MOVIE MOOD

Famous Figures
-Politicians-

The following list of movies consists mainly of biopics and is organized by country and then chronologically.
The word "politician" is used loosely to include people who were also social and political forces.
We hope that you enjoy and learn from these movies.
Remember that these are only movies and therefore should not be taken to be 100% accurate.
These movies will, however, provide a great foundation for knowledge about these people.

The movie titles link to more information.

U.S.A.

Harriet
Truman
Malcolm X
J. Edgar
Nixon
Jackie
Milk
On the Basis of Sex
The People vs. Larry Flynt
Vice
W.

Harriet
2 hours, 5 min.

Harriet Tubman
c. March 1822 - March 10, 1913
American Abolitionist

She was born a slave in Maryland. Her whole family was owned by plantation owners. One important instance in her childhood that shaped her resoluteness was when her mother protected one of Harriet's brothers from being sold away by hiding him and then finally threatening the traders with violence in a way that made them abandon the sale. Harriet was whipped often as a child and she had a heavy metal object thrown at her head that caused severe bleeding and probably a concussion. That injury caused a lifelong problem with seizures, headaches, and sudden unconsciousness. She also began having visions and interpreted them as signs from God. She married a free Black man in the 1840s and then changed her name from Araminta to Harriet (her mother's name), and she took her husband's last name, Tubman. Then, Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery using the Underground Railroad, which was a network of routes and safe passages created by abolitionists to help slaves escape to freedom.

Safely in Philadelphia, Harriet Tubman decided to help her family escape slavery too. She went back South to help other slaves up North to freedom. She did this despite the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which made severe punishments for runaway slaves and increased capture efforts. She made multiple, dangerous trips guiding slaves to freedom. She was even called "Moses" and apparently never lost anyone she picked up. She got almost her whole family out and many more in over ten years of dangerous nighttime rescue missions. However, such success in such a risky endeavor couldn't happen without Harriet Tubman's level of faith in her mission, her powerful ability to maintain order, and her willingness to point a gun at anyone who threatened her missions. She was never captured and neither was anyone that she helped get to freedom during the 1850s.

When war broke out in 1861 Harriet Tubman joined the Union war effort. She was still a vocal abolitionist and advocated for Lincoln to free the slaves and end slavery. She worked as a nurse at first and managed to not catch smallpox by some miracle. After the Emancipation Proclamation, she was leading Union scouts through the swamps in the South and teaching the army various methods and routes of clandestine travel. She was the first woman to lead an armed assault in the Civil War. She helped lead Union forces in an attack on multiple plantations that resulted in many slaves being liberated and carried on Union ships to freedom. Harriet Tubman did a lot for the Union and for Black Americans. After the war, she was not given due credit or due pay. She returned to Upstate New York and lived with her family on land that she bought from a fellow abolitionist before the war. She worked a lot to support her family and even fell in love and married Civil War veteran. She eventually got financial support from the government in recognition of her Civil War service. She also got heavily involved in the women's suffrage movement, becoming a very prominent speaker all around the country for the cause. The injuries from her youth only grew more powerful as she aged. She got a doctor to perform a brain surgery on her to alleviate her headaches and she was not under anesthesia for it. The surgery worked. But her age couldn't be helped and she died in a nursing home built on land she donated in Upstate New York.

This movie is about the most successful conductor of the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman led many slaves to freedom and also helped the Union effort to defeat the Confederacy during the Civil War. The movie shows the end of her time as a slave and follows her experience freeing as many slaves as she could. She was an American hero.
Starring Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., and Janelle Monáe.

Truman
2 hours, 15 min.

Harry S. Truman
May 8, 1884 - December 26, 1972
33rd President (1945-1953)

He was born in Missouri, the son of a farmer, growing up how to play piano and studying history. He graduated high school and went to business school for a little while then had various administrative jobs before returning to the farm. He was also active in the local military, and then in 1917, as the country entered WWI, Truman became a first lieutenant and then a captain in 1918 while in France. Truman apparently did not lose a single soldier and he emerged from the War as a great leader.

Truman continued his military career after the War, becoming a colonel in the Reserve Corps. He also had a few business ventures after the war that failed due to macroeconomic conditions. But his farmer background and military service got him enough political connections to become a county judge in Missouri. He was involved in various public service jobs before being backed by Missouri Democrats and becoming a U.S. Senator in 1934 during the Gret Depression while FDR was President. He also won and retained his seat in the 1940 election. Once again, a World War made him emerge as a leader. WW2 prompted him to create a special committee to limit wasteful military spending and eliminate all associated corruption. He became famous across the nation. This led to him being picked for FDR's VP in the 1944 Presidential election.

He became Vice President on January 20, 1945 and was kept pretty much in the dark about everything until April 12, 1945 when FDR died. Then, he found out about the Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb. After victory in Europe, all eyes turned to an unsurrendring Japan, and then Truman ordered two atomic bombs to be dropped; then Japan surrendered. Truman adamantly believed that he saved many lives with this decision. The rest of his presidency was marked by domestic labor issues that gave him many political challenges, and by exciting international politics in dealing with the Soviet Union at the start of the Cold War. He signed the National Security Act of 1947, which created the Air Force, NSA, and CIA. He also initiated the Marshall Plan to aid Europe and ordered the Berlin Airlift to get supplies to West Berlin after the Societ Union blocked access. Truman also recognized the State of Israel against all advice not to offend the Arabs and risk their oil supply. Despite domestic political issues, Truman managed to win the 1948 election.

