Be inspired with this list of movies and documentaries about social movement struggles, victories and leaders – Selma, Milk, Silkwood, Norma Rae, Gandhi and more.
These films and documentaries are essential viewing for changemakers and activists. Let us know if you have any suggestions! The films are listed below from A – Z.
Films and Documentaries
A Force More Powerful
A documentary series on one of the 20th centuryโs most important and least-known stories: how nonviolent power overcame oppression and authoritarian rule. It includes six cases of movements, and each case is approximately 30 minutes long. (India, USA, South Africa, Denmark, Poland and Chile). The film is available to watch in many different languages.
Ablaze tells the story of Australia’s first indigenous filmmaker Bill Onus, a Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri man from Victoria, a truly heroic cultural and political figure who revived his peopleสผs culture in the 1940s and ignited a civil rights movement that would, against enormous odds, change the course of history.
In 1989 a dispute over the redevelopment of the Old Swan Brewery on the Sacred Grounds of the Waugul, Kings Park, Perth convulsed the politics of Western Australia. Its lessons are important for all who are concerned about Aboriginal rights and culture, the environment, the progressive role of Trade Unions, the integrity of the Labor Party and the social/spiritual activities of the Churches. Made as a campaign film, Always Was Always Will Be, is a visually rich account of this historically important struggle over a sacred site, giving an insight into the living culture and beliefs of urban Aboriginal people in Western Australia.
A 2002 documentary film depicting the struggles of black South Africans against the injustices of Apartheid through the use of music. The film takes its name from the Zulu and Xhosa word amandla, which means power.
The film chronicles the Wisconsin-based Bad River Band and the Bandโs ongoing fight for sovereignty, which unfolds in a groundbreaking way through a series of shocking revelations, devastating losses, and a powerful legacy of defiance and resilience.
When the coal seam gas industry staked a claim on the Northern Rivers region of Australia, alarm bells rang out. Thousands of people from all walks of life organised themselves to rally against the unconventional gas invasion. But despite the enormous public opposition, the gas industry and the State Government were determined to see their gas plan through. A series of dramatic blockades ensued before the final battlelines were drawn in the peaceful farming valley of Bentley. A critical mass of people flocked to the site to stare down the threat of 850 riot police, ordered in to break up the protest. What happened next set an historic precedent. Filmed over five years, The Bentley Effect documents the highs and lows of the battle to keep a unique part of Australia gasfield-free. This timely story of a communityโs heroic stand shows that peaceful protest and non-violent direct action can not only overcome industrial might and political short-sightedness … but it can also be a lot of fun. This highly acclaimed film chronicles and celebrates one of the fastest growing and most creative social movements we have ever witnessed, posing the question โwhat is truly valuable?โ
Black Cockatoo Crisis is a social impact documentary highlighting the plight of WA’s black cockatoos. It looks at the three species of black cockatoos of Western Australia, who are facing down extinction, and the activists who are trying to save them.
Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity. Along the way, director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite compiles shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore the creatureโs extraordinary nature, the speciesโ cruel treatment in captivity, the lives and losses of the trainers and the pressures brought to bear by the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry. This emotionally wrenching, tautly structured story challenges us to consider our relationship to nature and reveals how little we humans have learned from these highly intelligent and enormously sentient fellow mammals. Blackfish led to great change and is a testament of the power of documentaries. Read about the impact here.
The plot deals with the struggle of poorly paid janitorial workers in Los Angeles and their fight for better working conditions and the right to unionize. It is based on the “Justice for Janitors” campaign of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Bringing Down A Dictator is a 56-minute documentary film by Steve York about the nonviolent defeat of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic. It focuses on the contributions of the student-led Otpor! movement. It is available to watch in many different languages.
Citizen George presents the life and work of Philadelphia-based Quaker activist George Lakey, a non-violent revolutionary who has worked his entire life for justice and peace, guided by his ideal of societal transformation. Citizen George moves back and forth in time, highlighting specific events of Georgeโs activist life โ including fighting for civil rights, anti-Vietnam War activism, LGBTQ rights, human rights in Sri Lanka and climate justice.
Follow the corporate scandal surrounding multi-national asbestos company, James Hardie, the life or death fight against their strategy of ignoring the dangers of asbestos for decades, and the desperate fight to expose their crimes.
Disobedience is the story of the struggle to save the world. Disobedience tells the David vs Goliath tales of front line leaders around the world risking life and limb in the fight for a liveable climate. Interwoven with this riveting veriteฬ footage are the most renowned voices in the global conversation around social movements and climate justice for a series that is personal, passionate and powerful. The stakes could not be higher, nor the missions more critical.
In the 1950s, a working-class wife and mother of eleven children helps to establish a farmer’s union, which later develops into a platform for feminism and gender equality. Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth centuryโand she continues the fight to this day, at 87. With intimate and unprecedented access to this intensely private mother to eleven, the film reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing oneโs life to social change. Documentary made in 2017.
Erin, a single mother, becomes a legal assistant and comes across a case against Pacific Gas and Electric. When she discovers that the company is poisoning a city’s water supply, she seeks justice.
