Movies Like ¡Despertar!

Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark

2011

As the "Arab Spring" protests for justice and democracy spread through the middle east in early 2011, people long repressed by the Bahrain monarchy spontaneously gathered at the central Pearl Square to join in the call for their rights.

Géorgie : l’État contre le peuple

2025

It's Our Time!

2020

The young generation sees their future at risk. They rebel against a lifestyle that threatens to destroy the world. The corona crisis also highlighted the deficits of our globalized economy and society. Does this crisis hold a chance for change for the better? The film draws a picture of the mood of the young generation and goes on a search for traces of ideas and concepts for a world after Corona in France, Germany and Poland. What is really important for young Europeans and how do they assess their future prospects? What scares them and what makes them hope? And who stands in their way and brakes? The TV presenter Aline Abboud meets young activists and artists for this, but she also listens to the opposing voices. Especially in Poland the youth are deeply divided, more and more are getting involved in conservative or nationalist right-wing organizations, while the country is slowly drifting into an anti-democratic dictatorship.

Le jours des 13 heures

2025

Listen to Me Marlon

2015

With exclusive access to his extraordinary unseen and unheard personal archive including hundreds of hours of audio recorded over the course of his life, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career as an actor and his extraordinary life away from the stage and screen with Brando himself as your guide, the film will fully explore the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely from Marlon's perspective, entirely in his own voice. No talking heads, no interviewees, just Brando on Brando and life.

Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds

2017

An intimate portrait of Hollywood royalty featuring Debbie Reynolds, Todd Fisher, and Carrie Fisher.

Butterfly

2001

Living in an ancient redwood tree for more than two years to prevent the tree from being clear-cut, Julia Butterfly Hill captured our hearts and minds by showing us that one person can make a difference. Through interviews with Hill, filmmaker Doug Wolens paints a portrait of an intensely spiritual and articulate woman who encountered both beauty and horror (she was assaulted by lumber company helicopters at one point) during her time above ground.

The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story

2019

A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.

Running on Empty

1988

The Popes are a family who haven't been able to use their real identity for years. In the late sixties, the parents set a weapons lab afire in an effort to hinder the government's Vietnam war campaign. Ever since then, the Popes have been on the run with the authorities never far behind. Their survival is threatened when their eldest son falls in love with a girl, and announces his wish to live his life on his own terms.

Money Heist: The Phenomenon

2020

A documentary on why 'Money Heist' sparked a wave of enthusiasm around the world for a lovable group of thieves and their professor.

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God

2012

Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.

Sidney

2022

This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.

Hitchcock/Truffaut

2015

Filmmakers discuss the legacy of Alfred Hitchcock and the book “Hitchcock/Truffaut” (“Le cinéma selon Hitchcock”), written by François Truffaut and published in 1966.

To Be Takei

2014

Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei journeyed from a World War II internment camp to the helm of the Starship Enterprise, and then to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband, Brad, on a wacky and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.

Louis Theroux: Louis and the Nazis

2003

Louis Theroux travels to California to meet the man dubbed "the most dangerous racist in America"; Tom Metzger. Louis meets him, his family and his publicity manager as well as following him to skinhead rallies and on a visit to Mexico.

When a City Rises

2021

Behind the gas masks of Hong Kong’s democracy movement, the often very young activists are just as diverse as the youths of the rest of the world. But they share a demand for democracy and freedom. They have the will and the courage to fight – and they can see that things are going in the wrong direction in the small island city, which officially has autonomy under China but is now tightening its grip and demanding that ‘troublemakers’ be put away or silenced. Amid the violent protests, we meet a 21-year-old student, a teenage couple and a new father.

Front Row

2024

Bertolt Brecht asked whether there would be singing in the dark times. In the throes of war, the United Ukrainian Ballet Company defiantly insists there will be dancing, too. Far from the land they call home, young dancers take quiet comfort from art. For a while, their work feels like the old days, except there is a new troupe member: a soldier learning to dance with prosthetic legs.

Kapu Aloha 101: Ke Kula o Maunakea

2015

Documenting the Kapu Aloha movement, as they take a stand to defend Mauna Kea in the wake of the Thirty Meter Telescope protests.