Highest-Rated Movies about 'Activism', Sort by Popularity

Woman at War (2018), The Laramie Project (2002), End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock (2021), Forrest Gump (1994), The Best of Youth (2002), The Cove (2009), Redemption (2004), F.T.A. (1972) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Activism movies.

#16. Punishment Park (1971)

Storyline: "Punishment Park" is a pseudo-documentary purporting to be a film crews's news coverage of the team of soldiers escorting a group of hippies, draft dodgers, and anti-establishment types across the desert in a type of capture the flag game. The soldiers vow not to interfere with the rebels' progress and merely shepherd them along to their destination. At that point, having obtained their goal, they will be released. The film crew's coverage is meant to insure that the military's intentions are honorable. As the representatives of the 60's counter-culture get nearer to passing this arbitrary test, the soldiers become increasingly hostile, attempting to force the hippies out of their pacifist behavior. A lot of this film appears improvised and in several scenes real tempers seem to flare as some of the "acting" got overaggressive. This is a interesting exercise in situational ethics. The cinéma vérité style, hand-held camera, and ambiguous demands of the director - would the actors be able to maintain their roles given the hazing they were taking - pushed some to the brink. The cast's emotions are clearly on the surface. Unfortunately this film has gone completely underground and is next to impossible to find. It would offer a captivating document of the distrust that existed between soldiers willfully serving in the military and those persons who opposed the war peacefully.—Dick Rockwell <dr1orok@atlas.moa.net>

Plot Keywords: prisoner, judge, federal agent, police chief, activist, frightful, bleak ...

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#18. Percy Vs Goliath (2020)

Storyline: Academy Award® Winner Christopher Walken*, Zach Braff and Christina Ricci star in the true story of a small-town farmer taking on one of the largest agricultural and food manufacturing corporations. Percy Schmeiser (Walken), a third-generation farmer, is sued by a corporate giant for allegedly using their patented seeds. With little resources to fight the giant legal battle, Percy joins forces with up-and-coming attorney Jackson Weaver (Braff) and environmental activist Rebecca Salcau (Ricci) to fight one of the most monumental cases all the way up to the Supreme Court.*1978 Actor in a Supporting Role, The Deer Hunter. "ACADEMY AWARD" is a registered trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Plot Keywords: family, environmentalist, farmer, attorney, emotional, inspiring, powerful ...

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#19. Wild River (1960)

Storyline: A young field administrator for the TVA comes to rural Tennessee to oversee the building of a dam on the Tennessee River. He encounters opposition from the local people, in particular a farmer who objects to his employment (with pay) of local black laborers. Much of the plot revolves around the eviction of an elderly woman from her home on an island in the River, and the young man's love affair with that woman's widowed granddaughter.—Sam Neff <samn@yang.earlham.edu>

Plot Keywords: matriarch, grandchild, administrator, townspeople, gripping, passionate, river ...

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#20. Seed: The Untold Story (2016)

Storyline: SEED: The Untold Story follows passionate seed keepers protecting our 12,000 year-old food legacy. In the last century, 94% of our seed varieties have disappeared. As chemical companies control the majority of our seeds, farmers, scientists, lawyers, and indigenous seed keepers fight a David and Goliath battle to defend the future of our food. In a harrowing and heartening story, these reluctant heroes rekindle a lost connection to our most treasured resource and revive a culture connected to seeds.—Collective Eye Films

Plot Keywords: farmer, activist, executive, anthropologist, politician, narrator, emotional ...

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#21. Crude (2009)

Storyline: One of the largest and most controversial legal cases on the planet. An inside look at the infamous $27 billion "Amazon Chernobyl" case, CRUDE is a real-life high stakes legal drama set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, global politics, celebrity activism, human rights advocacy, the media, multinational corporate power, and rapidly-disappearing indigenous cultures. Presenting a complex situation from multiple viewpoints, the film examines a complicated situation from several angles while bringing a story of environmental peril and human suffering into focus.—Crude Production

Plot Keywords: native, activist, executive, environmentalist, filmmaker, bleak, emotional ...

