Issues covered in our Film Nights
We have covered a wide range of issues in our Film Nights!
Here is a selection of topics and films.
Please do recommend any other issues that you think we should address.
Voting rights, the electoral system and campaigns
Films addressing these topics:
Information and resources on these topics (coming soon!)
Economics: The US economic system, the 2008 financial crisis, economic inequality and working rights
Media and their impact
Films on these topics:
Operation Infektion (2018). New York Times 3-part video series on the Russian strategy of ‘active measures’ and its impact on U.S. elections. See full details of our Film Night.
The Brainwashing of My Dad (2015) Jen Senko uses the experience of seeing her father’s trasnformation from a non-political Democrat to a right-wing fanatic to launch an investigation of the eco-system, power and impact of right wing media in the USA. See full details of our Film Night here
Outfoxed (2004). Brave New Films. A prescient analysis of the role and impact of Rupert Murdoch and Fox News on the media landscape.
Weapons of Mass Deception (2004) The role of the media in the Iraq War. Danny Schechter.
Resources on the issues (coming soon)
On Disinformation and False News
On right-wing media and their power
Environment and energy issues
Films on these topics:
Before the Flood (2016). Fisher Stevens and Leonardo di Caprio. See full details of the Film Night here
Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006) Chris Paine. An investigation of the creation and production of electric cars, in particular the General Motors EV1, in the 1990a in response to California’s requirement for auto manufacturers to offer electric cars as an option. Despite the successful technology and popularity of the cars (available only for lease), once the Californian rules were reversed, they were withdrawn and/or destroyed. Find out more about the film.
An Inconvenient Truth (2006). Davis Guggenheim, director. Al Gore presents his compelling analysis of climate change, its impacts and what we can do about it.
End of Suburbia (2004) About energy, peak oil and the relation to urban planning.
Healthcare reform
Films addressing these topics:
Inside Obama’s White House: Obamacare (2016). Brook-Lapping for the BBC. Sarah Wallis, episode director and producer. Film Night. Brook-Lapping examines the struggle to pass the Affordable Care Act in Episode 2 of Inside Obama’s White House.
Sick Around the World (2008) PBS Frontline’s T.R. Reid investigates healthcare systems of other advanced capitalist democracies — UK, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, and Taiwan to see what lessons we can draw. More information here.
Sicko (2007). Michael Moore. Investigates health care in the United States with a focus on health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry.
Minority rights, racism and Civil Rights achievements
Films addressing these topics:
The Arc of History: Episode 4 Inside Obama’s White House. Brook Lapping for BBC. Mick Gold, episode director and producer. Inside Obama’s White House. See full details of the Film Night.
Dolores (2017) Peter Bratt See the Film Night for full details.
The House I Live In (2012). Eugene Jarecki. This film examines the human and financial cost of the “War on Drugs” in the United States and how a profitable, industrialized penal system that has a vested interest in punishment, retribution and recidivism has been built around that “war”.
In the Land of the Free (2009). Vadim Jean, narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. An investigation of the cases of the ‘Angola Three’ – Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox and Robert King who were imprisoned in the 1970s and held in solitary confinement for many years – and the prison conditions within Angola Prison in Louisiana. Their cases attracted international protest. Robert King and Vadim Jean spoke at the Film Night.
Women’s rights and issues: Feminism, equal rights, women’s healthcare and reproductive rights
Films addressing these topics:
Dolores See the Film Night for more details
Trapped See the Film Night for more details
RBG (2018) Betsey West and Julie Cohen. About Ruth Bader Ginsberg. See the Film Night for full details.
LGBTQ: equal rights
Films addressing these topics:
The Case Against 8 (2014). Ben Cotner and Ryan Whitetakes. Follows the development of the (successful) case put forward at the US Supreme Court to overturn Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage. For more details see the Film Night.
Justice system: criminal justices and the prison system
Films addressing these topics:
The House I Live In (2012). Eugene Jarecki. This film examines the human and financial cost of the War on Drugs in the United States and how a profitable, industrialized penal system that has a vested interest in punishment, retribution and recidivism has been built around that ‘war’.
In the Land of the Free (2009). Vadim Jean, narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. An investigation of the cases of the ‘Angola Three’ – Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox and Robert King who were imprisoned in the 1970s and held in solitary confinement for many years – and the prison conditions within Angola Prison in Louisiana. Their cases attracted international protest. Robert King and Vadim Jean spoke at the Film Night.
Privacy: Data collection, government surveillance, civil liberties and national security
Films addressing these topics:
CitizenFour (2014). Laura Poitras. The story of Edward Snowden’s disclosure of classified information on NSA surveillance activities. For full details see the Film Night
Operation Infektion (2018). New York Times 3-part video series on the Russian strategy of ‘active measures’ and its impact on U.S. elections. See full details of our Film Night.
Legal and constitutional issues
Films addressing these topics:
RBG (2018) Betsey West and Julie Cohen. About Ruth Bader Ginsberg. See the Film Night for full details.
Restoring the Rule of Law (2006) Al Gore speaks at the Constitutional Society on the threats posed by the Bush administration to the rule of law and the US constitution.
Unconstitutional (2004). The Bush administration, 9/11, the Patriot Act and its impact on civil liberties
Unprecedented (2002). Brave New Films About the 2000 elections and voter suppression.
US wars and their aftermath
Films addressing these topics:
The Vietnam War (2017) PBS series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. See our Film Night.
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006). Robert Greenwald, Brave New Films. Profiteering during the Iraq War.
Iraq in Fragments (2006). James Longle. Examines the impact of the Iraq War from the perspectives of Sunni, Shia and Kurdish residents.
No End in Sight (2007). Charles Ferguson’s Academy-award winning examination of the US occupation of Iraq. Based on over 200 hours of footage, the film provides a candid retelling of the events following the fall of Baghdad in 2003 by high ranking officials, Iraqi civilians, American soldiers, and prominent analysts
Weapons of Mass Deception (2004) Danny Schecter on the role of the media in the Iraq War.
The Ground Truth (2006) About U.S. soldiers in the Iraq War: the horrors they witnessed and experienced and their lives after returning to the USA.
Understanding our history and cultural configurations
Films addressing these topics:
JFK (2014). A PBS two- part series on President John F. Kennedy. See our Film Night
Inside Obama’s White House: The Arc of History (2016).
1964 (2014). PBS. An exploration of key events and figures in 1964.
