Movies Like Abdullah Ibrahim: A Brother with Perfect Timing

If you liked Abdullah Ibrahim: A Brother with Perfect Timing (1987), a movie directed by Chris Austin, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Sarafina! (1992)
★ 6.2/10
A Soweto schoolgirl named Sarafina is galvanized to protest apartheid after her teacher is arrested for her activism, leading her to join the student resistance movement.
2
Escape from Pretoria (2020)
★ 7.2/10
South Africa, 1978. Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, two white political activists from the African National Congress imprisoned by the apartheid regime, put a plan in motion to escape from the infamous Pretoria Prison.
3
The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
★ 7/10
A vibrant tribute to one of America's legendary bandleaders, charting Glenn Miller's rise from obscurity and poverty to fame and wealth in the early 1940s.
4
Detour (1945)
★ 7.2/10
The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.
5
Bob Marley: One Love (2024)
★ 6.6/10
Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley overcomes adversity to become the most famous reggae musician in the world.
6
All Eyez on Me (2017)
★ 6.7/10
All Eyez on Me chronicles the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, including his rise to superstardom as a hip-hop artist, actor, poet and activist, as well as his imprisonment and prolific, controversial time at Death Row…
7
They Shot the Piano Player (2023)
★ 6.6/10
New York, 2010. Jeff Harris, a music journalist, sets out to uncover the truth about Francisco Tenório Júnior, a young Brazilian samba-jazz pianist who disappeared in Buenos Aires on March 18, 1976.
8
Whiplash (2014)
★ 8.4/10
Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
9
Disgrace (2008)
★ 6.2/10
Disgrace is the story of a South African professor of English who loses everything: his reputation, his job, his peace of mind, his good looks, his dreams of artistic success, and finally even his ability to protect…
10
I Am Not Your Negro (2017)
★ 7.7/10
Working from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck creates a meditation on what it means to be Black in the United States.
11
Paris Blues (1961)
★ 6.5/10
During the 1960s, two American jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls and must decide between music and love.
12
A Dry White Season (1989)
★ 6.7/10
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.
13
The Rainmaker (1997)
★ 7/10
Fresh out of law school and desperate for work, idealistic rookie Rudy Baylor takes on a powerful insurance company accused of denying a dying boy’s claim. Teaming up with a scrappy, unlicensed paralegal, he finds…
14
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
★ 7.7/10
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.
15
Searching for Sugar Man (2012)
★ 7.9/10
Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock 'n' roller, Rodriguez.
16
Breathe (2017)
★ 7.4/10
Based on the true story of Robin, a handsome, brilliant and adventurous man whose life takes a dramatic turn when polio leaves him paralyzed.
17
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (2019)
★ 7.1/10
An immersive look at the eventful life and brilliant artistic career of visionary American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991).
18
Captain Phillips (2013)
★ 7.5/10
The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
19
The Great Debaters (2007)
★ 7.3/10
The true story of a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African-American college students into a historical powerhouse that took on the…
20
When We Were Kings (1996)
★ 7.6/10
It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both…