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#22. Cairo 678 (2010)

Storyline: In the bustling streets of Cairo, overflowed with people hurrying to their work, life advances in hectic rhythms. Traffic congestion, noise and buses crammed with men and women--this is usual for a big city on its way to progress. But, underneath this cloak of normality, a particular type of crime thrives in the small-scale world of public transportation--so subtle and elusive to the untrained eye--that seems, practically, nonexistent. Women of all ages, regardless of their attire, are sexually objectified and abused on a daily basis, silently tolerating the perverted needs of male passengers. Under those circumstances, how can a woman defend herself from their assaults; shield herself against the anguish and the shame of the repeated harassment, when a nation's male population remains untouched by this obscenity?—Nick Riganas

Plot Keywords: adult, lawyer, woman, activist, partner, victim, confident ...

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#23. The Hate U Give (2018)

Storyline: Starr Carter is constantly switching between two worlds: the poor, mostly black, neighborhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white, prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressures from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what's right.

Plot Keywords: teen girl, teen boy, neighbor, high-school student, friend, police officer, uneasy ...

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#24. Roger & Me (1989)

Storyline: A documentary about the closure of General Motors' plant at Flint, Michigan, which resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs. Details the attempts of filmmaker Michael Moore to get an interview with GM CEO Roger Smith.—Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>

Plot Keywords: journalist, ceo, family, dark, bleak, amusing, factory ...

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#25. Cry Freedom (1987)

Storyline: Donald Woods is chief editor of the liberal newspaper Daily Dispatch in South Africa. He has written several editorials critical of the views of Steve Biko. But after having met him for the first time, he changes his opinion. They meet several times, and this means that Woods and his family get attention from the security police. When Steve Biko dies in police custody, he writes a book about Biko. The only way to get it published is for Woods himself to illegally escape the country.

Plot Keywords: journalist, activist, police officer, wife, child, gritty, dark ...

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#26. Salt of the Earth (1954)

Storyline: Based on an actual strike against the Empire Zinc Mine in New Mexico, the film deals with the prejudice against the Mexican-American workers, who struck to attain wage parity with Anglo workers in other mines and to be treated with dignity by the bosses. In the end, the greatest victory for the workers and their families is the realization that prejudice and poor treatment are conditions that are not always imposed by outside forces.—Bob Shields <rshields@igc.apc.org>

Plot Keywords: miner, wife, husband, inspiring, moving, uplifting, new mexico ...

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#28. Across the Universe (2007)

Storyline: Across The Universe is a fictional love story set in the 1960s amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest, the struggle for free speech and civil rights, mind exploration and rock and roll. At once gritty, whimsical and highly theatrical, the story moves from high schools and universities in Massachusetts, Princeton and Ohio to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Detroit riots, Vietnam and the dockyards of Liverpool. A combination of live action and animation, the film is paired with many songs by The Beatles that defined the time.

Plot Keywords: expatriate, brother, sister, pretty woman, musician, singer, creative ...

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#29. Talk to Me (2007)

Storyline: The true life story of Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr. In the mid-to-late 1960s, in Washington, D.C., vibrant soul music and exploding social consciousness were combining to unique and powerful effect. It was the place and time for Petey to fully express himself - sometimes to outrageous effect - and "tell it like it is." With the support of his irrepressible and tempestuous girlfriend Vernell, the newly minted ex-con talks his way into an on-air radio gig. He forges a friendship and a partnership with fellow prison inmate Milo's brother Dewey Hughes. From the first wild morning on the air, Petey relies on the more straight-laced Dewey to run interference at WOL-AM, where Dewey is the program director. At the station, Petey becomes an iconic radio personality, surpassing even the established popularity of his fellow disc jockeys, Nighthawk and Sunny Jim. Combining biting humor with social commentary, Petey openly courts controversy for station owner E.G. Sonderling. Petey was determined to make not just himself but his community heard during an exciting and turbulent period in American history. As Petey's voice, humor, and spirit surge across the airwaves with the vitality of the era, listeners tune in to hear not only incredible music but also a man speaking directly to them about race and power in America like few people ever have. Through the years, Petey's "The truth just is" style --- on - and off-air - would redefine both Petey and Dewey, and empower each to become the man he would most like to be.—Focus Features

Plot Keywords: radio host, girlfriend, brother, competitor, producer, inmate, engaging ...

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