Movie

Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

2017 · 205 min

A patient, observational immersion into a vast public institution, quietly absorbing and humane.

Directed by: Frederick Wiseman
Genres: Documentary
Starring: Richard Dawkins, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith

Overview: A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.

Your rating is saved. See your suggestions, or find titles like this one below.

Rate it, and Mesmero finds titles that feel like it. You do not need an account.

Search YouTube for a trailer

Stream in the UK

BFI Player

More options Data from JustWatch

Directed by: Frederick Wiseman
Genres: Documentary
Starring: Richard Dawkins, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith

In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: earneststrength 2 of 3
warmstrength 2 of 3
melancholicstrength 1 of 3
Pacing: slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: education
class
identity
technology
family
Places: big city
workplace
Era: contemporary
Audience: adult
Form: documentary
ensemble
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence none
Sex none

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	0
Horror	0
Humour	3
Realism	10
Romance	0
Tension	1
Darkness	2
Complexity	6
Emotional weight	5

Titles like Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

Movie

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

2018

A gentle, moving portrait that radiates warmth and kindness, inviting quiet reflection on a life devoted to empathy.

Earnest, warm · about education and identity · documentary

Via: earnest
warm
education
identity
documentary
Pacing: measured
Attention: engaged
Runtime: 95 min

Details

Won't You Be My Neighbor?Hidden from your suggestions.

TV series

De Bibliotheek

2019

A calm, curious wander through everyday Dutch life, listening to strangers talk in a place that quietly belongs to everyone.

Earnest, warm · about class and identity · documentary

Via: earnest
warm
class
identity
documentary
Pacing: measured
Attention: engaged
Seasons: 1

Details

De BibliotheekHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Ballet

1995

A patient, fly-on-the-wall look at dancers rehearsing and administrators negotiating, rewarding close attention with quiet, cumulative intimacy.

Same director: Frederick Wiseman · Earnest, slow-burn · about identity and family · documentary

Also: Same director: Frederick Wiseman
Via: earnest
identity
family
documentary
Pacing: slow-burn
Attention: demanding
Runtime: 170 min

Details

BalletHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

28 Up

1985

A quiet, reflective documentary that lets you watch ordinary lives unfold with honesty and gentle emotional weight.

Warm · about class and identity · documentary

Via: warm
class
identity
documentary
Pacing: measured
Attention: engaged
Runtime: 136 min

Details

28 UpHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Aspen

1991

A patient, observational drift through a resort town's working life, wry and quietly absorbing, rewarding close attention more than plot.}{.

Same director: Frederick Wiseman · Earnest, slow-burn · about class and identity · documentary

Also: Same director: Frederick Wiseman
Via: earnest
class
identity
documentary
Pacing: slow-burn
Attention: demanding
Runtime: 146 min

Details

AspenHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Side by Side

2012

A thoughtful, insider conversation about technology and art, fascinating for film lovers but dry for casual viewers.

Earnest, warm · about technology · documentary

Via: earnest
warm
technology
documentary
Pacing: measured
Attention: engaged
Runtime: 99 min

Details

Side by SideHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Work in Progress

2001

A patient, observational gaze that lingers on labour and changing streets, rewarding viewers who settle into its quiet rhythms.

Earnest, slow-burn · about class and identity · documentary

Via: earnest
class
identity
documentary
Pacing: slow-burn
Attention: demanding
Runtime: 125 min

Details

Work in ProgressHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Speak Up

2017

An intimate, hopeful look at young people finding their voices through public speaking, both tense and uplifting.

Earnest · about education and class · documentary

Via: earnest
education
class
documentary
Pacing: measured
Attention: engaged
Runtime: 95 min

Details

Speak UpHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Paris Is Burning

1991

A vibrant, intimate immersion into a defiant subculture, brimming with wit and heartbreak, that feels both celebratory and elegiac.

Earnest, warm · about class and identity · documentary

Via: earnest
warm
class
identity
documentary
Pacing: measured
Attention: engaged
Runtime: 78 min

Details

Paris Is BurningHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Capital in the Twenty-First Century

2019

A sober, lecture-like documentary that walks you through economic history with charts and talking heads, informative but dry.

About education and class · documentary

Via: education
class
documentary
Pacing: measured
Attention: engaged
Runtime: 103 min

Details

Capital in the Twenty-First CenturyHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Crazy Horse

2011

A patient, observational gaze into rehearsals and backstage labor, finding quiet drama in precision, discipline, and the craft behind spectacle.

Same director: Frederick Wiseman · Earnest, slow-burn · about identity · documentary

Also: Same director: Frederick Wiseman
Via: earnest
identity
documentary
Pacing: slow-burn
Attention: demanding
Runtime: 134 min

Details

Crazy HorseHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Menus-Plaisirs, les Troisgros

2023

A patient, immersive fly-on-the-wall drift through kitchens and farms, rewarding close attention with quiet sensory pleasure and craft.

Same writer: Frederick Wiseman · Earnest, warm, slow-burn · about family · documentary

Also: Same writer: Frederick Wiseman
Via: earnest
warm
family
documentary
Pacing: slow-burn
Attention: demanding
Runtime: 240 min

Details

Menus-Plaisirs, les TroisgrosHidden from your suggestions.

Where to watch in the UK

Stream

BFI Player

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres: documentary
Directed by: Frederick Wiseman
Written by: Frederick Wiseman
Starring: Richard Dawkins, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Edmund de Waal
Cinematography: John Davey
Runtime: 205 min
Country: United States of America
Languages: Mandarin, English

TMDB IMDb Letterboxd Wikipedia Wikidata

Something wrong on this page? Tell us.

Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

How it feels

More like this

Titles like Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

Where to watch in the UK

Details