We can learn a lot from these documentaries.
We're already years into an oppressive administration, but it’s still clear that we have a long, long fight ahead. These important documentaries cover activist movements from the United States and around the world. Here are eight films we can learn from.
1) How to Survive a Plague
How to Survive a Plague tells the story of members of ACT UP and other AIDS activists in the 1980s battling the indifference and hostility of the Reagan administration and the rest of the country to reduce the number of AIDS-related fatalities. We can learn a lot from the protest tactics of ACT UP while fighting against Trump’s administration.
2) Truth and Power
The 2016 documentary series Truth and Power focuses on a number of activist groups, including Black Lives Matter, prison abolitionists, hacktivists, and animal rights activists.
3) Campaign of Hate: Russia and Gay Propaganda
Campaign of Hate focuses on homophobia in Russian society, Russia’s LGBTQ+ propaganda law, and Putin’s administration. The 2014 documentary features LGBTQ+ activist and journalist Masha Gessen and journalist Anton Krasovsky, who came out as gay on national television. Considering Trump’s ties to Putin, this documentary is more relevant to LGBTQ+ Americans than ever.
4) 13th
Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th connects the dots between slavery, the Jim Crow era, and the criminalization and mass incarceration of Black Americans. With Trump’s promised “law and order” era, it’s important to understand and fight against mass incarceration.
5) We Were Here
This 2011 documentary documents the HIV/AIDS crisis in San Francisco. The film features interviews with artists, activists, and healthcare providers who were active in the AIDS activist movement.
6) #chicagoGirl
This 2013 documentary follows a teen from the Chicago suburbs who uses social media to help activists on the ground in the Syrian revolution.
7) Hate Crimes in the Heartland
We can’t ever forget that it is not normal to have a president endorsed by the KKK. This documentary explores the hate crimes by hate groups that are still active across America and analyzes the 2012 "Good Friday Murders" and the 1921 Tulsa race riot.
8) Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer follows the anti-Putin punk protest group Pussy Riot through their court cases and trial proceedings. It's an important reminder to keep fighting for our First Amendment, especially when it's being undermined.
