Movies for teaching development

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N
1	Topic	Film title	Year	Director	RT Rating	Length (min)	Genre	Region	Country	How educating?	How engaging?	Accessible where	Mature content	Notes

2	Aspirations
3		Queen of Katwe	2016	Mira Nair	93%	124	Drama	Africa	Uganda	High	High	Check	Little to none	All-ages appropriate, inspiring tale based on a true story of a low-income girl who improves her situation through chess. Emma Riley has a nice paper examining the impact of showing the movie to Ugandan students.
4	Childhood
5		The Price of Free	2018	Derek Doneen	80%	92	Documentary	South Asia	India	High	High	YouTube	Harrowing content but not explicit.	This advocacy documentary tells about the work of Kailash Satyarthi, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for his work in India and beyond to end child slavery.
6		Treasures	2017	María Novaro	No reviews	95	Drama	LAC	Mexico	Medium	Medium	Check	None	Children set off on a treasure hunt in a gorgeous coastal Mexican town. We see several scenes at school, including multi-grade classrooms. It's a sweet, leisurely paced, beautiful movie.
7		Wadjda	2012	Haifaa Al-Mansour	99%	98	Drama	Middle East	Saudi Arabia	High	High	Check	Almost none	A primary school girl in Saudi Arabia really wants a bicycle and is prepared to wheel and deal to get it. A sweet movie that doesn't shy away from gender inequality in the society around it. Lots of time at school.
8	Child labor
9		The Price of Free	2018	Derek Doneen	80%	92	Documentary	South Asia	India	High	High	YouTube	Harrowing content but not explicit.	This advocacy documentary tells about the work of Kailash Satyarthi, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for his work in India and beyond to end child slavery.
10	Corruption
11		The Envelope (Bahasha)	2018	Jordan Riber	NA	85	Drama	Africa	Tanzania	Medium	Medium	Check	Some	A local government official in Tanzania accepts a bribe and everything goes wrong. Also some discussion of dangers to girls' education.
12		Five Fingers for Marseilles	2017	Michael Matthews	76%	120	Western	Africa	South Africa	Medium	Medium	Check	Some	This Western about corrupt officials and organized crime in a South African town is violent and gritty but engaging.
13	Crime / Police / Criminal justice
14		Cake	2018	Asim Abbasi	NA	125	Drama	South Asia	Pakistan	Medium	Medium	Check	Some	Over the course of this family drama around aging parents, one subplot involves a criminal act and deception of the criminal justice system.
15		Five Fingers for Marseilles	2017	Michael Matthews	76%	120	Western	Africa	South Africa	Medium	Medium	Check	Some	This Western about corrupt officials and organized crime in a South African town is violent and gritty but engaging.
16	Economic crisis
17		A Translator	2018	Rodrigo Barriuso, Sebastián Barriuso	67%	107	Drama	LAC	Cuba	High	High	Check	Some	A Cuban professor of Russian literature is tasked with interpreting for Soviet children who have been sent to Cuba for treatment for radiation following Chernobyl. Some powerful scenes as the USSR economy crumbles and with it, its support for Cuba.
18	Education
19		Bad Genius	2017	Nattawut Poonpiriya	100%	130	Thriller	SE Asia	Thailand	Medium	High	Check	Little	This thriller highlights class differences, the pressures of high-stakes tests, and the limits of educational mobility, set in a Thai high school.
20		The Envelope (Bahasha)	2018	Jordan Riber	NA	85	Drama	Africa	Tanzania	Medium	Medium	Check	Some	A local government official in Tanzania accepts a bribe and everything goes wrong. Also some discussion of dangers to girls' education.
21		Hindi Medium	2017	Saket Chaudhary	82%	133	Drama	South Asia	India	High	Medium	Check	None	A wealthy Indian couple goes to tremendous lengths to get their daughter into a good school.
22		Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom	2019	Pawo Choyning Dorji	98%	110	Drama	South Asia	Bhutan	High	High	Check	None	An unmotivated teacher is sent to a remote school in Bhutan and must deal with unprecedented challenges.
23		Radical	2023	Christopher Zalla	94%	127	Drama	LAC	Mexico	Medium	High	Check	Some violence	Inspired by a true story, a teacher in a low-income neighborhood revolutionizing the classroom experience.
24		Treasures	2017	María Novaro	No reviews	95	Drama	LAC	Mexico	Medium	Medium	Check	None	Children set off on a treasure hunt in a gorgeous coastal Mexican town. We see several scenes at school, including multi-grade classrooms. It's a sweet, leisurely paced, beautiful movie.
25		Wadjda	2012	Haifaa Al-Mansour	99%	98	Drama	Middle East	Saudi Arabia	High	High	Check	Almost none	A primary school girl in Saudi Arabia really wants a bicycle and is prepared to wheel and deal to get it. A sweet movie that doesn't shy away from gender inequality in the society around it. Lots of time at an all-girls' school.
