Movies For A Culture of Nonviolence
Many of us strive full-time to build a culture of peace and active nonviolence. We help build peace teams and support neighborhood violence interrupters. We train in strategy for nonviolent campaigns. We decry militarism and warmongering.
Then Friday night rolls around and we watch violence-as-usual.
To be fair, it’s hard to avoid. Violence has been on the rise in movies, with recorded upticks in both frequency and graphicness of depictions. Over 90% of movies have violence in them. The average American child will watch 200,000 acts of violence on television before the age of 18. The amount of violence in PG-13 movies has tripled—and is surpassing the amount and frequency of violence in R-rated movies. (Most of the highly violent Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are rated PG-13, by the way.)
If you want movies to match your values, you have to go out of your way to find them. In our culture of violence, even choosing a film can be an act of resistance.
A quick internet search on the keywords “nonviolent movies” turns up innocuous titles like Wall-E and National Velvet. But some surprising titles make the list, like the nail-biting Apollo 13, reminding us that good drama is made from a wealth of life-and-death stakes. It’s also woven from the fabric of overcoming injustice or obstacles (Hidden Figures, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Man Who Knew Infinity) or feel-good stories about people who did something surprising or heartwarming like Fisherman’s Friends or Dream Horse.
When we specifically look for movies about nonviolent action, the list broadens even further—with some caveats. First of all, in real life and on the silver screen, the use of nonviolence by people working for social justice doesn’t mean that their opposition won’t get violent. (In fact, most movements withstand violent repression at some point.) These realities are depicted in the feature films that tell their stories, like the scene of the Amritsar massacre in the Gandhi biopic or the war footage in the documentary, Pray the Devil Back To Hell, which tells the story of the Women of Liberia Mass Action For Peace.
There is a time and a place for violence in cinema. Humans learn from truthful and cautionary tales. But the depiction needs to handle the violence with due weight and severity. The Hate You Give, for example, depicts police brutality and gun violence for a reason. It does so to reveal the painful truth about racist police shootings. It also provides context for the courage shown by protagonist Starr Carter when she breaks the cycle of violence by (nonviolently) stepping into the middle of a standoff to prevent another tragedy. Hotel Rwanda, Sophie Scholl, and Selma are other films that fall into this category.
The violence we could avoid is the gratuitous and glorified violence that serves no moral purpose. (A scene of raining bodies set to pop music in Guardians of the Galaxy comes to mind.) Violence is grotesque and tragic, not cool and heroic. We don’t need violence added to movies as “filler” or as a substitution for plot development, character arcs, and well-written screenplays.
In truth, we have better stories. Movies that follow nonviolent campaigns are thrilling, just like the in-the-streets movements that inspire the movies. From PRIDE to Salt of the Earth to Norma Rae to Iron-Jawed Angels, these films remind us that standing up for justice is a heart-pounding, show-stopper of a story motif. It’s timeless . . . and always timely.
But along with historic struggles, there are also fictional narratives like Disney’s Moana, nonviolence is so intimately woven into the plot that the ultimate resolution of the conflict draws from restorative and—in this case literally—transformative justice. In Bollywood’s sports epic Lagaan, rural Indians challenge British overlords to a cricket match to liberate their village from crushing taxes. Sometimes, the subtlety of the messaging sneaks up on you—Howl’s Moving Castle seems like a tale of magic and misadventure until you realize that the wizard Howl risks life, reputation, and freedom by refusing to do battle magic in the war that’s raging all around them. In Billy Elliot, the miners’ strike fills the background of the tension between a boy who loves dancing and his father. In Arrival, linguists race to communicate with a mysterious, massive spaceship filled with squid-like aliens who have bent time to warn humanity against their warmongering impulses.
Suffice to say, there are plenty of Friday night films to choose from. Animation, sci-fi, historical, documentary—grab your popcorn and take your pick. Each time you choose one of these titles, you’re shifting the culture away from violence and toward nonviolence. You’re actively changing the stories we tell ourselves and your perception of what’s heroic in our world.
So, here is the full list . . . so far. If you’d like to recommend an addition, use this form.
