All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone (2016), Z (1969), Spotlight (2015), Active Measures (2018), Zero Days (2016), The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009), Madras Cafe (2013), I Am Evidence (2017) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Investigative Journalism movies.
Storyline: A morality tale for the 21st century, Official Secrets tells the true story of British Intelligence whistle-blower Katharine Gun who, during the immediate run-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, leaked a top secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation against members of the UN Security Council. The memo proposed blackmailing smaller, undecided member states into voting for war. At great personal and professional risk, journalist Martin Bright published the leaked document in The Observer newspaper in London, and the story made headlines around the world. Members of the Security Council were outraged and any chance of a UN resolution in favour of war collapsed. But within days, Bush declared he no longer needed UN backing and invaded anyway. As Iraq descended into chaos, Katharine was arrested and charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act. Martin faced potential charges too. Their legal battles exposed the highest levels of government in both London and Washington with having manipulated intelligence in order to sell an illegal war.
Plot Keywords: political thriller, true story, whistleblower, national security, iraq war, press freedom, government conspiracy ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A former hip hop executive decides whether to make public her rape by one of the most powerful men in the music industry.
Plot Keywords: documentary, sexual assault, women's rights, music industry, social justice, abuse of power, investigative journalism ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Philip Green is a highly respected writer who is recruited by a national magazine to write a series of articles on anti-Semitism in America. He's not too keen on the series, mostly because he's not sure how to tackle the subject. Then it dawns on him: if he was to pretend to all and sundry that he was Jewish, he could then experience the degree of racism and prejudice that exists and write his story from that perspective. It takes little time for him to experience bigotry. His anger at the way he is treated also affects his relationship with Kathy Lacy, his publisher's niece and the person who suggested the series in the first place.
Plot Keywords: drama, social issues, racial discrimination, anti-semitism, investigative journalism, moral dilemma, prejudice ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: When American military analyst, Daniel Ellsberg, realizes to his disgust the depths of the US government's deceptions about the futility of the Vietnam War, he takes action by copying top-secret documents that would become the Pentagon Papers. Later, Washington Post owner, Kay Graham, is still adjusting to taking over her late husband's business when editor Ben Bradlee discovers the New York Times has scooped them with an explosive expose on those papers. Determined to compete, Post reporters find Ellsberg himself and a complete copy of those papers. However, the Post's plans to publish their findings are put in jeopardy with a Federal restraining order that could get them all indicted for Contempt. Now, Kay Graham must decide whether to back down for the safety of her paper or publish and fight for the Freedom of the Press. In doing so, Graham and her staff join a fight that would have America's democratic ideals in the balance.
Plot Keywords: history, politics, journalism, press freedom, investigative journalism, 1970s, tom hanks ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A petty thief is gunned down in an alley and a Congressman's assistant falls in front of a subway - two seemingly unrelated deaths. But not to wisecracking, brash newspaper reporter Cal McAffrey who spies a conspiracy waiting to be uncovered. With a turbulent past connected to the Congressman and the aid of ambitious young rookie writer Della Frye, Cal begins uprooting clues that lead him to a corporate cover-up full of insiders, informants, and assassins. But as he draws closer to the truth, the relentless journalist must decide if it's worth risking his life and selling his soul to get the ultimate story.
Plot Keywords: political thriller, investigative journalism, conspiracy, murder, corruption, national security, power struggle ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: During the most tumultuous time for media in generations, filmmaker Andrew Rossi gains unprecedented access to the newsroom at The New York Times. For a year, he follows journalists on the paper's Media Desk, a department created to cover the transformation of the media industry. Through this prism, a complex view emerges of a media landscape fraught with both peril and opportunity, especially at the Times itself.—Anonymous
Plot Keywords: documentary, journalism, media industry, investigative journalism, media ethics, press freedom, newsroom ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A documentary that details the creation of Julian Assange's controversial website, which facilitated the largest security breach in U.S. history.
Plot Keywords: documentary, press freedom, whistleblower, politics, investigative journalism, true story, internet ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb. The film takes place in the mid-1990s, when Webb uncovered the CIA's past role in importing huge amounts of cocaine into the U.S. that was aggressively sold in ghettos across the country to raise money for the Nicaraguan Contras' rebel army. Despite enormous pressure not to, Webb chose to pursue the story and went public with his evidence, publishing the series "Dark Alliance". As a result he experienced a vicious smear campaign fueled by the CIA. At that point Webb found himself defending his integrity, his family, and his life.