26	Firms
27		Lionheart	2018	Genevieve Nnaji	100%	95	Drama	Africa	Nigeria	Medium	High	Check	Little to none	This is a fun, sweet Nigerian movie about a family transport business. It deals lightly with the transportation industry and with gender issues.
28	Gender
29		City of Joy	2018	Madeleine Gavin	100%	76	Documentary	Africa	DRC	High	High	Check	Some	Powerful documentary about a center in DRC where women go to recover from sexual violence. The community was co-founded by Denis Mukwege (co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize), Schuler-Deschryver, & Ensler. All three are featured in the film, along with many women telling their stories.
30		Invisible Life	2019	Karim Aïnouz	93%	139	Historical drama	LAC	Brazil	High	High	Check	Some	Two sisters are separated in 1950s Brazil, both knocking up against gender roles and facing other challenges.
31		The Naked Screen [La pantalla desnuda]	2014	Florence Jaugey	NA	95	Drama	LAC	Nicaragua	High	High	Check	Some	A university scholarship student, jealous of his wealthy friend, steals his friend's phone and posts online a video of his friend and his friend's girlfriend having sex. The consequences for the girlfriend. Final shots are particularly powerful.
32		Papicha	2019	Mounia Meddour	90%	108	Drama	Africa	Algeria	High	High	Check	Some	In the midst of violent tension between religious fundamentalists and a secular government, a university student pushes back (and elements of the society around her push back, hard).
33		Under the Shadow	2016	Babak Anvari	99%	84	Horror	Middle East	Iran	Low	High	Check	Some	This is a scary movie (think: a PG-13 horror movie), but it deals with gender issues and living under a repressive regime.
34		Wadjda	2012	Haifaa Al-Mansour	99%	98	Drama	Middle East	Saudi Arabia	High	High	Check	Almost none	A primary school girl in Saudi Arabia really wants a bicycle and is prepared to wheel and deal to get it. A sweet movie that doesn't shy away from gender inequality in the society around it. Lots of time at an all-girls' school.
35	Health
36		Aruna & Her Palate	2018	Edwin	NA	106	Romantic drama	East Asia / Pacific	Indonesia	Low	Medium	Check	None	An epidemiologist travels around Indonesia to investigate bird flu. We see some clinics and some patients, but really the movie is about the epidemiologist's love life and a culinary tour she takes around Indonesia.
37		City of Joy	2018	Madeleine Gavin	100%	76	Documentary	Africa	DRC	High	High	Check	Some	Powerful documentary about a center in DRC where women go to recover from sexual violence. The community was co-founded by Denis Mukwege (co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize), Schuler-Deschryver, & Ensler. All three are featured in the film, along with many women telling their stories.
38		Félicité	2017	Alain Gomis	96%	123	Drama	Africa	DRC	High	High	Check	Some	A woman's son is in a traffic accident and she must deal with the health system and the challenging financing therein.
39		I Want a Wedding Dress	2011	Tsitsi Dangarembga	NA	89	Drama	Africa	Zimbabwe	Medium	Low	Check	Some	Various plot threads around the importance of getting tested for HIV.
40		Invisible Life	2019	Karim Aïnouz	93%	139	Historical drama	LAC	Brazil	High	High	Check	Some	"Have you ever seen a poor person come out of the hospital alive?" Health services aren't the main topic of this powerful movie of two sisters separated in 1950s Brazil, but they show up in an important subplot.
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42	Informal settlements
43		District 9	2009	Neill Blomkamp	90%	112	Sci-fi	Africa	South Africa	Medium	High	Check	Some	Extraterrestrials marooned in South Africa serve as an extended metaphor for refugees living in informal settlements.
44	LGBTQ+
45		Mars One	2022	Gabriel Martins	97%	115	Drama	LAC	Brazil	Medium	Medium	Check	Some	Working class family in urban Brazil struggles with their daughter coming out as gay and their son's aspirations which diverge from his father's.
46	Migration (international)
47		Atlantics	2019	Mati Diop	96%	104	Drama	Africa	Senegal	High	High	Check	Some	Deals with labor disputes and international migration (and the people left behind thereby). Supernatural elements. I loved it.
48		Atlantiques	2009	Mati Diop	NA	16	Documentary	Africa	Senegal	High	Medium	Check	None	Footage from would-be migrants from Senegal to Europe explaining why they migrate.
49		Touki Bouki (or Journey of the Hyena)	1973	Djibril Diop Mambéty	78%	105	Drama	Africa	Senegal	High	High	Check	Some	Film about a young couple seeking to migrate from Senegal to France, with the reasons to migrate and also what holds them back.
