Films and Documentaries

Feature-length documentaries and narrative films used across the school’s themes — standalone works you would screen start to finish, often paired with a reading or as the centerpiece of a screening followed by discussion. For shorter online explainers, lectures, and video essays, see Videos and Lectures.

This table is generated automatically from the resources: frontmatter on each theme’s lens files. Do not edit it by hand — add or change a resource in the relevant lens file and run npm run resources.

72 films and documentaries. Generated from theme lens frontmatter.

Documentaries

Title	Director / creator	Year	Length	Access	Used in
¡Las Sandinistas!	Jenny Murray	2018	90 min	Free to borrow	Socialism and National Liberation: the Global South · Experiential
’Til Kingdom Come	Maya Zinshtein	2020	76 min	Paywalled	Religion, Reaction, and Supremacy · Experiential
13th	Ava DuVernay	2016	100 min	Free	Anti-Blackness and Racial Capitalism · Practical
A Place Called Chiapas	Nettie Wild	1998	93 min	Paywalled	Anarchism, Mutual Aid, and Prefiguration · Experiential
A State of Mind	Daniel Gordon	2004	93 min	Free	Revolution in Power: the USSR, China, and the Eastern Bloc · Experiential
African Dignity: The Ujamaa Dream of Nyerere	Michel Gattepaille	2019	52 min	Free	Socialism and National Liberation: the Global South · Experiential
Al-Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe, Episode 1	Al Jazeera English	2013	47 min	Free	Religion, Reaction, and Supremacy · Experiential
Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos	FRONTLINE, PBS	2020	—	Free	How Capitalism Works · Practical
American Factory	Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert	2019	—	Paywalled	How Capitalism Works · Practical
Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock	Myron Dewey, Josh Fox, James Spione	2017	89 min	Free	Ecology and the Climate Crisis · Practical
Care	Deirdre Fishel	2016	60 min	Free	Gender, Reproduction, and the Household · Practical
Caregiving	Chris Durrance, WETA	2025	115 min	Free	Gender, Reproduction, and the Household · Practical
Citizenfour	Laura Poitras	2014	114 min	Free	The State, Strategy, and Power · Experiential
Cocalero	Alejandro Landes	2007	96 min	Free	Socialism and National Liberation: the Global South · Experiential
Concerning Violence	Göran Hugo Olsson	2014	89 min	Free to borrow	Imperialism and the Global System · Experiential
Cuba’s Life Task: Combatting Climate Change	Helen Yaffe	2021	50 min	Free	Socialism and National Liberation: the Global South · Practical
Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers	Marissa Aroy	2014	27 min	Free	Labor, Work, and Organizing · Historical
Dignidad: Domestic Workers’ Journey for Justice in California	Independent Lens, KVIE	2022	27 min	Free	Gender, Reproduction, and the Household · Practical
Food Chains	Sanjay Rawal	2014	83 min	Free	Labor, Work, and Organizing · Practical
Freedom Summer	Stanley Nelson, PBS American Experience	2014	113 min	Free	Critical Pedagogy and the Practice of Liberation · Historical
Gasland	Josh Fox	2010	107 min	Paywalled	Ecology and the Climate Crisis · Practical
Gather	Sanjay Rawal	2020	75 min	Free	Settler Colonialism, Land, and Indigenous Sovereignty · Experiential
Gaza Fights For Freedom	Abby Martin, Empire Files	2021	84 min	Free	Imperialism and the Global System · Practical
Grenada: The Future Coming Towards Us	Samir Ferdinand, Caribbean Research Institute	1983	55 min	Free	Socialism and National Liberation: the Global South · Experiential
Harlan County USA	Barbara Kopple	1976	103 min	Paywalled	Labor, Work, and Organizing · Practical
Harvest of Shame	Edward R. Murrow, David Lowe, CBS Reports	1960	52 min	Free	Labor, Work, and Organizing · Experiential
How to Survive a Plague	David France	2012	109 min	Free	Health, Capitalism, and Whose Bodies Count · Practical
HyperNormalisation	Adam Curtis, BBC	2016	165 min	Free	How Capitalism Works · Practical
I Am Not Your Negro	Raoul Peck	2016	93 min	Free to borrow	Anti-Blackness and Racial Capitalism · Experiential
Incident at Restigouche	Alanis Obomsawin	1984	46 min	Free	Settler Colonialism, Land, and Indigenous Sovereignty · Experiential
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance	Alanis Obomsawin	1993	119 min	Free	Settler Colonialism, Land, and Indigenous Sovereignty · Experiential
La Operacion	Ana Maria Garcia	1982	40 min	Paywalled	Health, Capitalism, and Whose Bodies Count · Historical
Life and Debt	Stephanie Black	2001	86 min	Paywalled	Imperialism and the Global System · Practical
Living Utopia (Vivir la Utopía)	Juan Gamero	1997	95 min	Free	Anarchism, Mutual Aid, and Prefiguration · Experiential
Myanmar: The Hidden Genocide	Al Jazeera Investigations	2013	50 min	Free	Religion, Reaction, and Supremacy · Practical
No Gods No Masters: A History of Anarchism	Tancrède Ramonet	2016	3 parts	Free	Anarchism, Mutual Aid, and Prefiguration · Practical
Precious Knowledge	Ari Luis Palos, Eren Isabel McGinnis	2011	70 min	Free to borrow	Critical Pedagogy and the Practice of Liberation · Practical
Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Metis Child	Alanis Obomsawin	1986	29 min	Free	Settler Colonialism, Land, and Indigenous Sovereignty · Experiential
Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria	Susan Stryker, Victor Silverman	2005	57 min	Free	Gender, Reproduction, and the Household · Experiential
Slavery by Another Name	Sam Pollard	2012	90 min	Free	Anti-Blackness and Racial Capitalism · Historical
Sri Lanka’s Extremist Monks: When Buddhism Spreads Hate	CNA Insider	2022	48 min	Free	Religion, Reaction, and Supremacy · Practical
The Act of Killing	Joshua Oppenheimer	2012	117 min	Free	Revolution in Power: the USSR, China, and the Eastern Bloc · Practical
The Ants and the Grasshopper	Raj Patel, Zak Piper	2021	74 min	Free	Ecology and the Climate Crisis · Experiential
The Battle of Chile	Patricio Guzmán	1979	3 parts	Free	The State, Strategy, and Power · Practical
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution	Stanley Nelson	2015	115 min	Free to borrow	The State, Strategy, and Power · Practical
The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975	Göran Olsson	2011	100 min	Free to borrow	Anti-Blackness and Racial Capitalism · Practical
The Chinese Exclusion Act	Ric Burns, Li-Shin Yu	2018	160 min	Free	Immigration and the Making of Race · Historical
The Corporation	Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott, Joel Bakan	2003	145 min	Free	How Capitalism Works · Practical
The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism	George Monbiot, Peter Hutchison	2024	50 min	Free	How Capitalism Works · Liberatory
The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter	Connie Field	1980	65 min	Free to borrow	Gender, Reproduction, and the Household · Experiential
The Look of Silence	Joshua Oppenheimer	2014	103 min	Free	Revolution in Power: the USSR, China, and the Eastern Bloc · Practical
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised	Kim Bartley, Donnacha Ó Briain	2003	75 min	Free	Socialism and National Liberation: the Global South · Practical
The Shock Doctrine	Michael Winterbottom, Naomi Klein	2009	79 min	Free	Revolution in Power: the USSR, China, and the Eastern Bloc · Practical
The Take	Avi Lewis, Naomi Klein	2004	87 min	Paywalled	Anarchism, Mutual Aid, and Prefiguration · Practical
The Take	Avi Lewis, Naomi Klein	2004	87 min	Paywalled	Labor, Work, and Organizing · Liberatory
The Untold Story of Kwame Nkrumah	Bisi	—	44 min	Free	Socialism and National Liberation: the Global South · Experiential
The Weather Underground	Sam Green, Bill Siegel	2002	92 min	Free to borrow	The State, Strategy, and Power · Practical
Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man	Robin Shuffield	2006	52 min	Free	Socialism and National Liberation: the Global South · Experiential
Trick or Treaty?	Alanis Obomsawin	2014	85 min	Free	Settler Colonialism, Land, and Indigenous Sovereignty · Experiential
Union	Stephen Maing, Brett Story	2024	90 min	Free	Labor, Work, and Organizing · Practical
United in Anger: A History of ACT UP	Jim Hubbard, Sarah Schulman	2012	93 min	Paywalled	Health, Capitalism, and Whose Bodies Count · Practical
Which Way Home	Rebecca Cammisa	2009	90 min	Free	The State, Strategy, and Power · Experiential
Whose Streets?	Sabaah Folayan, Damon Davis	2017	102 min	Free to borrow	Anti-Blackness and Racial Capitalism · Practical
You Got to Move: Stories of Change in the South	Lucy Massie Phenix, Veronica Selver	1985	—	Paywalled	Critical Pedagogy and the Practice of Liberation · Practical