His inauguration was the first one to be televised nationally. He only dealt with more challenges as the Cold War raged on and led to the Korean War. The Truman Doctrine of containing communism also led to NATO, U.S. military responses to Soviet expansion, and an arms race. He was a supporter of civil rights, but he also had other issues like Soviet spying and traitors in his government and corruption. All these problems led to him not running in 1952. He struggled financially, and this probably led to Congress passing a law to provide a pension for former presidents. He pushed Congress to officially organize the establishment of Presidential libraries. He died in Missouri.

This movie is about a president who grew up on a farm and inherited the decision to drop the first atomic bomb, and then spent the rest of his political life keeping his country safe and setting the tone of the Cold War.
Truman did what he thought was right. He also liked to drink bourbon, play poker, and be real.
Starring Gary Sinise, Diana Scarwid, and Tony Goldwyn.

Malcolm X
3 hours, 22 min.

Malcolm X
May 19, 1925 - February 21, 1965
Human Rights Leader

He was born in Nebraska with the last name "Little" to religious parents who were also vical about civil rights for Black Americans. His father died and his mother had a breakdown and was sent to a mental hospital. This left Malcom X to go through foster homes and then move to New York and get involved in various criminal activites eventually landing him in prison in 1946. While he was in prison, he began learning about the beliefs of the Nation of Islam, which was a religious movement that focused on Black American autonomy and a return to Africa and escape from the perceived evils of White people. He left prison in 1952, having replaced his last name with "X" because "Little" came from his slave ancestors' masters. He became a very prominent figure in the Nation of Islam; he also got a lot of attention from the FBI.

He became a widely known international figure who promoted the Nation of Islam's beliefs about Black supremacy and White evil and that the civil rights movement was a joke and that only extreme measures were the solution to Black people's peoblems in America. He promoted the use of violence and was against integration, instead advocating for a return to Africa. He was such a powerful figure that he even befriended famous boxer, Cassius Clay and Clay joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. However, the early 60s elevated his fame to the point where the Nation of Islam leaders got jealous and his disagreements with their ideas grew too big to ignore. He left that group in 1964 and created more secular, politically focused organizations.

He made his Hajj to Mecca and went through an ideological transformation. He started seeing racial issues as problems that can be solved. He also toured Africa and Europe on this trip, meeting with leaders and speaking out against discrimination. When he returned to America, he began getting death threats form the Nation of Islam and the FBI even knew that he was ordered to be killed. He was shot in New York by three members of the Nation of Islam.

This movie is about one of the most influential American leaders and speakers. He inspired generations of activists and part of the Civil Rights Movement. The movie follows him from his birth, through his rise to international prominence, and then to his murder, with all the controversy in between.
Starring Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, and Al Freeman Jr.

J. Edgar
2 hours, 20 min.

J. Edgar Hoover
January 1, 1895 - May 2, 1972
The First Director of the FBI (1924-1972)

He was born and raised in Washington D.C. His first job was at the Library of Congress, which instilled in him an immense appreciation and almost obsession with organization and tracking. He got his law degree from GW and then went to work at the Justice Department. During WWI, the DOJ made him the head of the Alien Enemy Bureau, which was meant to arrest anf imprison suspected disloyal foreigners. Then, when he was 24, they made him the head of the General Intelligence Division within the Bureau of Investigation. The mission was to interfere with political radicals' plans and arrest or deport them. This was the country's first Red Scare. When he was 29, Hoover rose to become the director of the DOJ's Bureau of Investigation in 1924.

He was described as an unpredictable boss and certainly made many controversial decisions. One of his early challenges was the wave of bank robberies across the country and the popularity of the robbers, such as John Dillinger. He focused all the Bureau's resources into capturing the popular outlaws and pushed for wider federal jurisdiction over their crimes. The Bureau was renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Hoover elevated the level of intelligence collection and criminal science from this point in the 1930s onward. He also famously denied the existence and power of the American mafia. There are many rumored reasons for this but the fact was that he turned a blind eye to the mafia. Instead, he focused on communists and suspected political radicals through WWII, the Cold War, and the Civil Rights Movement.

Hoover had authorization to wire tap his targets and he became more involved with surveillance of suspected targets and spies. A lot of Hoover's targets were famous celebrities and international figures like John Lennon, Charlie Chaplin, and Martin Luther King Jr. He ordered violence, illegal surveillance, blackmail, and various means of intimidation on his targets. He also apparently spied on people in the U.S. government and collected an incredible amount of information on them too. Among his controversial decisions, was his choices to not prosecute White supremacists' acts of violence against Black Americans. It seems that many people, politicians, and activists all did not like Hoover and even despised him. But, apparently due to his treasure trove of information, Hoover could not be removed and he only got more powerful throughout his career and that power was spread to the FBI as a whole. He stayed in power even through old age and the stubborness that comes with it until he died of a heart attack in D.C.

This movie is about the man who basically created the FBI as we know it. The movie follows Hoover from his early days at the DOJ through his amazing rise to the leader of the FBI. The movie also shows a lot of the rumored personal issues that Hoover had that might have contributed to his controversy. Undoubtedly a controversial figure, Hoover's influence on federal law enforcement was immense.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, and Armie Hammer.

Nixon
3 hours, 33 min.

Richard Nixon
January 9, 1913 - April 22, 1994
37th President (1969-1974)

He was born in southern California to Quakers and grew up poor; his siblings also suffered from illness, which made things more difficult. But he was a very good student and an extremely diligent worker. He graduated college summa cum laude with a degree in history and then went to Duke for law school. He practiced commercial litigation in California and became a partner in his firm in two years. He then moved his family to D.C. and took a job with the federal government. After the U.S. entered WWII, he applied for a position in the Navy and was made a lieutenant in the Navy Reserve in 1942. He requested an assignment at sea and earned awards for his service in the South Pacific. He was made an administrative officer and received further commendation for his work on war contracts and he left active duty as a lieutenant commander.

