery surrounding the people he meets and the things he does and has done to him, all deriving from the war-time theft of $100,000,000 in gold which lies somewhere in the adjacent desert. People representing many nationalities and reasons are also seeking the gold. It boils down to a battle between Canelli and the original looter aboard a speeding train.

Free the Nipple

An army of passionate women launch a revolution to "Free the Nipple" and decriminalize the female body. Based on a true story, this mass movement of topless women, armed with First Amendment lawyers, graffiti installations and national publicity stunts, invade New York City to protest the backwards censorship laws in the USA.

Ruby Cairo

Baseball cards and a food-aid worker help a woman follow her shady husband's money trail around the world.

Underground

Underground is a 1976 documentary film about the Weathermen, founded as a militant faction of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), who fought to overthrow the U.S. government during the 1960s and 1970s. The film consists of interviews with members of the group after they went underground and footage of the anti-war and civil rights protests of the time. It was directed by Emile de Antonio, Haskell Wexler and Mary Lampson, later subpoenaed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an attempt to confiscate the film footage in order to gain information that would help them arrest the Weathermen. (Wikipedia)

The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo

After the death of her daughter at the hand of her boyfriend, Marisela Escobedo began to fight for justice not only against the murderer but also against the corrupt Mexican judicial system.

The Orange Chronicles

The 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine was a massive civil demonstration for democracy and against electoral fraud. Millions of empassioned citizens braved freezing weather conditions to fight against stolen elections and to protest the poisoning of their candidate, Victor Yushchenko. From Kyiv to Donetsk, from Odessa, to Lviv, the filmmaker personally engaged with Ukrainians on all sides of the debate to compile "The Orange Chronicles", a personal account of three months spent.

El Ataba Gazaz

A man travels to Cairo to recover from a shock that occurred while he was listening to a song, in which case he would collide with a mafia.

Tek Tek Bom

The film deals with some issues of concern to the Egyptian citizen and passes the events in the comic. It provides a personal representative Mohamed Saad (Teka) who lives in the popular and has a shop selling toys and with the Egyptian revolution that tries to aggregate the region's youth to the composition of the popular committee in an attempt to deal with thugs.

Kira & El Gen

The movie focuses on the fury state that was among the people in synchronization with the main event in Egypt: The 1919 Egyptian Revolution which unites the fates of Kira and El Gen to participate in the struggle against the British occupation.

18 Days

10 Film makers made 10 Separate stories about the "25January " revolution in Egypt and the Egyptian people in the revolution and the protests against the previous President Hosni Mubarak and the departure of President Hosni Mubarak and also displays what happened in Tahrir Square since the start of the sit-in

Booha

Booha (Saad), a butcher coming from the countryside to Cairo to find the man whom his late father left his money with, gets tangled in the big city, finds love with kouta (Maie), and gets exploited by Farag (Hosni).

Night of the Lawyers

They are armed. They are dangerous. They are lawyers. A hard working emergency room doctor is being harassed by a firm on nasty lawyers. An encounter with a friendly alien gives the doctor the power to vaporize people and to take on this firm of unscrupulous lawyers.

Russia 1917: Countdown to Revolution

Russia, 1917. After the abdication of Czar Nicholas II Romanov, the struggle for power confronts allies, enemies, factions and ideas; a ruthless battle between democracy and authoritarianism that will end with the takeover of the government by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks.

How to Stage a Coup

A guide to human history through its most audacious power grabs. From Julius Caesar to Napoleon; from Mussolini to the strongmen of the present day - we see how the world we know has been shaped by those who dream big.

Strangeways: Britain's Toughest Prison Riot

Twenty-five years after the biggest riot in British penal history, this film brings together the ringleaders of the trouble with the prison guards they battled with over three weeks of anarchy that brought Strangeways to its knees. For the first time, these events are told through unparalleled access to the people at the heart of the riot - ex-inmates, prison officers and the governor himself - createing a compelling story of the struggle for power between the authorities and the hardcore prisoners who ultimately took their protest onto the prison roof. The stand-off that followed is documented until the final moments, when the siege was ended in a dramatic takedown in front of rolling news cameras.

Bringing Down a Dictator

A student group called Otpor! ("Resistance!" in Serbian) forms part of the nonviolent opposition movement that toppled the regime of Slobodan Milosevic.