Plot Keywords: biography, crime, drama, thriller, investigative journalism, political conspiracy, based on true story ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Mike Gallagher is a Miami liquor wholesaler whose deceased father was a local mobster. The FBI organized crime task force have no evidence that he's involved with the mob but decide to pressure him into perhaps revealing something - anything - about a murder they're sure was a mob hit. They let Megan Carter, a naive but well-meaning journalist, know he is being investigated and Gallagher's name is soon all over the newspaper. Gallagher has an iron-clad alibi for when the murder occurred but won't reveal it to protect his fragile friend Teresa. When Carter publishes her story, tragedy ensues. Needing to make amends, Carter tells Gallagher the source of the first story about him and he sets out to teach the FBI and the Federal Attorney a lesson.
Plot Keywords: investigative journalism, media ethics, legal drama, journalist, government corruption, political conspiracy, press freedom ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Plame's status as a CIA agent was revealed by White House officials allegedly out to discredit her husband after he wrote a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece saying that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq.
Plot Keywords: political thriller, based on true events, iraq war, government conspiracy, journalist, national security, investigative journalism ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In a world where journalism is under attack, Marie Colvin (Rosamund Pike) is one of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time. Colvin is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the frontlines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless, while constantly testing the limits between bravery and bravado. After being hit by a grenade in Sri Lanka, she wears a distinctive eye patch and is still as comfortable sipping martinis with London's elite as she is confronting dictators. Colvin sacrifices loving relationships, and over time, her personal life starts to unravel as the trauma she's witnessed takes its toll. Yet, her mission to show the true cost of war leads her -- along with renowned war photographer Paul Conroy (Jamie Dornan) -- to embark on the most dangerous assignment of their lives in the besieged Syrian city of Homs.—Aviron Pictures
Plot Keywords: war, biography, journalist, syria, true story, courage, sacrifice ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: SPOILER: Reporter Curt Devlin loves sob sister Ellen Garfield but believes women are "bum newspapermen". When she learns the identity of a murdered arsonist, he calls it luck. When she goes after the murderer he gets enough evidence to have Maitland Coulter arrested. She finds a bunch of "not guilty" ballots and publishes the wrong story; he eavesdrops on the jury and gets the correct verdict. After being fired she gets a confession from the real killer and gets Coulter released.—Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Plot Keywords: murder case, romance, comedy, 1930s, classic hollywood, gender roles, workplace competition ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Based on a true incident, this tells the story of a troubled young man who kills his sister's reactionary, violent and abusive husband and is eventually arrested for the murder. However, the dead husband happened to be a member of the Italian nobility, and the trial starts to turn into more of a prosecution of the defendant's socialist politics and the activities of his father, a well known liberal social reformer, than the actual crime itself.—frankfob2@yahoo.com
Plot Keywords: political thriller, historical event, based on true story, judicial injustice, social criticism, conspiracy theory, courtroom drama ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In the funeral of the famous British journalist Joe Strombel (Ian McShane), his colleagues and friends recall how obstinate he was while seeking a scoop. Meanwhile, the deceased Joe discloses the identity of the tarot card serial killer of London. He cheats Death (Pete Mastin) and appears to the American student of journalism Sondra Pransky (Scarlett Johansson), who is on the stage in the middle of a magic show of the magician Sidney Waterman (Woody Allen) in London, and tells her that the murderer is the aristocrat Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman). Sondra drags Sid in her investigation, seeking for evidence that Peter is the killer. However, she falls in love with him and questions if Joe Strombel is right in his scoop.
Plot Keywords: biography, drama, history, journalism, political, true story, investigation ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A reporter Mullen 'stumbles' on a story linking a prominent Member of Parliament to a KGB agent. In fact it is also linked to a near Nuclear disaster involving a teenage runaway and an Americal USAF base. Has there been a Government cover-up,Mullen teams up with Vernon Bayliss, an old hack, and Nina Beckam the MP's assistant to find out the truth.—Matthew Stanfield <mattst@cogs.susx.ac.uk>
Plot Keywords: political thriller, investigative journalism, cold war, government conspiracy, british film, 1980s, espionage ...
Movie Details Click Here !