Movies Like Happy People: A Year in the Taiga

If you liked Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010), a documentary movie directed by Werner Herzog and Dmitry Vasyukov, 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
Our Planet: Behind the Scenes (2019)
★ 7.7/10Also documentary
Years spent recording footage of creatures from every corner of the globe is bound to produce a bit of drama. Here's a behind-the-scenes look.
2
180° South (2010)
★ 7.3/10Also documentary
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
3
Alone in the Wilderness (2004)
★ 7.9/10Also documentary
Dick Proenneke retired at age 50 in 1967 and decided to build his own cabin in the wilderness at the base of the Aleutian Peninsula, in what is now Lake Clark National Park. Using color footage he shot himself…
4
My Mom Jayne (2025)
★ 8/10Also documentary
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and…
5
Koyaanisqatsi (1983)
★ 7.9/10Also documentary
Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by…
6
The Crystal Calls - Making The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)
★ 7.5/10Also documentary
Go behind the scenes with stars, puppeteers and creators as they bring Jim Henson's magical world of Thra back to life in a sweeping fantasy series.
7
What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2018)
★ 7.1/10Also documentary
A documentary exploring the legacy of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the reasons it went from the black sheep of Star Trek to a beloved mainstay of the franchise, and a brainstorm with the original writers on what a…
8
Polar Bear (2022)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
A new mother’s memories of her own youth prepare her to navigate motherhood in the increasingly challenging world that polar bears face today.
9
Powaqqatsi (1988)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.
10
Capturing Avatar (2010)
★ 7/10Also documentary
Capturing Avatar is a feature length behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of Avatar. It uses footage from the film's development, as well as stock footage from as far back as the production of Titanic in…
11
The Captains (2011)
★ 6.4/10Also documentary
The Captains is a feature-length documentary film written and directed by William Shatner. The film follows Shatner as he interviews the other actors who have portrayed starship captains in the Star Trek franchise.
12
Baraka (1992)
★ 8.2/10Also documentary
A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
13
Pandas (2018)
★ 7.9/10Also documentary
In the mountains of Sichuan, China, a researcher forms a bond with Qian Qian, a panda who is about to experience nature for the first time.
14
The Dawn Wall (2017)
★ 8/10Also documentary
In an unbelievable story of perseverance, free climber Tommy Caldwell and climbing partner Kevin Jorgeson attempt to scale the impossible 3000ft Dawn Wall of El Capitan.
15
Naqoyqatsi (2002)
★ 6.2/10Also documentary
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
16
Cameraperson (2016)
★ 6.7/10Also documentary
As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What…
17
The Eagle Huntress (2016)
★ 7/10Also documentary
Follow Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter, and rise to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been typically been…
18
Bears (2014)
★ 7.4/10Also documentary
Filmmakers Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey chronicle a year in the lives of an Alaskan brown bear named Sky and her cubs, Scout and Amber. Their saga begins as the bears emerge from hibernation at the end of…
19
Elstree 1976 (2015)
★ 6.2/10Also documentary
A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.
20
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema (2022)
★ 7.5/10Also documentary
With mesmerizing footage and time lapses of animators at work, this behind-the-scenes special captures the artistry of a unique tale years in the making.