Highest-Rated Movies about 'Civil Rights', Sort by Popularity

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974), Neshoba: The Price of Freedom (2008), District 9 (2009), Do the Right Thing (1989), I Am Not Your Negro (2016), Mississippi Burning (1988), Hidden Figures (2016), Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes (2018) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Civil Rights movies.

#2. Neshoba: The Price of Freedom (2008)

Storyline: In 1964, three civil rights activists go missing in Mississippi. The bodies of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner are found months later, and the three Klansman accused of murdering them are put on trial. All three are found not guilty, including Edgar Ray Killen who openly flaunts his involvement in the killings for years after the trial. Interviews with local community members and the victim's families highlight the ongoing effort to bring Killen to trial a second time.

Plot Keywords: murderer, klansman, civil rights activist, emotional, solemn, gripping, mississippi ...

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#3. District 9 (2009)

Storyline: In 1982, a massive star ship bearing a bedraggled alien population, nicknamed "The Prawns," appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. Twenty-eight years later, the initial welcome by the human population has faded. The refugee camp where the aliens were located has deteriorated into a militarized ghetto called District 9, where they are confined and exploited in squalor. In 2010, the munitions corporation, Multi-National United, is contracted to forcibly evict the population with operative Wikus van der Merwe in charge. In this operation, Wikus is exposed to a strange alien chemical and must rely on the help of his only two new 'Prawn' friends.

Plot Keywords: alien, reporter, military officer, love interest, mutant, creative, thrilling ...

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#4. Do the Right Thing (1989)

Storyline: This film looks at life in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district of Brooklyn on a hot summer Sunday. As he does everyday, Sal Fragione opens the pizza parlor he's owned for 25 years. The neighborhood has changed considerably in the time he's been there and is now composed primarily of African-Americans and Hispanics. His son Pino hates it there and would like nothing better than to relocate the eatery to their own neighborhood. For Sal however, the restaurant represents something that is part of his life and sees it as a part of the community. What begins as a simple complaint by one of his customers, Buggin Out - who wonders why he has only pictures of famous Italian-Americans on the wall when most of his customers are black - eventually disintegrates into violence as frustration seemingly brings out the worst in everyone.

Plot Keywords: owner, brother, son, sister, young boy, gutsy, intense ...

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#5. I Am Not Your Negro (2016)

Storyline: In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, "Remember This House." The book was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and assassinations of three of his close friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. At the time of Baldwin's death in 1987, he left behind only 30 completed pages of this manuscript. Filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished.—Jwelch5742

Plot Keywords: writer, agent, martin luther king jr., disturbing, engaging, inspiring, moving ...

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#6. Mississippi Burning (1988)

Storyline: Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his former Sheriff partner.

Plot Keywords: fbi agent, mayor, sheriff, klansman, activist, wife, tense ...

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#7. Hidden Figures (2016)

Storyline: As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians that served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history. Based on the unbelievably true life stories of three of these women, known as "human computers", we follow these women as they quickly rose the ranks of NASA alongside many of history's greatest minds specifically tasked with calculating the momentous launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, and guaranteeing his safe return. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Gobels Johnson crossed all gender, race, and professional lines while their brilliance and desire to dream big, beyond anything ever accomplished before by the human race, firmly cemented them in U.S. history as true American heroes.

Plot Keywords: african-american woman, engineer, mathematician, astronaut, soldier, confident, emotional ...

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#11. Before Stonewall (1984)

Storyline: New York City's Stonewall Inn is regarded by many as the site of gay and lesbian liberation since it was at this bar that drag queens fought back against police June 27-28, 1969. This documentary uses extensive archival film, movie clips and personal recollections to construct an audiovisual history of the gay community before the Stonewall riots.—Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

Plot Keywords: allen ginsberg, activist, professor, gay man, lesbian, spirited, powerful ...

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#12. Selma (2014)

Storyline: The unforgettable true story chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay's "Selma" tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history.

Plot Keywords: martin luther king jr., lyndon baines johnson, protester, police officer, southerner, racist, brooding ...

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#13. For Us, the Living: The Medgar Evers Story (1983)

Storyline: During the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s in Mississippi, Medgar Evers (Howard E. Rollins Jr.) rose from being an insurance agent to become one of the most integral activists of the era. From boycotting white merchants in the mid '50s to being a key figure in desegregating the University of Mississippi in 1962, Evers met success, and with it many enemies. When racists swarm his house, his life and the lives of his wife (Irene Cara) and children are threatened.

Plot Keywords: activist, wife, racist, assassin, cop, dark, emotional ...

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#14. Amazing Grace (2006)

Storyline: In 1797, William Wilberforce, the great crusader for the British abolition of slavery, is taking a vacation for his health even while he is sicker at heart for his frustrated cause. However, meeting the charming Barbara Spooner, Wilberforce finds a soulmate to share the story of his struggle. With few allies such as his mentor, John Newton, a slave ship captain turned repentant priest who penned the great hymn, "Amazing Grace," Prime William Pitt, and Olaudah Equiano, the erudite former slave turned author, Wilberforce fruitlessly fights both public indifference and moneyed opposition determined to keep their exploitation safe. Nevertheless, Wilberforce finds the inspiration in newfound love to rejuvenate the fight with new ideas that would lead to a great victory for social justice.

Plot Keywords: prime minister, friend, servant, slave, love interest, activist, inspiring ...

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#15. The Express (2008)

Storyline: This biopic focuses on the relationship of Ernie Davis (1939-1963), a gifted African-American athlete, and his coach from 1958 to 1962 at Syracuse University, Ben Schwartzwalder (1909-1993). Schwartzwalder recruits Davis with the help of All-American running back, Jim Brown. The civil rights movement is gaining steam; Davis experiences prejudice on campus, in town, and on the field, sometimes from teammates. How he handles it and how he challenges Schwartzwalder to stand up for his players provide a counterpoint to several great seasons that lead first to a national championship and then to the Heismann Trophy.

Plot Keywords: college student, football player, coach, teammate, uplifting, engaging, new york state ...

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