After the war, Nixon began his political career. Local Republicans in California who knew Nixon called on him to run against a successful democrat and Nixon campaigned hard and won the seat in Congress in 1946. He was very active in the House of Representatives and at the forefront of many communist hunts. In 1949, Nixon ran for Senate and won. His campaign methods earned him the nickname "Tricky Dick" for how he used the Red Scare against his democratic rival. He was very anti-communist, but not so extreme as Joe McCarthy; he supported the Civil Rights movement; and he was in favor of relaxed monetary policy and some public benefits. His popularity and political views led to him being tapped to run as Vice President for Eisenhower's 1952 Presidential campaign, which they won. Nixon was more actively involved in the administration than any VP had been before. Nixon traveled the world and gained a reputation full of respect and characterized by strong leadership. But that wasn't enough for Nixon to defeat JFK in the 1960 Presidential election. Nixon went back to being a lawyer in California and wrote a book about his VP experiences. He lost an election for California governor and decided that he was done with politics.

After traveling and being a lawyer in New York, Nixon got back in the game by helping other politicians campaign and regain many lost seats in Congress. This made him politically popular again and he used that, and division and tragedy in the Democratic party to win the 1968 Presidential election.

As President, Nixon reopened relations with China and even visited in a widely televised tour. He was also determined to end the unwinnable war in Vietnam. Soon after the Pentagon Papers were published in '72, Nixon continued withdrawing the U.S. from the war and ended the draft. He also engaged in covert rebellion operation in Cuba and Chile to continue the overall fight with communism. He also amazingly visited Moscow and negotiated anti-ballistic treaties and trade deals. He did a lot that improved U.S.-Soviet relations and decreased any chance of actual war. He increased arms sales to the Middle East and was the first President to visit Israel, striving to broker a lasting peace. He couldn't fix the economy, but he did begin important projects such as the EPA, Earth Day, Clean Air Act, OSHA, sickle-cell research, War on Cancer, and large integration of school initiatives. He also supported the Equal Rights Amendment and was President when American landed on the moon. Nixon also won one of the biggest landslide elections in 1972, only losing one State and D.C. After all his accomplishments, everything changed with the Watergate Scandal that he is now most associated with. He ordered theft and other crimes directed at the Democratic party. Then there was a cover-up. Then the revelation in the news. Then came investigation. He actually had recorded every conversation in the White House and was forced by the Supreme Court to deliver the ones he hadn't destroyed yet. Before he could be impeached and removed from office, Nixon resigned in 1974. But once again, he bounced back from an unbelievable drop in popularity. He traveled around the world again, met with the Soviets and advised later presidents, he wrote memoirs that were best-sellers, and he reminded everyone that he was a hard working American that accomplished a lot. He died in New York.

This movie is about a politician who achieved more than he is remembered for. He won almost every State in his second election, he opened up China to the U.S., he ended the Vietnam War, and he began environmental initiatives. But he also committed illegal acts and lied about it. He is a highly controversial figure, but the fact is he did a lot for America and also caused much anger.
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, and Powers Boothe.

Jackie
1 hour, 40 min.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
July 28, 1929 - May 19, 1994
First Lady (1960-63); International Cultural Icon

She was born on Long Island, New York to a Wall Street stockbroker and in a wealthy family. She rode horses, learned several languages, and was very attractive. Her parents divorced and her mother remarried to a rich man with Standard Oil money, which allowed Jackie to continue to grow up with wealth and live a life of luxury. She was also a very good student who went to some of the best schools in the country and went to Vassar College, studied abroad in France, and transferred to graduate from GW in 1951. She then worked at a D.C. newspaper as a photographer running what was basically "Humans of NY". All the while, she was still a member of "high society" and eventually met her rich and politically connected future husband, JFK, in 1952. They must've hit it off pretty well because they got married in 1953, after he won a 1952 election to the U.S. Senate representing Massachusetts. After suffering a miscarriage and stillborn child, the couple had a daughter, Caroline in '57. Jackie's husband was also running for Senate again and she turned out to be an invaluable asset that increased his popularity. People loved her. Apparently Jackie also helped JFK work on his wardrobe as he was setting out to run for President in 1960. Jackie got a lot of attention for her fashion and was always in magazines because of it. After JFK won the election, Jackie gave birth to their son, JFK Jr. In 1961, after her husband was sworn in, Jackie Kennedy became the First Lady.

Constantly in the spotlight, Jackie really became a fashion and cultural icon worldwide with her intelligent handling of the media. One of her most famous projects was the Restoriation of the White House. Jackie loved history and fashion and art. All of that led to professional interior decorating, renovations, garden redesigns, and preservation of historical structures and items. She hunted down historic furnishings of past presidencies, installed a permanent museum-like artistic vibe, and culminated it all with a famous televised White House tour that won an Emmy. She traveled more than any other First Lady before her, even making official State visits to other countries without the President. She impressed the world. She spoke French in France, Spanish in Latin America, and she drew large crowds everywhere she went. In 1963, Jackie gave birth prematurely and their son died shortly after and that sent her into depression. She spent time away with her friend, Aristotle Onassis, who was a successful greek businessman. Back in October '63, Jackie and her husband hit the road, getting ready for the 1964 election. Then came one of the most tragic days in American history: November 22, 1963. Jackie Kennedy is instantly recognizable in her pink Chanel suit and matching hat that she wore while sitting next to JFK as he was shot and killed in a car in Dallas. In the famous Zapruder film or in the picture published in newspapers around the world, you can see Jackie reaching out towards the back of the car to retrieve a pieve of her husband's skull. JFK's blood was all over her clothes but she refused to change because she wanted people to see what happened to her husband. She wore his blood on her clothes as she stood next to VP LBJ as he was sworn in. Jackie's pink suit is in the National Archives but won't be publicly viewable until the year 2103. She managed the funeral and left public life while JFK's assassination was being investigated and conspiracy theories growing. LBJ offered her ambassadorships that she turned down, only wanting the Florida Space Center to be named after her husband.

