Some Freakin Awesome Movies
Movies are a great way to spread awareness and get more people on your campus involved in the fight against extreme poverty. We’ve heard for lots of you guys that you could use a good list of movies you should show on your campus, so here ya go:
Documentaries/Unrated Movies
A Closer Walk (2005) Full-length film on the global AIDS crisis. Explores the relationship between health, human rights, and outlines the need for global action. Narrated by Glenn Close and Will Smith. Includes interviews with widely recognized figures such as the Dalai Lama and singer Bono. Director: Robert Bilheimer
The Girl in the Cafe (2005) Two people meet in a café and attend the G8 Summit together, romance blooms. Their goals at the summit are contradictory. Good movie for information on the Millennium Development Goals. Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Bill Nighy. Director: David Yates.
Life and Debt (2001) Documentary on the affects of IMF, World Bank, and other international organizations work in Jamaica. Author Jamaica Kincaid narrates with Belinda Becker to a reggae soundtrack that includes songs by Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, Mutubaruka and Peter Tosh. Starring: Jamaica Kincaid, Belinda Becker. Director: Stephanie Black.
Bamako (2006) A village in Africa puts on a mock trail against the World Bank for crimes against the village. Danny Glover produces. Starring: Aissa Maiga, Maimouna Helene Diarra. Director: Abderrahmane Sissako. Some parts in foreign language with English subtitles.
3 Needles (2005) Documents the spread of AIDS in Asia, Africa and North America through the lives of three people affected by the disease. Starring: Stockard Channing, Lucy Liu and Sandra Oh. Director: Thom Fitzgerald.
Mainstream/Rated Movies
Yesterday (2004) A mother in an African village finds out she is HIV positive and stuggles with how it affects her husband and daughter. Starring: Leleti Khumalo, Lihle Mvelase. Director: Darrell Roodt. English subtitles. Rated R for pervasive strong violence.
Hotel Rwanda (2005) The story of an ordinary man in Rwanda who uses the hotel he manages to save more than 1,000 refugees. Starring Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte and Joaquin Phoenix. Director: Terry George. Some with have English subtitles. Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and brief strong language.
The Constant Gardener (2005) A British man in Africa discovers shocking evidence of the horrible consequences of some of his country’s actions. Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz. Director: Fernando Meirelles. Some parts with English subtitles. Rated R for language, some violent images and sexual content/nudity.
Blood Diamond (2006) A diamond smuggler and a local fisherman’s paths meet in their separate struggles for the “good life” and results in their taking on the diamond industry’s practices in Sierra Leone. Starring: Djimon Hounsou, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly. Director: Edward Zwick. Rated R for strong violence and language.
Watch Online
A Growing Hunger, PBS NOW. This 20-minute episode outlines how US cotton subsidies has a negative impact on Burkina Faso. Watch online at http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/310/index.html.
February 15th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Thank you so much for posting this! We’ve been discussing possible movie ideas and I’m sure this will help!
February 16th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Our chapter watched “Yesterday”, “Life+Debt”, and “The Girl in the Cafe”, this past week. We started laughing when we saw this get posted like two days later.
February 20th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
The Girl in the Cafe is an AMAZING movie. A very moving and very entertaining love story! ONE Webster is showing it and Born Into Brothels at a Film Festival in April. I’ve seen many of the others too, but Girl in the Cafe is def my favorite.