We Are Watching You

After 24 years of leadership under President Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, Egypt is a nation on the brink of change. However, violence and widespread allegations of fraud accompany the first democratic multiparty elections in 2005. The film follows three women activists in their quest to expose the truth about Egypt’s new democracy.

Outside the Court

They arrive, they smoke, they wait - armed robbers seeking redemption, life-long thieves, addicts and anxious fathers of wayward children. Hard exteriors hide soft centres, old lives exist in young bodies - ordinary people awaiting judgement on an unlovely stretch of pavement outside a London magistrates' court. Whilst waiting for their cases to be heard they reveal their lives, and the complexities of the human soul are laid bare. Tense and intimate conversations with the filmmaker illuminate stories that the magistrates hear daily. Director Marc Isaacs spent three months outside Highbury Magistrates Court and, in doing so, demonstrates how the eye of the camera has the ability to delve much deeper into character and motivation than the eye of the law. Consequently, the more we get to know the characters in this film, the harder it is to make easy judgements. Whilst the court must judge, the filmmaker need not.

Bloody Sunday

The dramatised story of the Irish civil rights protest march on January 30 1972 which ended in a massacre by British troops.

Clash

In 2013, in Cairo, a tragic fate brings together several detainees from different political and social backgrounds inside a police truck, during the turmoil that followed the ousting of president Morsi.

Nawara

Nawara works as a housemaid for a family closely linked to the Mubarak regime. On the eve of the 2011 revolution the family decides, for safety, to leave the country temporarily and ask her to look after the villa. Flush with cash for expenses, Nawara calls her fiancé Mustafa and the two are soon enjoying a taste of life at the top. Her journey from the alleys of her poor neighborhood to the luxury compound brings with it the worries of the people and their simple dreams—and an experience she could never have imagined.

Terror! Robespierre and the French Revolution

In 1794, French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre produced the world's first defense of "state terror" - claiming that the road to virtue lay through political violence. This film combines drama, archive and documentary interviews to examine Robespierre's year in charge of the Committee Of Public Safety - the powerful state machine at the heart of Revolutionary France. Contesting Robespierre's legacy is Slavoj Zizek, who argues that terror in the cause of virtue is justifiable, and Simon Schama, who believes the road from Robespierre ran straight to the gulag and the 20th-century concentration camp. The drama, based on original sources, follows the life-and-death politics of the Committee during "Year Two" of the new Republic.

Cairo 30

With his father crippled, Mahgoub Abdel Dayem finds himself in an urgent need of a job to support his family. When he enlists his friend Salem to help him find a job, Salem not only gets him a job at the ministry but also finds him a bride. The bride in question, however, is the mistress of the powerful Qasem Bek...

After the Battle

Reem is a young political activist who works for an advertisement company. As she tries to uncover the truth behind the incide of the Battle of the Camel, she accompanies her friend Farah to Nazlet Al Seman where she meets and falls for Mahmoud, one of the people involved in the incident.

The Aquarium

Youssef is a hotshot anesthesiologist who often sleeps in his car for privacy. Laila is the careerist host of a late night radio call-in show. These two members of Cairo's elite, lost souls traveling parallel paths of longing and disconnection, are the principal fish in Yousry Nasrallah's The Aquarium, a meditation on the intellectual capital of the Middle East, now bent under the sway of repression in all its forms.

Tickling Giants

The Arab Spring in Egypt: From a dictator to free elections, back to a dictatorship. One comedy show united the country and tested the limits of free press. This is the story of Bassem Youssef, a cardiologist turned comedian, the Jon Stewart of Egypt, and his show "The Show".

Bobi Wine: The People's President

Uganda has one the youngest populations in the world and one of its most flagrantly anti-democratic governments. These are ingredients for revolution, and Bobi Wine and his wife Barbie Kyagulanyi are stirring the pot. When the charismatic Bobi, a musician and member of parliament, announces his campaign for president, Uganda’s youth are ecstatic, filling parks and streets for every speech, and singing Bobi’s anthems of peace and freedom. But then comes the crackdown, orchestrated by Yoweri Museveni, a brutal dictator who has ruled Uganda for 36 years. Bobi and his crew survive arrests, beatings, torture, riots and raids.

Berkeley in the Sixties

A documentary about militant student political activity at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1960s.

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