She moved to New York, supported RFK's political ambitions until his murder, and was still a prominent international figure. After RFK's death, Jackie got scared for her and her children's lives. In 1968, she remarried to her old friend, billionaire Aristotle Onassis and was then commonly called "Jackie O". She became close to Ted Kennedy, JFK's younger brother, to make sure that her kids stayed close to that part of their family. Aristotle died in 1975, leaving Jackie with millions in inheritance. Jackie returned to the U.S. for good and re-entered the public light, making an appearance the the 1976 Democratic National Convention. She worked as an editor at a publishing company and continued her historic preservation work, notably playing a large role in saving New York's Grand Central Terminal from destruction. Her popularity was as high as ever and she had to get legal protection from the paparazzi. Jackie also actively supported Clinton in the '90s and gave Hillary advice on being a First Lady. She had a horse riding accident that led to doctors finding out that she had cancer. She died in New York.

This movie is about Jackie Kennedy who was one of the most popular First Ladies in history. She was known around the world and she inspired many with her fashion, love of history, and her uniqueness. This movie only focuses on her life after JFK's murder and her dealing with the tragedy all the way to the funeral.
Starring Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, and Greta Gerwig.

Milk
2 hours, 8 min.

Harvey Milk
May 22, 1930 - November 27, 1978
First Openly Gay Elected Official in California

He was born in Long Island, New York to Jewish parents. He knew that he was gay when he was a teenager and strived to keep it a secret and remain in the closet. He graduated from SUNY Albany in 1951 with a math degree still keeping his secret from everyone. He then joined the Navy and was discharged in 1955 as a lieutenant. He was a high school teacher when he began a relationship with future actor, Joe Campbell, in 1956. They were together for six years. Milk was still actively keeping his sexuality secret and separate from every other part of his life. He put his math degree to work at insurance and research firms, all the while pursuing homosexual relationships in secret. He also moved around sometimes, from New York to Texas to California and back. He lost his Manhattan businessman look and apparently seemed more like an older hippie during the '70s. He began a relationship with a much younger man (he always went for very young men) and they moved to San Francisco for good. San Francisco was famously the city with the largest gay population in America.

Even though San Francisco had a large gay population, gays were still targetted by police and discriminated against. But, times were changing and politicians were always looking for votes. Gay causes became more politically popular while Milk was increasingly becoming more concerned with politics and social issues. He began campaigning for the city supervisor position. Beginning his political career in his 40s, Milk had a lot to learn but was apparently a natural politician. He was a media genius and gave very spirited speeches. He lost that 1973 election but he became extremely well-known in his community and became an unofficial town leader, strongly advocating for gay rights and gay business. He ran for office again in 1975, narrowly missing victory. But he also campaigned for the new mayor, Moscone, who was in favor of gay rights and thereby gained a strong political ally. The new mayor made Milk the country's first openly gay city commissioner when he appointed Milk to the Board of Permit Appeals in 1976. He immediately began campaigning for a seat in the State Assembly. He was very aggressive about gay rights and strongly believed that more openly gay public figures would improve gays' position in America. He outted the marine who saved President Ford's life even though the marine did not want to be publicly outted. Milk also got a lot of media attention for being associated with the man. Despite being a hard campaigner, Milk lost that election too. But, after national backlash to a rising gay social movement, Milk was fueled to run for supervisor again and won election in 1977. Milk was the first non-incumbant openly gay man to win an election in the country. He worked closely with his friend the mayor, Moscone, and was a very independent voter even though it's safe practice to make political allies through voting for common issues. He made at least one sure enemy who was also on the Board of Supervisors. He remained extremely vocal, press savvy, and strongly in favor of gay rights and of gays coming out of the closet. He was probably the most popular gay politician and he became a prominent national figure even though he only held a seat on a local city Board. However Milk's incredible political rise came to a tragic end when the enemy from the Board snapped and shot and killed the mayor and Milk.

This movie is about a gay politician who played one of the largest roles in this country's history on gay rights. The movie shows Milk's relationships and his activism that came to be his life's calling.
Starring Sean Penn, James Franco, and Josh Brolin.

On the Basis of Sex
2 hours

Ruth Bader Ginsburg
March 15, 1933 -
Second Female Supreme Court Judge (1993 - )

She was born in Brooklyn as Joan Ruth Bader to Jewish parents. Her mother was very involved in her education but unfortunately got cancer and tragically died the day before Ruth's graduation from high school. She graduated from Cornell with a degree in government in 1954 and finished at the top of her class. She married her classmate, Martin Ginsburg after her graduation and they moved to Oklahoma where she gave birth to their first child, a daughter, in 1955. In 1956, Ruth Bader Ginsburg ("RBG") went to Harvard for law school; there were nine women in her class of 500. Her husband also graduated from Harvard Law and got a job in New York, so RBG transferred to Columbia Law and graduated from there in 1959 at the top of her class. After some sex discrimination in her job search, she finally landed a clerkship with a federal district court judge in Manhattan. After her clerkship, she was a researcher at Columbia and did a lot of work in Sweden, which was much more progressive in terms of gender equality than the U.S. at the time. Then she became a professor at Rutgers Law School in 1963. She was paid less than men because she was a woman with a husband who also had a job. She was one of the first female law professors in the country and she got tenure in 1969. Then, she went to teach at Columbia Law in 1972 until 1980 and she became the first female professor tenured there. She also wrote a textbook on sex discrimination.

