Film and Political Culture

The Deer Hunter is a 1978 American epic war drama film directed by Michael Cimino and starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, John Cazale, and Meryl Streep. The film follows a group of friends from a small Pennsylvania steel town who are sent to fight in the Vietnam War and the lasting impact of the war on their lives.

Ken Loach is a British film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his socially realistic films that often deal with themes of social injustice, class struggle, and the working class. Some of his notable films include "Kes" (1969), "Riff-Raff" (1991), and "I, Daniel Blake" (2016).

The Hunger Games is a film series based on the young adult dystopian novel trilogy of the same name by Suzanne Collins. The films are set in a post-apocalyptic future where the nation of Panem is divided into 12 districts, ruled by the Capitol. Each year, two tributes from each district are chosen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death.

Downfall (German: Der Untergang) is a 2004 German historical drama film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and starring Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler. The film depicts the final days of Hitler's life in the Führerbunker in Berlin during the Battle of Berlin in April 1945.

Wag the Dog is a 1997 American political satire film directed by Barry Levinson and starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. The film follows a spin doctor (Hoffman) and a Hollywood producer (De Niro) who are hired to create a fake war in order to distract the public from a presidential sex scandal.

Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He is considered one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century and is known for his politically charged films that often explore the relationship between cinema and politics.

Persepolis is a 2007 animated film directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. The film is based on Satrapi's graphic novel of the same name and tells the story of a young Iranian girl named Marjane who comes of age during the Iranian Revolution.

Missing is a 1982 American political drama film directed by Costa-Gavras and starring Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, and Melanie Mayron. The film tells the story of an American father (Lemmon) who travels to Chile to search for his missing son (John Shea), who has become involved in political activism against the Pinochet regime.

Cry Freedom is a 1987 British biographical drama film directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Denzel Washington, Kevin Kline, and Penelope Wilton. The film tells the story of South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko (Washington) and his friendship with Donald Woods (Kline), a white journalist who helps to bring Biko's story to the world.

Waltz with Bashir is a 2008 Israeli animated documentary film written and directed by Ari Folman. The film tells the story of Folman's experiences as a young Israeli soldier during the 1982 Lebanon War.

Farewell My Concubine is a 1993 Chinese epic drama film directed by Chen Kaige and starring Leslie Cheung and Zhang Fengyi. The film tells the story of two Peking Opera performers, Cheng Dieyi (Cheung) and Duan Xiaolou (Zhang), and their tumultuous relationship during the political and social upheavals of 20th-century China.

Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, and Dennis Hopper. The film is loosely based on Joseph Conrad's novella "Heart of Darkness" and tells the story of Captain Willard (Sheen), a U.S. Army officer who is sent on a mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz (Brando), a renegade Green Beret colonel who has set himself up as a god-like figure in Cambodia.

Selma is a 2014 American historical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay and starring David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Roth, and Oprah Winfrey. The film tells the story of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, a series of three marches led by Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists to secure voting rights for African Americans in the United States.

Schindler's List is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and Caroline Goodall. The film is based on the life of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during World War II.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a 1964 American black comedy film directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. The film is based on Peter George's 1958 novel "Red Alert" and tells the story of a group of American military officers who, after receiving false reports of a Soviet nuclear attack, launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the Soviet Union.