Since 2007, 20 February has marked World Day of Social Justice. This year’s theme – “Overcoming Barriers and Unleashing Opportunities for Social Justice” – is focused on fostering dialogue on the actions needed to strengthen the social contract.
The UN argues that despite rising inequalities, conflicts, and weakened institutions, there are still opportunities for the world to come together in a coalition for social justice.
One way to raise awareness of social inequalities is through filmmaking, highlighting those stories that aren’t always told.
Keep reading for seven films that do just that.
1. Do The Right Thing (1989)
Spike Lee began his career with 1986’s She’s Gotta Have It and would go on to become the youngest ever recipient of an Honorary Academy Award (age 58).
Despite having to wait until BlacKkKlansman (2019) to win a film-specific Oscar, it is 1989’s Do The Right Thing that represents classic Lee.
Tensions rise in Brooklyn during the hottest day of the summer when Italian American pizzeria owner Sal (played by the Oscar-nominated Danny Aiello) is told he should include Black celebrities on his restaurant’s “Wall of Fame”.
Lee explores contemporary race relations in America by focusing on a single neighbourhood as it boils over into violence.
2. Milk (2008)
Directed by Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, My Own Private Idaho), Milk stars Sean Penn as real-life gay rights activist Harvey Milk.
In January 1978, Milk became California’s first openly gay elected official.
Co-starring James Franco, Josh Brolin, and Emile Hirsch, Sean Penn’s performance won him the Oscar for best actor at the 81st Academy Awards.
3. Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto won best actor and best supporting acting Oscars for their roles as real-life Dallas Buyers Club founder Ron Woodroof and the fictional Rayon.
Newly diagnosed with AIDS, electrician Woodroof befriends Rayon, an HIV-positive trans woman. Soon, the pair begin smuggling unapproved drugs into the US from Mexico. Selling the drugs in the streets of 1980s Dallas, they later set up the Dallas Buyers Club.
The film tackles homophobia, the stigma of HIV and AIDS in the 80s, and the injustice of a health system that refuses to care for those most in need.
4. Short Term 12 (2013)
A semi-autobiographical tale, the independent film Short Term 12 is based on director Destin Daniel Cretton’s experiences working in a group home for troubled teenagers.
Brie Larson stars as Grace Howard. A supervisor at Short Term 12, she is juggling a difficult relationship and an unwanted pregnancy with a desire to do her best for the children – largely forgotten by a society that labels them “difficult” – in her care.
Marcus (Lakeith Stanfield in his debut role) is on the cusp of turning 18, at which point he will have to leave the facility.
Stephanie Beatriz and Rami Malek co-star.
5. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Barry Jenkins’s 2016 film Moonlight won the best picture Oscar at the 70th Academy Awards. In so doing, it made history.
Jenkin’s followed up this win with an adaption of James Baldwin’s classic 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk. When Fonny (Stephan James) is accused of a crime and sent to jail, his partner Tish (KiKi Layne) and her family try to clear his name before the couple’s child is born.
Set in the 1970s, the seminal novel’s themes resonate as strongly half a century on. Beautifully directed, with stunning central performances, the film shines a spotlight on enduring social injustice.
6. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
Judas and the Black Messiah is a biopic starring Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Black Panther).
Kaluuya plays Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther party, alongside Lakeith Stanfield as William O’Neal, an FBI informant.
The Black Panther Party, its ideology, and their political aims are explored through Hampton’s compassion and desire for justice. Kaluuya won the best supporting actor Oscar for his performance. Stanfield’s O’Neal is equally compelling as a man on the edge of a betrayal, torn between his comrades and a corrupt system.
7. Till (2022)
Writer and director Chinonye Chukwu’s Till was at the centre of its social justice furore earlier this year. The film, and its lead actress Danielle Deadwyler, were widely tipped for Oscar nominations but the film ultimately failed to garner any.
Chukwu took to social media to accuse Hollywood of “unabashed misogyny towards Black women”. Not a single Black actor made the shortlist for a lead acting award.
Till tells the true story of Mamie Till-Mobley and her pursuit of justice after her son, Emmett Till, is tortured and lynched in Mississippi in 1955.
The powerful film is a story of enormous courage in the face of injustice and an openly racist system.