Also in 1972, she established the Woman's Rights Project at the ACLU. She brought hundreds of sex discrimination cases to court and even argued a few in the Supreme Court in the '70s. She slowly but surely built precedent in many areas of law to end discrimination on the basis of sex. She also brought and argued cases where men were the ones being discriminated against so she could show how everyone was affected by it. She was a giant force in advancing women's rights and expanding the protections of the 14th amendment's Equal Protection clause. She advanced the law and helped advance American society. RBG was an unstoppable legal force and an extremely intelligent lawyer and skillful advocate. She convinced enough judges that many laws were unconstitutional because they treated men and women differently. At that time in America, that was an incredibly difficult project but she managed to accomplish a lot of it. Her success as a lawyer was recognized by everyone in the legal community and her hard work could only lead to one place. President Carter nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 1980 and the Senate confirmed her that year. Her work as a judge on that court made her seem like a moderate judge. That helped her win wide support for her next appointment.

In 1993, President Clinton nominated RBG to the U.S. Supreme Court and the Senate confirmed her almost unanimously. Her Senate confirmation hearings are notable for her refusal to answer certain questions about laws that she would be deciding in upcoming cases. She was the first Jewish woman on the Court. But even more impressive has been her work while on the Court. She has become the senior judge on the Court's liberal wing and she continues to be a significant legal force through her Majority and her Dissenting Opinions, especially in gender discrimination cases. Her time as a lawyer and as a judge helped develop the the intermediate scrutiny level that courts use to determine whether a law discriminates on the basis of gender. She is also an avid supporter of civil rights and the right to privacy, and consistent with that, she is strongly in favor of a woman's right to choose. RBG while on the Court has also gone through an unbelievable wave of health issues: colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, and cracked ribs. All of that and she only missed one day of work. One. Through it all, she remained one of the brightest legal minds in American history. In addition, she has become a big cultural icon, being branded the "Notorious RBG" in a reference to the rapper Biggie Smalls. Her writing is amazing and her dissents probably added to her brand as some kind of rebel or strongly independent mind. She probably has the most merchandise of any judge in history except maybe Judge Judy. She even has a beer made in her honor by Sam Adams. She is a legal genius and American icon.

This movie is about a great judge and one of the most proactive lawyers who ever practiced law. She has been committed to her cause of gender equality and she has stated multiple times that there will be enough women on the Supreme Court when there are nine. The movie covers her early years as a lawyer and her early cases that she brought challenging laws that discriminated on the basis of sex.
Starring Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, and Justin Theroux.

The People vs. Larry Flynt
2 hours, 10 min.

Larry Flynt
November 1, 1942 -
Publisher; Free Speech Activist

He was born in Kentucky and grew up very poor with a WWII vet for a father.  He joined the Army with a fake I.D. because he was under 18, and then joined the Navy; he was honorably discharged from both.  He also had a bootlegging phase where he made and sold liquor illegally. Then, in 1965, he bought a bar in Ohio and revamped it and it became very profitable but he worked incredibly hard, buying more bars later on.  He eventually opened strip club bars called "Hustler Clubs" that had naked dancers.  They were extremely profitable.  It didn't take long for Flynt to create the Hustler Newsletter in 1972 as promotional material for his Hustler Clubs.  The newsletter got so popular that it became a full magazine in a couple years that Flynt was distributing across the country.  Hustler the porn magazine was created.

Flynt's magazine became one of the most popular and profitable publications in America.  Not surprisingly, the explicit material and extremely graphic nudity caused a bit of controversy in 1970s America.  He even published nude pictures of former First Lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis in 1975.  Larry Flynt's work has done a lot for First Amendment Freedom of Speech law. If anything, his work has expanded the rights of every American.  He was even charged with and convicted of crimes involving publishing "obscene" material, which is not protected by the First Amendment.  Suits against him not affected not just First Amendment law, but also procedural law.  Most Civil Procedure law school courses include learning that a publisher of a national magazine can be sued in pretty much every State because of "minimum contacts" with the States.  He's insulted the Supreme Court judges to their faces, worn the American flag as a diaper while being prosecuted for leaking FBI surveillance tapes showing agents being abusive, and seemed to happily face all the consequences.  His contribution to caselaw includes a Supreme Court victory with Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, 485 US 46 (1988), which established that public figures cannot sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress over parodies. Flynt was making fun of a famous religious figure in his magazine and that person got angry enough to sue.
Flynt was shot in 1978 and the bullet hit his spinal cord leaving him paralyzed below the waist.  Apparently the shooter was a racist mad about an interracial picture in the magazine.  The shooting did not slow Flynt down though.  The magazine continued to grow, he kept getting richer, and he even has a gold wheelchair.  He has had some personal problems involving his marriages and children who are not all on board with the family business. He has sold his publishing business and entered the porn film industry in '90s.  Flynt is a savvy businessman, seeing how print magazines are losing to digital content.  He also still owns the clubs, a casino, and some magazines. In addition to his contributions to freedom of speech, Flynt has used his position to get involved in political issues. He's run for president and for governor of California (finishing 7th out of 135); he's bought and published material (sex scandals) that's ended political careers in D.C.; and he's also supported gay rights and sealed damaging photos of an Army private that was a prisoner of war in Iraq. He's undoubtedly a controversial figure, but he has done a lot for America in a very unconventional way.