Finite: The Climate of Change is an insiderโs view of the world of direct action; a raw, authentic and emotional insight into the David and Goliath battle between frontline communities, activists and fossil fuel corporations. In Germany, concerned citizens step forward to save an ancient forest from one of Europeโs largest coal mines. They form an unlikely alliance with a frustrated community in rural England who are forced into action to protect their homes from a new opencast coal mine.
In 1998, over 5,000 people travelled to Kakadu, in the Northern Territory, to stand alongside the traditional owners of the land, the Mirrar people, and lend their support to the Jabiluka Campaign. The fight to prevent the development of the Jabiluka uranium mine was one of the biggest protest movements in Australiaโs history and over 600 people were arrested in the process. It took film-maker Pip Starr four years to make this film, including one year spent documenting these historic events.
Fire Talker: The life and times of Charlie Perkins
Fire Talker traces the life of Charlie Perkins from his humble beginnings to becoming one of the most influential Indigenous figures in Australia’s history.
Fundamental: 5 films about fighting for gender justice and fundamental human rights
Watch 5 short documentaries about courageous leaders who are standing up for gender justice and writing new futures for themselves and their communities.
A critical masterpiece, GANDHI is an intriguing story about activism, politics, religious tolerance and freedom. But at the center of it all is an extraordinary man who fought for a nonviolent, peaceful existence, and set an entire nation free.
A 1976 documentary film covering the “Brookside Strike”, an effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company’s Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, southeast Kentucky in 1973.
The BAFTA award winning Documentary following the work of three time Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Gene Sharp. As waves of revolutionary spirit sweep the world, one manโs ideas continue to inspire, mobilize and unite protestors, giving them the tools to topple authoritarian regimes. Quiet, unassuming, and softly spoken, 83 year old Professor Gene Sharp is celebrated by revolutionaries and feared by dictators. So what are his ideas, how have they spread from his tiny Boston office, and how are they actually used on the ground? This is the inspirational story of the power of people to change their world, the modern revolution, and the man behind it all.
Constructed from a wealth of archival footage, KING: A FILMED RECORD…MONTGOMERY TO MEMPHIS is a monumental documentary that follows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from 1955 to 1968, in his rise from regional activist to world-renowned leader of the Civil Rights movement. Rare footage of King’s speeches, protests, and arrests are interspersed with scenes of other high-profile supporters and opponents of the cause, punctuated by heartfelt testimonials by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
In The Librarians film, librarians emerge as first responders in the fight for democracy and our First Amendment Rights.
In Texas, the Krause List targets 850 books focused on race and LGBTQia+ stories โ triggering sweeping book bans across the U.S. at an unprecedented rate. As tensions escalate, librarians connect the dots from heated school and library board meetings nationwide to lay bare the underpinnings of extremism fueling the censorship efforts. Despite facing harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing their work โ the librariansโ rallying cry for freedom to read is a chilling cautionary tale.
Revisit the historical journey made 50 years ago by a group of University students led by Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins, who set off on a bus ride around regional New South Wales to expose racism and prejudice in regional NSW. What they encountered along the way showed just how prevalent segregation and injustice existed in Australia. The trip would prove to be a turning point in the Australian civil rights movement.
In 1973 Koiki ‘Eddie’ Mabo was shocked to discover that the ownership of the land his ancestors had passed down on Murray Island in the Torres Strait for over 16 generations, was not legally recognised as theirs. Rather than accept this injustice, he began an epic fight for Australian law to recognise traditional land rights. Eddie never lived to see his land returned to him, but the name Mabo is now known in every household throughout the country. In January 1992, at only 55, Eddie died of cancer. Five months later the High Court overturned the notion of terra nullius. Underscoring this epic battle is Eddie’s relationship with his wife Bonita.
MABO traces Eddie’s life – from a carefree young man of seventeen, through his courtship and marriage to his one true love, up to his death and the handing down of the High Court decision on that historic day – 3rd June 1992. MABO is as much a love story as a document of one man’s fight for recognition of what he believed was legally his.
Legendary music and activism are front and centre in this exciting documentary, created with unfettered access to seminal Australian rock band Midnight Oil, who emerged from politically charged 1970s Sydney to become global icons.
When a Chicano handyman from the Milagro Valley decides to irrigate his small beanfield by “borrowing” some water from a large and potentially destructive site, he unknowingly sets off a chain reaction that erupts into a humorous culture clash. The developers then try to stamp out the modest plantings, forcing the handyman’s friends to team up with the spirited “rebel” to protect and preserve their way of life.
Harvey Milk, an American activist, faces several difficulties while fighting for gay rights and becomes California’s first openly gay official to be elected to public office.
Comprised of Necessity Part I: Oil, Water and Climate Resistance and Necessity Part II: Rivers, Resistance and Oil by Rail, Necessity traces the fight in Minnesota against the expansion of pipelines carrying toxic tar sands oil through North America. Home to much of the worldโs precious freshwater resources, the state is also the site of expanding oil industry infrastructure. The film follows indigenous activists and non-indigenous allies in their resistance to the pipelines traversing native lands and essential waterways.
