Films that demonstrate how governments or quasigovernmental groups have violated or promoted the values in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
IN DUBIOUS BATTLE BRINGS BACK STEINBECK John Steinbeck wrote many novels to expose the plight of workers in the United States. Now Director James Franco has provided a version of Steinbeck’s 1936 novel, never before on the screen, and he plays the role of Mac, an agitator who goes to the Bolton Orchard in California to […]
BOTSWANA STRUGGLES FOR INDEPENDENCE IN A UNITED KINGDOM Prince Seretse Khama (played by David Oyelowo), the heir to the kingdom of Bechuanaland, was only 4 years old when his father dies, so his uncle Charles (Arnold Oseng) not only serves as Regent but also rears him until he goes away to London for school, eventually enrolling
55 STEPS FEATURE THE ASCENT OF THE RIGHTS OF MENTAL PATIENTSPatients are now accustomed to signing their name multiple times before their blood is drawn or other medical procedures are undertaken. But up to 1985, mental patients were deemed incompetent, so decisions were made for them without consultation, as the opening scene vividly demonstrates. Diagnosed with
SILENCE TRIES TOEXPLAIN HOW JAPAN RESISTED CHRISTIANITY Portuguese Catholics introduced Christianity to Japan in 1549, when Francis Xavier brought three Japanese Catholic converts from India, seeking to start a church in Nagasaki. Today only 1 percent of Japanese are Christians. Directed by Martin Scorsese, Silence is based on an historical novel by Shusako Endo that begins in the
THE INNOCENTS FOCUSES ON THE GUILTY During the end of 1945, the French Red Cross was sent to Poland to assist in healing the wounds of war for French soldiers who were prisoners of war in German camps. Civilians were supposed to rely on the overburdened Polish Red Cross. However, Russian soldiers raped many Polish
RACE IS ABOUT RACISM AND WINNING Had the film Race been exhibited during 2015, Academy Award nominations would have not shut out African Americans or a plot about them. Directed by Stephen Hopkins, Race presents extensive details about how Cleveland native Jesse Owens (played by Stephan James) won four Gold Medals at the 1936 Olympic
A WAR FOCUSES ON RESPONSIBILITY FOR CIVILIAN DEATHS IN AFGHANISTAN Claus Michael Pedersen (played by Pilou Asbæk) joins the Danish army and is assigned to the battlefield in Afghanistan (though filming is in Spain and Turkey) while his wife Maria (Tuva Novotny) and three young children try to cope in his absence. One day in
A JEW FINDS SALVATION IN SON OF SAUL Director László Nemes has gone so far to the depths of the Nazi deathcamps that filmviewers are advised not to eat before sitting in their chairs before the screen. Otherwise, they may vomit as they view Jews entering a gay chamber, having their dead bodies removed, scrubbing down
THE DANISH GIRL FEATURES THE T IN GLBT Based on a true story, The Danish Girl traces the experience of Einar Wegener (played by Eddie Redmayne), who is portrayed at the beginning of the film as the husband of Gerde Wegener (Alicia Vikander), both artists in Copenhagen during 1926. While he is obviously not a top notch artist,
MUSTANG PROVIDES HOPE FOR GIRLS IN TURKEY’S BACK COUNTRY Yet another film on the plight of females in Islamic countries, the French film Mustang focuses on the positive more than the negative. With occasional voiceovers from Lale (Günes Şensoy), Turkish-born director Deniz Gamze Ergüven depicts the gap between the traditional roles of females in rural