This movie follows Larry FLynt from Kentucky to the Supreme Court. The movie shows how Flynt's magazine dramatically pushed the boundaries of the First Amendment and how big a role he played in a huge wave of change in American society. The movie also shows his personal tragedies like getting shot and losing his wife and co-publisher, Althea.
Starring Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, and Edward Norton.

Vice
2 hours, 13 min.

Dick Cheney
January 30, 1941 -
46th Vice President (2001-09)
He was born in Nebraska and mostly raised in Wyoming. His father worked for the Department of Agriculture and his mom was a softball star. After high school, he went to Yale on a full ride for a little while but failed out. Twice. He was also arrested for drunk driving in Wyoming in his youth a couple times. After Yale, he enrolled in the University of Wyoming and got a bachelor's and a master's degree in Political Science. During this time in the 1960s, Cheney managed to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War. He married his high school sweetheart, had children, and then began his political career working for the Governor of Wisconsin in 1966 after dropping out of a Univeristy of Wisconsin Ph.D. program. Then in 1969, he went to D.C. and got an internship for a Congressman during Nixon's presidency. This led to him meeting and working for Donald Rumsfeld who was then the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity.

Cheney went from Congressional intern, to Rumsfeld's staff, to White House staff, to assistant director of the Cost of Living Council, to deputy assistant to the president in 1974. Under Ford's presidency, Rumsfeld became Secretary of Defense and Cheney went from deputy chief of staff to the White House Chief of Staff. He was also Ford's campaign manager in 1976. Ford didn't win. But Cheney's career continued and in 1978 he was elected to the House of Representatives as a congressman from Wyoming. He represented Wyoming in Congress until 1989. While in congress, Cheney was the House Minority Whip, and he also made some controversial votes such as being against sanctions on apartheid South Africa and against the creation of the Department of Education. Regardless of the criticism, President George H.W. Bush selected Cheney to be Secretary of Defense in 1989 after the Senate denied his first pick. The Senate unanimously confirmed Cheney. As Secretary of Defense, Cheney oversaw the U.S. invasion of Panama in early 1990, Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War in 1991, and humanitarian aid to Somalia during its civil war. He worked to cut unnecessary military spending and often fought Congress over budgets. He was Defense Secretary for the end of the Cold War and the beginning of a new era in international politics. He helped the U.S. establish strong ties throughout Europe and the Middle East including installing military bases in Saudi Arabia. He served until the end of Bush's term and then he entered the private sector in 1993. He became the CEO of a large oil company, Halliburton. He became very rich in that role, which he remained in until he was offered something he couldn't resist. Bush's son, George W. Bush picked Cheney to run as his Vice President for the 2000 Presidential Election. After an electoral mess, they won.

In the first year of Cheney's time as VP, two planes flew into the Twin Towers in New York and the World Trade Center was destroyed along with another plane crashing in Pennsylvania and part of the Pentagon being blown up on the morning of September 11, 2001. About 3,000 people died and the War on Terror began. He transformed the role of the VP and became the most powerful Vice President in America's history. The job had almost no function and rare importance until Cheney led the expansion of presidential power, initiated the controversial NSA surveillance programs, decided on Supreme Court nominees, managed the Cabinet, edited laws without the President's permission, led the policies in the War on Terror including the enhanced interrogation conducted on Guantanamo detainees, and dictated many regulations related to the Energy industry (oil). Cheney also played a large, if not the biggest, role in American starting the Iraq War. But his tenure wasn't easy. He constantly faced increasing criticism on his power and his decisions. Since the end of Bush's second term, and the end of Cheney's time as VP, Cheney has been vocal about his political opinions but has said that he has no intentions on being President.

This movie is about the most powerful Vice President in U.S. history. He and President Bush had a different understanding that made Cheney practically in charge of many functions of the Executive Branch. The movie shows his amazing rise to the White House and all the health issues and heart attacks along the way. VP Cheney will be debated about for the rest of America's history but he certainly left his mark on the country and on the world, for better or for worse.
Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Steve Carell.

W.
2 hours, 9 min.

George W. Bush
July 6, 1946 -
43rd President (2001-09)

He was born Connecticut while his dad, a WWII vet, was going to Yale. His paternal grandfather was a Wall Street banker and then U.S. Senator for Connecticut. As Bush grew up, his father moved the family to Texas, became an oil executive, was elected to the House of Representatives, was the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., became CIA Director, Vice President to Reagan (1981-89), and then the 41st President (1989-93). George W. Bush also went to Yale and graduated in 1968 with a degree in history. Like his father and grandfather, W. Bush was a cheerleader (totally different thing back then) and a member of the secretive Skull and Bones group at Yale. He was also president of the same frat as his father and played college sports. Like his VP, Cheney, he was also arrested for drunk driving in his youth. After college, Bush was in the National Guard and trained as a pilot. He was honorably discharged in 1974. He was a C student in college and was rejected from law school, but he got his MBA from Harvard in 1975. He then became an oil man in Texas like his father had. In 1978, Bush unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives but he didn't lose by much. He was an oil executive through the '80s and also helped with his dad's 1988 presidential campaign. Also in the '80s, Bush got married and had twins and gave up alcohol. He then bought the MLB team the Texas Rangers with a group of investors in 1989. He was the managing partner and was very involved in the team until he successfully entered politics in 1994.

