Radical/Internationalist Cinema
A list of Political/radical films & documentaries that every internationalist/leftist should watch. These films/documentaries help to better explain such topics as the French Resistance in WW2, Colonialism & Imperialism, the Peterloo Massacre, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, the Black Panthers, the Syrian Civil War, The Angolan Civil War, the Banana Republic, the Spanish Civil War and radicals such as Che Guevara, Angela Davis, Stuart Hall, James Baldwin, Huey P. Newton and Fred Hampton.
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- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsLino VenturaPaul MeurisseJean-Pierre CasselAn account of underground resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied France.An excellent film by director Jean-Pierre Melville
who was himself a member of the French Resistance. Army of Shadows is in many ways an incredibly bleak film, focusing around the self sacrifices of its main cast of characters. A must watch for anyone interested in the French Resistance - DirectorRoberto RosselliniStarsCarmela SazioGar MooreWilliam TubbsAmerican military personnel interact warily with a variety of Italian locals over a year and a half in the push north during the Italian Campaign of WWII as German forces make their retreat.
- DirectorRoberto RosselliniStarsAnna MagnaniAldo FabriziMarcello PaglieroDuring the Nazi occupation of Rome in 1944, the Resistance leader, Giorgio Manfredi, is chased by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a way to escape.
- DirectorRoberto RosselliniStarsEdmund MoeschkeErnst PittschauIngetraud HinzeA young German boy faces the problems of the tough life in the immediate post-WWII Berlin.
- DirectorGillo PontecorvoStarsBrahim HadjadjJean MartinYacef SaadiIn the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
- DirectorOctavio GetinoFernando E. SolanasStarsMaría de la PazFernando E. SolanasEdgardo SuárezDivided into three segments, namely 1 Neocolonialism, 2 Act for liberation, 3 Violence and liberation, the documentary lasts more than 4 hours this deals with the defense of the revolution and the revolution of the third world such as the revolt of the students in the United States and Western Europe, Czech citizens protest against the Soviet Union's State bureaucracy and also the revolution that (probably) is unprecedented in Argentina.
- DirectorMyron DeweyJosh FoxJames SpioneStarsAutumn DePoe-HughesThe Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota captures world attention through their peaceful resistance against the U.S. government's plan to construct an oil pipeline through their land.
- DirectorWalter SallesStarsGael García BernalRodrigo de la SernaMía MaestroErnesto Guevara de la Serna, popularly known as Che, along with his friend Alberto Granado, decides to take a road trip across South America. His experiences on the journey transform him.
- DirectorElem KlimovStarsAleksey KravchenkoOlga MironovaLiubomiras LauceviciusAfter finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.Most probably the most bleakest film ever made, Come and See follows the journey of young Flyora as he joins the Soviets in their fight against the Nazis in Belarus. An essential film for understanding the Nazi atrocities in Eastern Europe and why the Soviets fought so valiantly against the Wehrmacht
- DirectorFernando E. SolanasStarsMick JaggerKeith RichardsFernando E. SolanasAfter the fall of the military dictatorship in 1983, successive democratic governments launched a series of reforms purporting to turn Argentina into the world's most liberal and prosperous economy. Less than twenty years later, the Argentinians have lost literally everything: major national companies have been sold well below value to foreign corporations; the proceeds of privatizations have been diverted into the pockets of corrupt officials; revised labour laws have taken away all rights from employees; in a country that is traditionally an important exporter of foodstuffs, malnutrition is widespread; millions of people are unemployed and sinking into poverty; and their savings have disappeared in a final banking collapse. The film highlights numerous political, financial, social and judicial aspects that mark out Argentina's road to ruin.
- DirectorFernando E. SolanasThe history of the Argentine railways, from 1857 until the crisis of the current transport system. The closing of branches of the railway lines turned towns whose main source of work was the train into ghost towns. The privatization of the lines caused the dismissal of tens of thousands of workers as well as the deterioration of public service, causing in turn the increase of motor transport and the multiplication of automobile accidents.
- DirectorMorley MarksonStarsDon CoxAllen GinsbergFred Hampton Jr.Documentary on 1960s radicals in the U.S.A.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsRoger Guenveur SmithRahum BrownBrenda LeeThe story of how the radical Huey P. Newton developed the Black Panther Party based on his 10-point program for social reform.
- DirectorStanley NelsonStarsBlair AndersonOmar BarbourJulian BondThis documentary tells the rise and fall of the Black Panther Party, one of the 20th century's most alluring and controversial organizations that captivated the world's attention for nearly 50 years.
