Movies: Activism

A documentary account by award-winning filmmaker John Ferry of the events that led up to the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz Island as told by principal organizer, Adam Fortunate Eagle. The story unfolds through Fortunate Eagle's remembra...

A young Venezuelan freedom fighter seeks asylum in the United States, but his heart remains in the fight back home....

Emmett Till was brutally killed in the summer of 1955. At his funeral, his mother forced the world to reckon with the brutality of American racism. This short documentary was commissioned by "Time" magazine for their series "100 Photos" about the mo...

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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 W...

This BBC documentary chronicles the life of folk/soft-rock singer John Denver through his rise with The Chad Mitchell Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary, his subsequent stardom, his popularity decline, and his tragic death at age 53....

In light of jailed activist Umar Khalid withdrawing his petition from the Supreme Court amid repeated adjournments, journalist Ravish Kumar captures the contours of Delhi in a video letter addressed to him. What comes out is a critical piece reflecti...

Letter from Tokyo is a documentary film that looks at art, culture and politics in Tokyo, Japan. Shot over three months during the summer of 2018, and with a particular focus on grass roots arts initiatives, the use of public space, and queer politic...

A feature-length documentary that explores the lives of four remarkably different people who share a common thread - they're all vegan. The movie traces the personal journeys of an ultramarathon runner who has overcome addiction to compete in one hun...

A short documentary chronicling the coming-of-age story of generation z punctuated by numerous culturally significant moments, known as period effects, that have bred a generation of young activists....

The film explores and celebrates the lesser-known life of a Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist and one of the Civil Rights Movement’s greatest leaders. Throughout the 1960s, Fannie Lou Hamer established a legacy of civil rights and...

COINTELPRO 101 exposes illegal surveillance, disruption, and outright murder committed by the US government in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. “COINTELPRO” refers to the official FBI COunter INTELigence PROgram carried out to surveil, imprison, and eliminat...

Born in Ukraine in 2008 in the wake of the "Orange Revolution," the feminist movement Femen fights for democracy, freedom of the press, women's rights, and against corruption, prostitution, sexism, racism, poverty, and religion. The activists quickly...

Based on the Chilean "Riot Dog" Negro Matapacos. A stray dog meets young protester María. Together they radicalize until María has to go to jail. When she gets out her courage has left. But then finds out that the dog got famous during the protests....

A satirical dramedy loosely inspired by the infamous UK Miners' strikes; however this time, the fight isn’t in the pits, but on the stage. With his beloved family trade targeted by a right-wing government with a long-standing hatred for the arts, a ...

A short film mostly comprised of two sources: research footage from 1988 about the beginnings of the HIV epidemic from the perspective of medical professionals, and an interview with Cleve Jones in 2003 as he looks back upon his activism, and the sta...

Pussy Riot make a comeback after a long absence to stand with Ukraine. Their story and their struggle are told through archival footage and interviews with the group’s members....

Activists have been fighting for animal rights for decades. Will they succeed in winning the battle against meat production or will the food industry be unstoppable? The film depicts the structural nature of the animal industry and the systematic abu...

A state of secrets and a ruthless hunt for whistleblowers – this is the story of 25-year-old Reality Winner who disclosed a document about Russian election interference to the media and became the number one leak target of the Trump administration....

This documentary film follows farmers and activists fighting together to stop the Indiana Enterprise Center, a mega-sized industrial park planned west of South Bend, Indiana...