Bush ran for governor of Texas in 1994 and he won. His little brother, Jeb, was also running for governor of Florida at the same time, but he lost. Bush's tenure as governor included a huge tax cut, increased funding for substance abuse prevention programs, an energy law that has made Texas the biggest producer of wind power in the country, and a historic re-election in 1998. He was very popular in Texas and around the country. The next step was running for President in 2000. At this time, Jeb Bush became governor of Florida. W. Bush quickly became the leading Republican candidate and then became the Republican party nominee. He ran against Democrat and outgoing VP, Al Gore. The 2000 Presidential election is famous for the immense controversy sparked by a vote count in Florida. The vote was so close that there needed to be a recount and there were other issues with the varying counting methods used throughout the State. The mess ended with a 5-4 party line Supreme Court decision that stopped the recount and held that the count resulting in Bush as winner was final. Bush became one of the few Presidents to win the Presidency but lose the popular vote. He was sworn in on January 20, 2001 and then had to lead the country through a devastating terrorist attack nine months later.

The 9/11 attacks on the morning of September 11, 2001 included in about 3,000 deaths, utter destruction in downtown Manhattan, a bombed Pentagon, plane crashes, and a shocked nation. This began Bush's War on Terror, which led to using military force in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an expansion of the Executive Branch's constitutional war powers. Immediately following the attacks, Bush had his highest approval ratings as America was bouncing back from the tragedy. The Iraq War is often associated with the Weapons of Mass Destruction blunder where the administration mistakenly invaded Iraq thinking that it had nuclear weapons hidden. Bush also significantly increased government spending and pushed an enormous tax cut. Under his administration, poverty increased, unemployment increased, and the national debt increased. He also pushed for laws such as No Child Left Behind, aiming to improve education in America. Bush supported alternative energy and promoted getting America to reduce its oil dependency. He also pushed a guest-worker program to work with the illegal immigration issue in America, in addition to pushing for a large immigration law reform that would have been very friendly to undocumented people in America and provided easy paths to legal status. One of the most notorious moments of his presidency was in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. He was severely criticized for his ineffective response in relief efforts. He also received much negative criticism for the NSA surveillance program spying on Americans suspected of being terrorists without a warrant, and for the enhanced interrogation of terrorist prisoners. He won re-election in 2004 and continued to get global negative criticism and less support for the wars in the Middle East over time. Towards the end of his presidency, the housing bubble burst and the world entered the Great Recession of 2007-08. He left office with the stock market lower than when he came into office 8 years earlier. Since leaving office, he has had a major popularity revival and more people like him now that he's retired, a painter, and an occassional public speaker.

This movie is about a person that everyone who meets him seems to like. He was also President during America's biggest challenges in the 21st Century and two of the biggest in the nation's history. He has been widely criticized and parodied around the world, but he was President of the United States and the movie shows how he got there. The movie also shows some of the important parts of his first term and tries to show who W. Bush is.
Starring Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, and James Cromwell.

U.K. and Commonwealth

Braveheart
Elizabeth
Gandhi
In the Name of the Father
The Iron Lady
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Tony Blair Trilogy

Braveheart
3 hours, 2 min.

William Wallace
c.1270 - August 23, 1305
Leader of Scottish War for Independence

There are few certain details about his youth, but the best educated guesses based of historical records are that he was born to some degree of nobility and had military experience before he became a rebel leader. He grew up while England was trying to conquer Scotland and that political climate, among other personal reasons, contributed to Wallace fighting for Scottish independence. The first confirmed act of rebellion by Wallace was the 1297 Attack at Lanark, which ended in the assassination of Lanark's Sheriff, who was the King of England's representative and the local leader. A legend claims that Wallace attacked in revenge for his wife being killed. After that, Wallace joined other rebel leaders to make a large force of Scottish freedom fighters. Wallace helped lead amazing underdog victories against a much larger and better equipped English force. Wallace became a "Guardian of the Kingdom of Scotland" and his legend only grew. Some records suggest that Wallace was a giant compared to most people, standing at 6 feet and 7 inches when the average height for men was around 5 feet, the length of his sword that is on display in a museum. He primarily used guerilla warfare tactics and native knowledge of the land to defeat the larger English forces. His military reputation was highly regarded until a massive defeat at the Battle of Falkirk. After that loss, Wallace seems to have left military leadership and pursued a more diplomatic role in Scotland's war for independence. Apparently he went to some countries in Europe, including France to try to get French support against their common enemy: England. The Scottish attempts at international alliances seemed to have failed, and Wallace returned to Scotland at least by 1304 and continued to fight the English. Since he became a leader in Scotland's war, Wallace was increasingly wanted by the English to be executed for treason. He managed to consistently get away until 1305 when a Scottish knight gave Wallace up to the English. William Wallace was finally captured and faced trial in London at Westminster for treason and basically crimes against humanity as he was a ruthless soldier. They took him to the infamous Tower of London, dragged him naked through the streets, strangled by hanging, but also had his genitals cut off and was disemboweled while he was still alive. He was beheaded and cut into four parts; his head was put on a pike on London Bridge and his body parts went throughout Scotland as a warning to rebels.

This movie is about one of the most famous European freedom fighters whose name and legend has been widely associated with independence. The movie does a great job portraying William Wallace as an inspirational warrior who led a rebellion despite the odds against victory. The movie explores the details as to what sparked Wallace's actions and how he became a national hero.
Starring Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, and Patrick McGoohan.

Elizabeth
2 hours, 6 min.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age
1 hour, 55 min.

