Recommended Films

There are so many films that speak to the themes of Choosing to Participate, we're confident you can recall films that inspired you through the stories of people that stood up when they could have done otherwise. Here are a few of our favorites that we recommend to the teachers that we work with that we think you'll enjoy.

Documentaries

Eyes on the Prize. PBS Home Video, c1992.

This historic fourteen-episode documentary chronicles the history of the American civil rights movement from 1954 to the mid-1980s. It utilizes rare historical film and present-day interviews to document events such as the Supreme Court's historic Brown v. Board of Education decision and the struggle for voting rights, and figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the first black high school and college students to integrate white schools. Facing History and Ourselves has, with Blackside Productions, created a study guide to accompany this series, which can be viewed here: http://www.facinghistory.org/campus/reslib.nsf/CMSG/4918bdc35103b5d485256f8900771f06?OpenDocument

The Flute Player. Boston: Over the Moon Productions, Inc., c2003.

When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, Arn Chorn-Pond was nine years old. He was separated from his family and thrust into the darkness of Cambodia's ghastly "killing fields" for four years. Now, after living in the U.S. for 20 years, Arn returns to Cambodia to save its once-outlawed traditional music from extinction. Facing History and Ourselves has created a study guide to accompany this film (along with two other films) entitled Lost Childhoods, which can be viewed here: http://www.facinghistory.org/campus/reslib.nsf/studyguides/Lost%2BChildhoods?OpenDocument

Holding Ground: the Rebirth of Dudley Street. New Day Films, 1996.

In 1985, African American, Latino, Cape Verdean, and European-American residents in Roxbury, MA united to revitalize their community. The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative went on to gain national recognition as residents fought to close down illegal dumps, gain unprecedented control of land from City Hall and create a comprehensive plan to rebuild the fabric of their community. Through the voices of committed residents, activists and city officials, this moving documentary shows how a Boston neighborhood was able to create and carry out its own agenda for change.

The New Heroes. Portland: Oregon Public Broadcasting, c2005.

This four-hour series, hosted by Robert Redford, tells the stories of twelve social entrepreneurs who bring innovative, empowering solutions to intractable problems throughout the world, such as poverty and educational inequality.

Not in Our Town. Oakland: We Do the Work, c1994.

This episode of the television program We Do the Work focuses on the people of Billings, Montana, who were heroic in their efforts to combat right-wing hate activity in their town. Billings came to national attention in 1993 when anti-Semitic hate crimes during Chanukah were met by solidarity from the primarily non-Jewish community, who placed menorahs in their windows to show support for the targeted Jewish population. As other groups were targeted on the basis of race and sexual orientation, the community pulled together a broad coalition and slowly demonstrated to the Neo-Nazi groups that hate would not be tolerated in their town.

Threads of Hope. Princeton, N.J.: Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 2004.

This film tells the powerful story of a group of Chilean women who banded together in silent protest and dared to defy a dictatorship. They are the sisters, mothers, and wives of Pinochet's disappeared and, armed with scraps of cloth, sewing needles, and the overwhelming desire to find their loved ones, they set to work telling their stories by creating arpilleras, colorful handmade tapestries that chronicle the horror and injustice of Chile's reign of terror. The bright, hopeful colors juxtaposed with the sobering stories of the arpilleras have helped make these creations an international symbol of protest and hope. Many believe that the arpilleras helped democracy return to Chile.

Boycott. HBO Films, 2001.

This film dramatizes the story of the Montgomery bus boycott led by Martin Luther King beginning in 1955, touched off by Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat in the front of a bus to a white person.

Freedom Writers.

This film is based on the true story of Erin Gruwell, a first-year teacher at a racially divided high school. After a few attempts to connect with her students, she gives them the assignment to write journals about their own lives. The students connect through telling their stories, and call themselves Freedom Writers, after the Freedom Riders of the American civil rights movement. The film draws on the published journals of Gruwell's real students.

Hotel Rwanda. MGM Home Entertainment, 2005.

Based on true events, this feature film tells the story of Paul Rusesabagina, a five-star-hotel manager who used his wits and words to save more than 1,200 lives during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Please note: This film contains violence and disturbing images; parents should preview for age appropriateness.

To Kill a Mockingbird. Universal, 1962.

Gregory Peck plays a southern lawyer who defends a black man accused of rape in this film version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The setting is a dusty Southern town during the Depression. A white woman accuses a black man of rape. Though he is obviously innocent, the outcome of his trial is such a foregone conclusion that no lawyer will step forward to defend him--except Atticus Finch, the town's most distinguished citizen. His compassionate defense costs him many freindships but earns him the respect and admiration of his two motherless children.

Walkout. New York: HBO Studio Productions, 2006.

In 1968, Chicano high school students in East Los Angeles walked out of their schools to protest racial discrimination and the poor conditions of their schools. This feature film tells the story of those students, how they organized the walkouts, and what changes happened as a result of their actions.