Meet Mahbouba Seraj, an Afghan/American womenโs rights activist who bravely stayed in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal in August 2021 to fight for the education, freedom and safety of Afghan women and girls under the brutal Taliban regime.
Norma, a married woman working in a factory, is displeased with the unhealthy working conditions. She decides to combine other workers with Reuben, a union organizer.
Orange Revolution is a 2007 feature-length documentary produced by York Zimmerman Inc. and directed by Steve York capturing the massive street protests that followed the rigged 2004 presidential elections in the Ukraine. It is available to watch in different languages.
Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution is the first feature length documentary to explore the history of queer stand up comedy. The documentary considers the importance of LGBTQ+ stand up as a driver of social change over the past five decades, actively reflecting and challenging cultural norms and values. Ultimately, the film reveals that queer comedians โ whether they intended to or not โ helped change the world, one joke at a time.
A young Navajo filmmaker investigates displacement of Indigenous people and devastation of the environment caused by the same chemical companies that have exploited the land where she was born. On this personal and political journey she learns from Indigenous activists across three continents. She travels to the La Guajira region in rural Colombia, the Tampakan region of the Philippines, the Tehuantepec Isthmus of Mexico, and the protests at Standing Rock. In each case, she meets Indigenous women leading the struggle against the same corporations that are causing displacement and environmental catastrophe in her own home. Inspired by these women, Ivey Camille brings home the lessons from these struggles to the Navajo Nation. This film is in seven languages, including several Indigenous languages rarely captured on film: English, Dinรฉ, Spanish, Wayuu, Visayan, Blaan, and Zapotec.
Based on a true story, the film depicts a group of lesbian and gay activists who raised money to help families affected by the British miners’ strike in 1984, at the outset of what would become the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign.
Dressed in otherworldly costumes, a gay artist from a small town in Russia stages radical public performances that become a new form of art and activism.
An outstanding historical account of the Green Bans first introduced by the New South Wales Builders Labourers Federation in the 1970s in response to community demand to preserve inner- city parkland and historic buildings.
An inspirational true story, ROMERO captures the essence of one man’s incredible courage, exploring the life of respected Archbishop Oscar Romero, who in 1980 made the ultimate sacrifice against social injustice and oppression in his country of El Salvador.
Activist Bayard Rustin faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington.
Selma is the story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic struggle to secure voting rights for African-Americans – a dangerous and terrifying campaign that culminated in the epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama that galvanized American public opinion and persuaded President Johnson to introduce the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
The story of Karen Silkwood, a metallurgy worker at a plutonium processing plant who was purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing blatant worker safety violations at the plant.
In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. Such raids were not unusual in the late 1960s, an era when homosexual sex was illegal in every state but Illinois. That night, however, the street erupted into violent protests and demonstrations that lasted for the next six days. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world.
Filmed over four years of hope and crisis, TO THE END captures the emergence of a new generation of leaders and the movement behind the most sweeping climate change legislation in U.S. history. Award-winning director Rachel Lears (Knock Down The House) follows four exceptional young womenโ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, activist Varshini Prakash, climate policy writer Rhiana Gunn-Wright, and political strategist Alexandra Rojasโ as they grapple with new challenges of leadership and power and work together to defend their generationโs right to a future. From street protests to the halls of Congress, these bold leaders fight to shift the narrative around climate, revealing the crisis as an opportunity to build a better society. Including up-to-the-minute footage that culminates in 2022โs landmark climate bill, TO THE END lifts the veil on the battle for the future of our world, and gives audiences a front seat view of history in the making.
Uproar is a moving and heartwarming comedy about connection and finding your place in the world. 17-year-old Josh Waaka (Julian Dennison) is growing up in New Zealand in 1981. The rugby-obsessed country is divided over the arrival of the South African Springboks team, sparking nationwide protests. Josh, who has never felt like he fits in anywhere, is inspired by the protests and by a newfound passion for performing to find his own voice. After embracing his community and his Mฤori heritage, Josh and his family set out on a journey towards healing.
In the documentary Utopia Girls, historian Dr Clare Wright guides us through the fascinating story of how Australian women became the first in the world to gain full political rights.
An activist masquerading as an artist. This documentary examines Australian Aboriginal artist Richard Bell’s career, capturing his early life, the way he challenged the art world, and how his art frames 50 years of First Nations activism in Australia.
โThe Walkoutโ is a documentary that brings to light a pivotal but often overlooked moment in Chicano history: the 1968 student walkout at Edgewood High School in San Antonioโs Westside. Fed up with underfunded classrooms, uncertified teachers, and crumbling facilities, a group of young Mexican American students and their families organized a bold protest that would become a catalyst for statewide education reform.
Films & Documentaries for Campaigners (Spreadsheet outlining which tools feature in what film/doco such as Four Roles of Social Change, Spectrum of Allies, tactical escalation, winning in stages, dilemma demonstrations)
