10,000 Black Men Named George
Film. By Robert Townsend. 2002. 89 minutes.
Docudrama about A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black labor union in the United States.
Themes: African American, Labor, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
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9to5: The Story of a Movement
Film. Directed and produced by Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar. Working Women Documentary Project LLC. 2021.
While Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" song is well known, this documentary captures the real-life 9-to-5 organizing to address issues of working women in the early 1970s that led to a union.
Time Periods: 20th Century
Themes: Labor, Organizing, Social Class, Women's History
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Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation
Film. By Na Maka o ka `Aina. 1993. 58 min.
A comprehensive documentary that focuses on the events surrounding the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Industrial Revolution: 1877 - 1899
Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Pacific Islander, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
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Alcatraz Is Not an Island
Film. By James M. Fortier. 2001. 60 min.
Documentary on a small group of Native American students and “Urban Indians” who occupied Alcatraz Island in November 1969, and how it forever changed the way Native Americans viewed themselves, their culture and their sovereign rights.
Time Periods: People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: Civil Rights Movements, Native American
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Anne Braden: Southern Patriot
Film. Produced by Anne Lewis. 75 min. 2012.
Documentary about Southern activist Anne Braden.
Time Periods: 20th Century
Themes: Civil Rights Movements, Labor, Social Class, Women's History
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Banished
Film. Center for Investigative Reporting and Two Tone Productions. 2007. 84 minutes.
Filmmaker Marco Williams examined four examples of primarily white communities violently rising up to force their African-American neighbors to flee town.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American
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Barefoot Gen: The Bombing of Hiroshima As Seen Through the Eyes of a Young Boy
Film. By Geneon; directed by Mori Masaki. 1992. 170 min.
A story about the devastating effects of war on everyday life.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Prosperity, Depression, & World War II: 1920 - 1944
Themes: US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies
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Battle of Algiers
Film. Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. 1966. 123 minutes.
This film documents the armed insurgency against the French colonial powers in Algiers, showing the brutality and desperation of war.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960
Themes: Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies
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The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
Film. By Stanley Nelson. 2015. 1 hour 55 min.
Documentary on the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements
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The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
Film. Directed and produced by Stanley Nelson. 1999. 83 min. This documentary chronicles 150 years of Black journalists, printers, and Black-owned newspapers in the United States.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849, 20th Century
Themes: African American, Education
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Boycott
Film. By Clark Johnson. 2001. 120 min.
Dramatic account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
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The Boys Who Said No
Film. Directed by Judith Ehrlich. 2020. A documentary uses interviews and found footage to tell the inspiring story and impact of the anti-Vietnam War draft resistance movement.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
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Bread and Roses
Film. By Ken Loach. 2001. 106 min.
A compelling, fictionalized account of an actual labor campaign in Los Angeles.
Time Periods: 21st Century, 2001 - Present
Themes: Immigration, Labor, Latinx, Organizing
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Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
Film. Produced by Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer. 2002. 83 min.
Documentary about the life of peace, labor, and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Prosperity, Depression, & World War II: 1920 - 1944, Cold War: 1945 - 1960, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Labor, LGBTQ, Organizing
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Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History
Film. Southern Poverty Law Center. 2010. 40 minutes.
This documentary shows the devastating impact of bullying on students, in this case a gay student who works with lawyers to win a precedent setting case to create a safe place for students in school.
Themes: Laws & Citizen Rights, LGBTQ
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Bus Riders Union
Film. Haskell Wexler. 2000. 86 minutes.
The Los Angeles Bus Riders Union's triumphant struggle to win better service.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Post-Civil Rights Era: 1975 - 2000
Themes: Organizing
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This Changes Everything (Film)
Film. By Avi Lewis. 2015. 90 min.
Seven portraits of communities on the front lines of the climate crisis.
Time Periods: 21st Century, 2001 - Present
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Economics
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Chisholm ’72 – Unbought and Unbossed
Film. By Shola Lynch. 2004. 76 min.
Documentary about Brooklyn Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and her campaign to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in 1972.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Women's History
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Chávez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story
Film. By Jordan Mechner. 2004. 26 minutes.
A documentary about the politics and economics of land in the United States, based on the story of a Mexican American village razed in the 1950s to build Dodger Stadium.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960
Themes: Housing, Economics, Latinx, Social Class, Sports
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On Coal River
Film. Directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood. 2010. 81 minutes.
This film takes viewers on a gripping emotional journey into a community surrounded by a looming toxic threat.
Time Periods: 21st Century, 2001 - Present
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Social Class
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