Feature Films Based On True Stories
Gandhi: a biopic of Mohandas K Gandhi and the Indian Self-Rule Struggle.
Dolores: a biographical story of Dolores Huerta, a co-organizer of the United Farm Workers Union and the Grape Strike.
Cesar Chavez: a 2014 Mexican-American biographical film about the life of American labor leader Cesar Chavez, who cofounded the United Farm Workers.
The Resistance Banker: set in WWII, this Dutch feature film (with English subtitles) portrays the nonviolent actions of Dutch bankers who cleverly funneled millions of dollars into the anti-Nazi resistance movement. Though not all the uses of those funds were nonviolent, they did specifically fund a rail strike that crippled the Nazis efforts to bring supplies to the front.
Resistance: Marcel Marceau clowns around while helping young Jews get across the border. (Note: Marceau’s actions are a form of nonviolent action, but his fellow resistance fighters are using violence.)
Made In Dagenham: Women strike for equal rights and against sexual harassment at a car factory in the UK in 1968.
PRIDE: UK film about the unlikely alliance between LGBTQ activists and striking miners.
Milk: about Harvey Milk, the first openly-gay elected official in California
Newsies: a musical about the strike of newspaper boys in New York City at the turn of the century. (Note: while their main tactic, the strike, is a nonviolent action, the characters on both sides of the conflict engage in some violence.)
The Great Debaters: A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Tom Hanks plays Fred Rogers
10,000 Black Men Named George: Organizing the Pullman Porters
Faith Under Fire: the Story of How Antoinette Tuff Stopped a School Shooter
The Best of Enemies: Dramatizes all of the nonviolent effort and work that eventually led to C.P. Ellis resigning from the Ku Klux Klan and becoming friends with civil rights leader Ann Atwater (based on a true story).
Testament of Youth: Anti-war theme, with heroine switching from being patriotic and volunteering to be a nurse to becoming an anti-war activist by end of film
Brother Sun, Sister Moon: Saint Francis of Assisi demonstrates bringing about social change by simply speaking truth to power and living one's truth.
Rustin: A biopic on Bayard Rustin and the 1963 March on Washington, chronicling the challenges he faced as a Gay man in the Civil Rights Movement.
Pirate Radio: In the 1960s, Rock 'n Roll is banned on British Radio, so a group of DJs broadcast from a fishing trawler in the North Sea.
Women Talking: When an isolated Mennonite community in Bolivia realizes that the men have been sexually assaulting the women and girls, the women must decide if they will stay and fight, leave, or do nothing. Their intense debate ranges through righteous rage and how their principles of nonviolence guide them to respond.
Bob Marley: One Love: A biopic about the Jamaican reggae singer features his struggle to hold a peace concert to unite his violence-torn country.
Bank of Dave: A local businessman takes on the Big Banks of the United Kingdom to create the nation's first local banking institution that offers microloans. (This is an example of an alternative institution and parallel to the United Farmworkers creating a credit union.)
Shirley: A biopic about Shirley Chisholm's campaign to become the first Black, female president of the United States.
Feature Films, Fictional
Raya and the Last Dragon: This movie seems to be all about the rebirthing of a culture of nonviolence after years and years of a culture of violence. And the Sisu character seems to embody nonviolence in a beautiful way.
Spirited Away: The heroine in this movie deals with the villain through understanding and compassion, rather than fear and violence.
Sweet Bean: Theme of the dignity of all people which underlies nonviolence
Grand Canyon: Explores effects of violence on us as well as characters who use nonviolence. Shows how we are interconnected.
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom: Beautiful depiction of a nonviolent way of life in a remote mountain village in Bhutan
Happy-Go-Lucky: The main character exemplifies nonviolent qualities of compassion, open-heartedness, boundary-setting when needed, and creativity; even when at times facing symptoms of a culture of violence, such as bullying in the classroom where she teaches or a threat of gender-based violence.
Frantz: Anti-war theme, shows the harm done both psychologically to soldiers and to families who lose loved ones. Also shows the healing that can happen with forgiveness.
Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris: Mrs. Harris is a 1950s cleaning lady who becomes obsessed with haute couture. Traveling to Paris to buy her one and only Dior dress, she aids the seamstresses in going on strike after some of them were fired. The success of this strike, through several plot twists, ends up delivering Mrs. Harris' dream dress. It's a modern fairy tale with a strike in the middle of it.
Wish: A Disney animation about a young woman who stands up to a tyrannical king to save the “heartfelt wishes” of the populace. At a pivotal moment, the struggle is won by the people (nonviolently) refusing to submit to the king's control.
Whale Rider: Paikea Apirana is a 12-year-old Maori girl who challenges the traditional male leadership of the clan, even though no woman has ever been the chief. When she rescues a pod of beached whales by convincing the largest whale to go back into the sea, she demonstrates her kinship with legendary leaders of the past. It is a tale of challenging sexism while honoring one's culture, all without resorting to violence.
Blueback: In coastal Australia, a teen and her mother make friends with a blue grouper fish named Blueback. To protect it and the bay, they engage in acts of protest, direct action, civil disobedience, advocacy, and ultimately establish a marine reserve. The teenager even swims between Blueback and a harpoon-wielding spearfisher and her mother saves her life by diving down and pushing her out of the way.
The Girl In the Cafe: A civil servant takes his girlfriend to a G8 summit where she confronts the Prime Minister over the issue of third world debt and poverty in Africa.
The Second Mother: In São Paulo, Brazil, a young woman comes to stay with her mother in the household she works in, but refuses to act like a servant. This sets off social class tensions that the main character deals with in a nonviolent manner, challenging the injustice.
The Monk and The Gun: As Bhutan prepares to become the world's youngest democracy, a novice monk is mysteriously tasked by his lama with finding a gun to "make things right." His search puts him at odds with a gun collector from the United States and embroils him in an international weapons deal. But in the end, the monks' Buddhist vows of nonviolence turn the situation on its head.
Mona Lisa Smile: A free-thinking art teacher challenges her conservative female students to live and dream outside of the limited scope of 1950s gendered expectations.
Sing Street: A young Irish student confronts bullies of every shape and size with music, courage, and nonviolent resistance.
Klaus: A postman helps a lonely toymaker heal their community by ending centuries-old blood feuds in this beautifully animated Christmas tale.
See You Yesterday: The film follows the story of an ambitious science prodigy who uses her prowess and capabilities to create time machines to save her brother who has been killed by a racist police officer. As she tries to alter the events of the past, she will eventually face the perilous consequences of time travel.
Documentary
The Interrupters: featuring the violence prevention work of Cease Fire Chicago
The Burning Season: The Story of Chico Mendes: Based on the true story of a Brazilian rubber tapper who leads his people in protest against government and developers who want to cut down their part of the rainforest for a new road and ranch land. The rich and the powerful will stop at nothing, and frequently resort to murder.
With Babies And Banners: The Story of the Women’s Emergency Brigade: Women workers at a General Motors Plant hold a sit-in strike for rights and wages.
My Octopus Teacher: Highlights the interconnectedness of creation that nonviolence practitioners try to be aware of; and the interconnection possible between humans and animals.
Buck: Documentary about a man who was able to overcome his own painful experience of experiencing violence at the hands of his father as a child, and developed and trained people in nonviolent methods of training horses.
Beyond the Divide: In Beyond the Divide, audiences discover how a small-town art crime sparks furious passion and reignites animosity left unresolved since the Vietnam War. The opposed main characters discover their empathic capacities expanding through the honest exchange of ideas.
I AM: A documentary that asks the question: "What is wrong with the world, and what can we do about it?"
Convictions: Prisoners of Conscience focuses on some of the hundreds of SOA protesters who collectively have served close to 90 years in prison for non-violent civil disobedience—some receiving sentences as long as 18 months and fines up to $10,000.
Meltdown: Three Mile Island: A docuseries tells the story of how a group of community members survived and blew the whistle on the lies that surrounded the 3 Mile Island nuclear disaster.