- DirectorJulio MedemStarsEmma SuárezCarmelo GómezAna TorrentSet in the Basque region, a story of the rivalry of two families, period 1870-1935
- DirectorAurelStarsSergi LópezEmmanuel VotteroXavier SerranoA dying gendarme remembers his encounter with Catalan artist Josep Bartolí in a French concentration camp after the Spanish Civil War.A beautifully animated film about the life of Josep Bartolí during and shortly after his spell in a French concentration camp after the Spanish Civil War. This film is a must for animation lovers as well as people interested in the Spanish Civil War. The film does a brilliant job at presenting the life of Bartoli and the diversity of experience he lived in his life.
- DirectorSalvador SimóStarsJorge UsónFernando RamosLuis Enrique de TomásThe true story of how Luis Buñuel made his third movie.Another beautifully animated film about Luis Buñuel Portolés, a Spanish, later naturalized Mexican, filmmaker. The film focuses on Buñuel making his 1933 film Land Without Bread alongside his anarchist friend, Ramón Acín, whose lottery winnings funded the production costs. Another must watch for animation lovers or those interested in the Spanish Civil War
- DirectorKen LoachStarsIan HartRosana PastorIcíar BollaínDavid is an unemployed communist that comes to Spain in 1937 during the civil war to enroll the republicans and defend the democracy against the fascists. He makes friends between the soldiers.Most possibly Ken Loach's best film (in my opinion). Land and Freedom follows Liverpudlian Communist David Carr as he travels to Spain to fight with the POUM militia commanded by Lawrence, on the Aragon front. A deeply sympathetic film, Land and Freedom examines the complexities and contradictions of the Spanish Civil War and refuses to convey to the trope of "good guys" and "bad guys". Not to be watched when you'll looking for a feel good movie, my only problem with this film is the character of Blanca, David's Spanish lover whom he meets whilst in the POUM militia. Blanca's only real purpose in the film is to be the lover of David and she disappointingly has little agency outside of this role. Sparing this minor fault, this is another must watch for those interested in the Spanish Civil War.
- DirectorJosé Luis CuerdaStarsManuel LozanoFernando Fernán GómezUxía BlancoBased in 1936 Spain, Moncho is an outcast at school but is able to form a strong bond with his outspoken teacher. When fascism arrives to Spain, his teacher is considered an enemy of the regime & arrested.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsDavid BradleyBrian GloverFreddie FletcherA working-class English boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet kestrel.An early film of Ken Loach's, Kes follows Billy, a young man from a working-class community in Yorkshire and the relationship he forms with a kestrel. This film examines many of the failures and limitations of the British educational system in the 60s and the consequences it has, primarily for working class boys.
- DirectorLynne RamsayStarsTommy FlanaganMandy MatthewsWilliam EadieA naïve young lad navigates the dirty squalid streets of 1973 Glasgow and the poor youth around him.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsDave JohnsHayley SquiresSharon PercyAfter surviving a heart-attack, a 59-year-old carpenter must fight bureaucratic forces to receive Employment and Support Allowance.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsKris HitchenDebbie HoneywoodRhys McgowanHoping that self-employment through gig economy can solve their financial woes, a hard-up UK delivery driver and his wife struggling to raise a family end up trapped in the vicious circle of this modern-day form of labour exploitation.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsRory KinnearMaxine PeakeNeil BellThe story of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre in which British forces attacked a peaceful pro-democracy rally in Manchester.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsRoddy PiperKeith DavidMeg FosterThey influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowStarsMiles HalliwellJerome WillisTerry HigginsWinstanley explores the attempt by Gerrard Winstanley who formed 'The Diggers' and with a group of followers attempted to form a small farming community in one of the first proto-Communist attempts at collective agriculture.
- DirectorHorace OvéStarsHerbert NorvilleOscar JamesFrank SinguineauA British-born younger son of an immigrant family from Trinidad finds himself adrift between two cultures.
- DirectorMarc KarlinMary KellyJames ScottStarsSally AlexanderAnn BurnettMay Hobbs"Night Cleaners" is set in the context of the campaign (1970-1972) to unionize the women who cleaned office blocks at night and were being victimized and underpaid. Intending at the outset to make a campaign film, the Collective was forced to turn to new forms in order to represent the forces at work between the cleaners, the Cleaner's Action Group and the Unions - and the complex nature of the campaign itself.
- DirectorBeeban KidronAmanda RichardsonA depiction of the women involved in the peace movement contrasts greatly with media portraits of the time, and the subsequent collective memory.
- DirectorRaoul PeckStarsSamuel L. JacksonJames BaldwinMartin Luther KingWriter James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.
- DirectorJohn AkomfrahStarsPervaiz KhanMeera SyalYvonne WeekesDocumentary examining the 1985 riots in London and Birmingham's Handsworth district that erupted in reaction to the repressive policing of black communities.