50	Natural resources (including mining)
51		The Burial of Kojo	2019	Sam Blitz Bazawule	100%	100	Drama	Africa	Ghana	Low	High	Check	Virtually none	This surreal, gorgeous film about a girl and her father battling death in Ghana engages with mining and urbanization.
52		Virunga	2014	Orlando Von Einsiedel	100%	90	Documentary	Africa	DRC	High	High	Check	Some	Documentary about the largest national park in DRC. Gorgeous footage of the park. Centers around conflict between the park leadership and rangers versus a British oil company. Tragic, exciting, insightful.
53	Politics
54		Zizou and the Arab Spring / Sweet Smell of Spring	2016	Férid Boughedir	NA	90	Drama	Africa	Tunisia	Medium	High	Check	Some	A naive young man travels from rural Tunisia to Tunis and gets caught up between political forces in chasing the woman he's fallen in love with. Comedic drama.
55	Refugees
56		District 9	2009	Neill Blomkamp	90%	112	Sci-fi	Africa	South Africa	Medium	High	Check	Some	Extraterrestrials marooned in South Africa serve as an extended metaphor for refugees living in informal settlements.
57	Reproductive autonomy
58		Invisible Life	2019	Karim Aïnouz	93%	139	Historical drama	LAC	Brazil	High	High	Check	Some	Two sisters are separated in 1950s Brazil, both knocking up against gender roles and facing other challenges.
59	Slavery (modern)
60		The Price of Free	2018	Derek Doneen	80%	92	Documentary	South Asia	India	High	High	YouTube	Harrowing content but not explicit.	This advocacy documentary tells about the work of Kailash Satyarthi, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for his work in India and beyond to end child slavery.
61	Social safety nets
62		Peepli Live	2010	Anusha Rizvi	86%	105	Drama	South Asia	India	High	High	Check	Harrowing content but not explicit.	Two Indian farmers are deep in debt, and one convinced the other to commit suicide so his family will benefit from a social program. Mayhem ensues.
63	Urbanization
64		The Lost Okoroshi	2019	Abba Makama	88%	94	Drama	Africa	Nigeria	Low	High	Check	Some	A security guard in Lagos, Nigeria, is frustrated with urban life. One morning he awakens transformed into a manifestation of ancestral spirits and interacts with various aspects of modern, urban Lagos. Surreal film.
65	War, violence, and conflict
66		City of Joy	2018	Madeleine Gavin	100%	76	Documentary	Africa	DRC	High	High	Check	Some	Powerful documentary about a center in DRC where women go to recover from sexual violence. The community was co-founded by Denis Mukwege (co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize), Schuler-Deschryver, & Ensler. All three are featured in the film, along with many women telling their stories.
67		Hollow City	2004	Maria João Ganga	NA	90	Drama	Africa	Angola	Medium	Medium	Check	Some	Also known as "In the Empty City." Takes place in Luanda, Angola, during the civil war, and follows the travails of a street child whose parents were killed in the conflict.
68		La llorona	2019	Jayro Bustamante	96%	97	Horror	LAC	Guatemala	Medium	High	Check	Some	A genocidal general in Guatemala is haunted by his victims. Lots of coverage of political protest, one regime not holding a previous regime accountable, and of the attempted genocide of indigenous groups.
69		Plaza Catedral	2021	Abner Benaim	100%	100	Drama	LAC	Panama	High	High	Check	Some	A grieving woman takes in a youth has been shot and gets wrapped in challenges of crime and police corruption.
70		Quo Vadis, Aida?	2020	Jasmila Zbanic	100%	101	Drama / thriller	Europe	Bosnia and Herzegovina	High	High	Check	Some	A UN interpreter desperately tries to save her family from the Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian war. Clear demonstration of the limitations of the UN.
71		The Train of Salt and Sugar	2016	Licínio Azevedo	NA	93	Drama	Africa	Mozambique	Medium	High	Check	Some	How does war affect a society? As a train attemps to cross Mozambique, rebels, civilians, and the military interact, often with disastrous consequences.
72		Virunga	2014	Orlando Von Einsiedel	100%	90	Documentary	Africa	DRC	High	High	Check	Some	Documentary about the largest national park in DRC. Gorgeous footage of the park. Centers around conflict between the park leadership and rangers versus a British oil company. Tragic, exciting, insightful.
73		Who Killed Captain Alex?	2010	Nabwana I.G.G.	NA	64	Action- comedy	Africa	Uganda	Low	High	Check	Some	Low budget action film with a comic voiceover.
74	Movies that I liked that take place in low- or middle-income countries, with less obvious pedagogical value (beyond setting) but no less obvious artistic value
75		Kati Kati	2016	Mbithi Masya	100%	75	Drama	Africa	Kenya	Low	High	Check	Some	Surprising, mysterious Kenyan movie about the afterlife.
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