Narrative films

Title	Director / creator	Year	Length	Access	Used in
Even the Rain	Icíar Bollaín	2010	103 min	Free	Imperialism and the Global System · Practical
How to Blow Up a Pipeline	Daniel Goldhaber	2022	104 min	Free to borrow	Ecology and the Climate Crisis · Practical
Lumumba	Raoul Peck	2000	115 min	Free to borrow	Imperialism and the Global System · Experiential
Salt of the Earth	Herbert J. Biberman	1954	94 min	Free	Labor, Work, and Organizing · Experiential
Soy Cuba (I Am Cuba)	Mikhail Kalatozov	1964	141 min	Free to borrow	Socialism and National Liberation: the Global South · Experiential
The Battle of Algiers	Gillo Pontecorvo	1966	121 min	Free to borrow	Imperialism and the Global System · Experiential
The Young Karl Marx	Raoul Peck	2017	118 min	Free	Origins: Dialectics, Marx, and the Workers’ Movement · Experiential

Other films

Title	Director / creator	Year	Length	Access	Used in
La Commune (Paris, 1871)	Peter Watkins	2000	346 min	Paywalled	Origins: Dialectics, Marx, and the Workers’ Movement · Experiential

A note on selection

Films can do work that text cannot. They also carry their own ideology, framings, and omissions. Sessions built around films benefit from explicit discussion of what the film does and does not show.

A note on access

Many documentaries are free online (PBS, the Internet Archive, filmmakers’ own sites); others require purchase or library access. The access column notes the situation where known.

Status

This index is generated from theme content. To add a film, add it to the relevant theme lens and re-run the generator. Contributions welcome via pull request.