- DirectorJohn AkomfrahStarsStuart HallCatherine HallStuart Hall is one of the most influential and esteemed cultural theorists of a generation. A thinker and commentator, his peers include other giants of political commentary such as Noam Chomsky, Susan Sontag, Alan Ginsberg, Michel Foucault and Gore Vidal. THE STUART HALL PROJECT takes the viewer on a roller coaster ride through the upheavals, struggles and turning points that made the 20th century the century of campaigning, and of global political and cultural change.
- DirectorDjibril Diop MambétyStarsMoussa BaldéLissa BaleraAminata FallA girl sells copies of Soleil, the government paper.Possibly Djibril Diop Mambéty's finest film, La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil follows Sili, a disabled beggar girl of the city of Dakar. Unapologetically socialist in nature, the film critiques the influence of French power in Senegal years after colonialism has ended whilst at the same time presenting the main character, Sili, as a defender of those exploited and brutalised by said system.
- DirectorLizzie BordenStarsHoneyAdele BerteiJean SatterfieldSet ten years after the most peaceful revolution in United States history, it presents a dystopia in which the issues of many groups - minorities, liberals, gay rights organizations, feminists - are dealt with by the government.Made on a shoestring budget, Lizzie Borden’s film weaves a loose and freewheeling narrative that incorporates home movies of local demos and pickets, video reconstruction and TV newsreels, to provide a heady flavour of activism in a futurist New York City. This patchwork of low budget footage, matched with the pumping soundtrack coming from women’s pirate radio stations, and the fact that the cast are mostly non-actors, gives the film a raw edge, as we follow a diverse range of female characters all struggling to survive.
- DirectorRon FrickeStarsBalinese Tari Legong DancersNi Made Megahadi PratiwiPuti Sri Candra DewiFilmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.
- DirectorBeth GageGeorge GageStarsMary DannCarrie DannMary SteenburgenThe Dann sisters, two Native American women of the Western Shoshone tribe living in Nevada, challenge the US government for land rights, taking their case to the US Supreme Court.An excellent documentary abut the Dann sisters, two Western Shoshone elders and land rights activists. The names of Mary and Carrie Dann should be household names and this documentary does a great job at presenting their lives and activism.
- DirectorMariana RondónStarsSamuel Lange ZambranoSamantha CastilloBeto BenitesA nine-year-old boy's preening obsession with straightening his hair elicits a tidal wave of homophobic panic in his hard-working mother.
- DirectorJayro BustamanteStarsMaría Mercedes CoroyMaría TelónManuel AntúnOn the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala, a marriage is arranged for seventeen-year-old María by her Kaqchikel parents.
- DirectorMarlén ViñayoStarsEvelyn ChilenoRuth H. VegaMagdalena HenríquezFive Salvadoran women take to the stage to tell their stories about being poor, single moms and working as street vendors.
- DirectorSergei DvortsevoyStarsSamal YeslyamovaSergey MazurZhipara AbdilaevaA poor migrant woman in Moscow struggles with her life.
- DirectorJuan José CampanellaStarsRicardo DarínSoledad VillamilPablo RagoA retired legal counselor writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his past unresolved homicide cases and for his unreciprocated love with his superior - both of which still haunt him decades later.
- DirectorGini RetickerStarsJanet Johnson BryantEtweda CooperVaiba FlomoA group of women rise up to peace to Liberia and help bring to power the country's first female head of state.
- DirectorIara LeeBurkinabè Rising, a new documentary from Cultures of Resistance Films, showcases creative nonviolent resistance in Burkina Faso. A small, landlocked country in West Africa, Burkina Faso is home to a vibrant community of artists and engaged citizens, who provide an example of the type of political change that can be achieved when people come together. It is an inspiration, not only to the rest of Africa but also to the rest of the world. Through music, film, ecology, visual art, and architecture, the people featured in this film are carrying on the revolutionary spirit of Thomas Sankara. After assuming the presidency in 1983, Sankara was killed in a 1987 coup d'état led by his friend and close advisor Blaise Compaoré, who subsequently ruled the country as an autocrat for twenty-seven years. In October 2014 a massive popular insurrection led to his removal. Today, the spirit of resistance is mightier than ever in Burkina Faso. In the fall of 2016, director Iara Lee traveled throughout the country to film Burkinabè Rising. Through this journey, she met a remarkable cast of artists, musicians, and activists who are using the country's artistic traditions to propel forward a message of resistance: Joey le Soldat, a rapper, infuses his lyrics with references to the struggles of the impoverished youth in Ouagadougou, the country's capital, as well as those of the farmers who toil in the country outside. Marto, Burkina Faso's most well-known graffiti artist, turns barren city walls into colorful murals decrying injustice. Malika la Slameuse, a women's rights activist, performs slam poetry that offers a feminist perspective on a male-dominated art form. Serge Aimé Coulibaly uses dance as a form of political resistance, with movement borne from a need to speak out and take action. Burkina FasoIn addition to profiling individual artists, Burkinabè Rising documents a festival of recycled art and interviews groups of farmers who are standing up to the incroachment of corporate agriculture. Displaying a panorama of creative resistance, the film shows how the resurgent Burkinabè pursuit of peace and justice manifests itself through cultural expression, permeating every aspect of daily life.
