• Matters of Race. This image is unavailable under the 4.0 Creative Commons license.

    Matters of Race Opens in a new tab

    A film by Roja Productions 2003

    Using memoirs, autobiographies, interviews, and letters from leading authors, Matters of Race challenges the audience to reconsider the architecture of race, its role in US democracy, and its relationship to power.

  • This image is not available under the 4.0 Creative Commons license.

    This Far by Faith Opens in a new tab

    A film by Blackside, Inc. 2003

    A series that traces the religious history of African Americans from 1526 — the first year that Africans were introduced to Christianity — into the 21st century, This Far By Faith demonstrates how men and women of color have been forced, arguably more so than any other ethnic group in the United States, to rise above their circumstances to flourish and prevail, guided by their faith in a divine power.

  • A woman sings in front of a colorful striped background

    Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony Opens in a new tab

    A film by Sherry Simpson Dean, Desiree Markgraaff and Lee Hirsch 2002

    South African musicians, playwrights, poets and activists recall the struggle against apartheid from the 1940s to the 1990s that stripped black South Africans of basic human rights, and the important role that music played in that struggle (“amandia” is the Nguni word for “power”). The documentary uses a mixture of interviews, musical performances and historical film footage. Miriam Makeba, Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela and Vusi Mahlasela are among the South Africans who take part.

  • This image is unavailable under the 4.0 Creative Commons license.

    Domestic Violence Opens in a new tab

    A film by Frederick Wiseman 2001

    Domestic Violence shows the Tampa, Florida, police responding to domestic violence calls and the work of The Spring, the principal shelter in Tampa for women and children.

  • Well Founded Fear image

    Well-Founded Fear Opens in a new tab

    A film by Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini 2000

    Political asylum in the United States: Who deserves it? Who gets it? Who decides? Well-Founded Fear enters the closed corridors of the US immigration service for an extraordinary close-up look at the dramatic real-life stage where American ideals about human rights collide with the nearly impossible task of trying to know the truth.

  • Holding Ground. This image is unavailable under the 4.0 Creative Commons license.

    Holding Ground: The Rebirth of Dudley Street Opens in a new tab

    A film by Mark Lipman and Leah Mahan 1996

    In 1985, African American, Latino, Cape Verdean, and European American residents of Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood united to revitalize their community. The voices of committed residents, activists, and city officials articulate how this ethnically diverse neighborhood was able to create and carry out its own agenda for change.

  • Poster frame for Freedom on My Mind. This image is unavailable under the 4.0 Creative Commons license.

    Freedom on My Mind

    A film by Connie Field and Marilyn Mulford 1994

    Documenting the most tumultuous and significant years of the American civil rights movement, Freedom on My Mind tells the dramatic story of the Mississippi voter registration project of 1961 to 1964 and Freedom Summer, which led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

  • The story of the fiery, eloquent Nation of Islam spokesman who expressed the anger of black people and their insistence on freedom. This image is not available under the 4.0 Creative Commons license.

    Malcolm X: Make It Plain Opens in a new tab

    A film by Orlando Bagwell 1994

    The story of the fiery, eloquent Nation of Islam spokesman who expressed the anger of black people and their insistence on freedom is told through archival footage and the reminiscences of prominent figures. Who killed Malcolm X and why has never been fully explained.

  • When workers at a Minnesota meatpacking plant are asked to take a pay cut, the union decides to call a strike. This image is not available under the 4.0 Creative Commons license.

    American Dream

    A film by Barbara Kopple 1990

    In an cinema verité account, Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple charts the complex events surrounding the yearlong Hormel meatpacking plant strike in Austin, Minnesota, in the 1980s that ended in ruptures in the union and job losses for the striking workers.

  • The Price of the Ticket. This image is unavailable under the 4.0 Creative Commons license.

    James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket Opens in a new tab

    A film by Karen Thorsen 1989

    In this emotional portrait of his life, works, and beliefs, writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin tells his own story, recounting his experience being born black, impoverished, gifted, and gay in a world that has yet to understand that “all men are brothers.”

  • Eyes on the Prize is the definitive story of the civil rights era as seen by the ordinary people whose extraordinary actions changed the fabric of American life. This image is not available under the 4.0 Creative Commons license.

    Eyes on the Prize

    A film by Blackside, Inc. 1987

    Eyes on the Prize is the definitive story of the civil rights era as seen by the ordinary people whose extraordinary actions changed the fabric of American life. It is the most critically acclaimed documentary series on civil rights in the US.

  • The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter. This image is unavailable under the 4.0 Creative Commons license.

    The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter

    A film by Connie Field 1981

    The US entry into World War II created an unprecedented demand for new workers, and notions of what was proper work for women changed overnight. Out of this economic shift,  Rosie the Riveter was born. Five former “Rosies” movingly recall their experiences working in Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco during the war.