- DirectorJorge SanjinésStarsMarcelino YanahuayaBenedicta MendozaVicente Verneros SalinasThe reaction of an indigenous community against a group of foreigners who under the guise of development assistance are forcibly sterilizing the peasant women.
- DirectorDavid DargStarsHanna BohmanFear Us Women follows Hanna Bohman, a Canadian civilian who has spent the last three years in Syria as a volunteer soldier battling ISIS. As a member of the YPJ, an all-female Kurdish army, Hanna gives an inside look at the brave women fighting for liberation in one of the world's most dangerous countries.
- DirectorDarmasena PathirajaStarsJoe AbeywickramaWimal Kumara de CostaRuby de MelExploes tradition and exploitation because of capitalism in Kalpitiya, a small fishing village.
- DirectorJinda BaranHalil UysalDersim ZeravanrStarsJinda BaranBeritan CûdiÖmer HarranIt was shot on top of the mountains of Kurdistan, and the actors of this film are the real guerrillas themselves. This is a true story of an Egyptian woman named Beritan-Gulnaz Qeretas who joined the ranks of the Kurdistan freedom movement guerrillas.
- DirectorZayne AkyolThey belong to the armed wing of the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is also an active guerrilla movement. The mission of these female fighters? Defend Kurdish territory in Iraq and Syria, and defeat ISIS (the armed militants of the so-called Islamic State group), all while embodying a revolutionary ideal advocating female empowerment. As filmmaker Zaynê Akyol follows their highly regimented lives, seasoned fighters like Rojen and Sozdar openly share with us their most intimate thoughts and dreams. Even as fighting against ISIS intensifies in the Middle East, these women bravely continue their battle against barbarism. Offering a window into this largely unknown world, Gulîstan, Land of Roses exposes the hidden face of this highly mediatized war: the female, feminist face of a revolutionary group united by a common vision of freedom.
- DirectorMathieu KassovitzStarsVincent CasselHubert KoundéSaïd Taghmaoui24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.
- DirectorHasim AydemirStarsEzel AkayFurkan BolukbasiFurkan BölükbasiIn September 12 1980, Turkish state carries out a military coup suppressing struggle of Kurds for human rights and freedom.
- DirectorHasim AydemirStarsSemzîn SînIsan PenaberSerhat GulerBack in his hometown after his university studies, Servan is witness to the burning down of his village and a series of other atrocities which eventually lead him to join the Kurdish resistance. In the ranks of the Kurdish liberation movement, he is seriously injured in clashes with the Turkish army.
- DirectorYüksel YavuzStarsFatma AdirOsman BaydemirMetin CansizWhat the women of a nation denied from all basic rights would do to oppose all kinds of oppressions? Hêvî is a film about 4 kurdish women found different answers for this question, covers their struggles and taking place in the cities of Berlin, Paris, Rotterdam, Istanbul, Ankara, Dersim, Amed/Diyarbakr alongside Qandil mountains. Hêvî talks about personal experiences of human rights defender and lawyer Eren Keskin who witnessed counless events where sexual violence as a war policy used against the women by the state perpetrators during the height of the war between the Kurdish Guerillas and Turkish States in the 90s. Politicians Gülten Kanak and Aysel Tuluk talks about the hunger strike protest took place in autumn 2012 which is participated by throusands of poltical prisoneers. They also talk about struggle of the Kurds in participating the democratik politics despite the continues pressure they receive from the state and the price they paid for. And its a journey into the life of a heroic former guerilla fighter Sakine Cansz, who was killed with her 2 female comrades in Paris in January 2013, short time before we plan to interview her for this film.
- DirectorKudret GunesStarsIsmail BesikçiHediye DagliPiruzhan DogrulLeyla Zana, the first woman Kurdish MP to be elected to the Turkish Parliament in 1992, was impisoned in 1994 for 15 years for speaking in Kurdish in the Parliament. Kudret Gunes' personal look at the life of Zana takes her to her birth-place, friends and exiled husband.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsCillian MurphyPádraic DelaneyLiam CunninghamAgainst the backdrop of the Irish War of Independence, two brothers fight a guerrilla war against British forces.