Elizabeth I of England
September 7, 1533 - March 24, 1603
Queen of England (1558-1603)

She was born in a palace and was the Protestant daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife. Elizabeth was at this time the heir to the throne instead of her older, Catholic, half-sister Mary because Henry VIII got an annullment from Mary's mother so he could marry Elizabeth's mother. Anne Boleyn was beheaded in 1536; Henry VIII married Jane Seymour and had a son with her named Edward VI, the undisputed heir apparent. Elizabeth still grew up with luxury and learned a few languages and was very well educated until Henry VIII died in 1547 and Edward VI became the king. Elizabeth went on to be abused by her caregivers until they either died or were executed. Edward VI died in 1553 at 15 years old and then Mary became Queen Mary I, with Elizabeth as next in line. Mary pushed her catholicism on the kingdom and even planned to marry Philip of Spain who was the son of Spain's king and Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. This marriage was extremely unpopular with the British people and there was an unsuccessful rebellion against Mary that sought to have Elizabeth take the throne. After the rebellion's failure, Mary only saw Elizabeth as a threat and locked her away in the infamous Tower of London in 1554. Despite Mary being married to the king of Spain, Mary could not produce an heir and finally recognized Elizabeth as her legitimate heir right before she died in 1558. At 25 years old, Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth I.

Following her education, abuse, and first-hand witness to the challenges of a monarch, Elizabeth I became one of the greatest rulers in history and also one of the longest lasting. She famously said that she would rule by good advice and counsel, as opposed to abusing power and selfishly acting as her predecessors had. She was incredibly popular when she became queen and she was a bright symbol of Protestantism after the Mary's reign. Elizabeth was not as religious as her predecessor - she did not persecute and severely punish those of different religions - and was actually relatively secular for that era in Europe. With legislative support from Parliament, she became the head of the newly created, Protestant Church of England in 1559. Elizabeth was also called "The Virgin Queen" because she never married and never had a child. That was also extremely unusual for that era but she would not risk her stable reign. However, she did almost marry her longtime friend, Robert Dudley. They were famously in love but their marriage was seriously disapproved of by Elizabeth's advisors and members of Parliament. Royalty usually married royalty. So Elizabeth could either marry a foreignor and risk her power and her kingdom's stability, or marry Dudley and risk her power and her kingdom's stability. The Queen chose neither. In 1563, Elizabeth got smallpox and had scars the rest of her life that left her partially bald too; she wore a lot of make up and wigs. She survived it, but throughout her sickness she refused to marry for the sake of producing an heir and she adamantly refused to appoint an heir. She was smart and ensured that she was the only monarch and possible monarch in England. She was married to England. She was also not just romantically alone, but had to lead England in its eternal conflict with France and conflict with Spain, both of which were Catholic countries. Religion was a consistent issue and led to dangerous problems with Elizabeth's catholic cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. This Mary was the great-niece of Henry VIII and widely considered to be Elizabeth's heir. Mary was thought of as the rightful catholic queen of England and Scotland, but Elizabeth's protestant forces were too powerful for Mary, who was the only real threat to Elizabeth's throne. Raised in politics, Elizabeth knew to keep her friends close but her enemies closer, and she kept Mary prisoner in England rather than helping her regain power in Scotland or gaining support in a Catholic country. After almost 20 years, in 1587, Elizabeth had Mary beheaded for treasonously plotting to take the throne.

Elizabeth's reign is called the Elizabethan Era and it was England's golden age, filled with global exploration and expansion, amazing works of literature including Shakespeare, and a powerful, lasting global national identity. Among the major events cementing Elizabeth's place in history was the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Due to constant political drama and feuds in Europe, England and Spain were involved in armed conflict. Spain's naval fleet was about to attack and invade England but there was a huge storm, bad organization, and good English defense that all resulted in a crushing defeat for the international superpower. This opened the door, and the ocean, for England to become a great world power. However, Elizabeth was not invincible, and Spain did have later victories over England. She also had problems with controlling Ireland, another catholic land. She allowed ruthless force to be used to keep the Irish in line. These wars led to increasing oppression of Catholics, tax hikes, and less glorious times in general towards the end of the Elizabethan era. After all her trusted advisors and friends had died, Elizabeth became depressed and was more alone than ever. She became friends with Mary Queen of Scot's son, James VI, King of Scotland (James I of England) towards the end of her life and pretty much named him as her heir. She died in a palace.

These movies cover much of Queen Elizabeth's life. They follow her from the Tower of London to the defeat of the Spanish Armada. The first film focuses on the beginning of her reign and the familial and romantic issues that she faced. The second film picks up with the Spanish-Catholic conflict and shows how strong a monarch Elizabeth became and the difficult decisions that she had to make. We also recommend watching Mary Queen of Scots, which focuses on the complicated relationship between Elizabeth and her cousin, Mary.
Starring Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes, and Clive Owen.

Gandhi
3 hours, 11 min.

Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi
October 2, 1869 - January 30, 1948
Civil Rights Leader

He was born in the Gujarat region of India to an ethnically diverse family, consisting of members from different parts of India. He grew up while India was ruled by the British Empire during the Victorian Age. His father was a top official in the regional government and Gandhi grew up reading the Indian classics. Apparently Gandhi was quiet kid who like to read. When he was 13 years old, Gandhi was entered into an arranged marriage, as was the typical custom of the time and place. They had four sons together. When Gandhi was 18 years old, he went to London to study law; he went to University College, London (UCL). He was still shy and quiet but slowly became more outgoing by joining various clubs and societies, such as the Vegetarian Society. He got his license to practice when he was 22 and then went back to India to practice law. Unfortunately for the young Gandhi, his shyness was insurmountable at the time and he could not get his practice off the ground. After a couple years, in 1893, he accepted a job offer in South Africa, which was also a British territory. Little did he know, Gandhi would go through a great personal transformation there.

He experienced the discrimination that South Africa was notorious for: his dark skin caused him to be treated as inferior to the White South Africans. Gandhi was not given equal rights and he protested; he was kicked off of trains and out of the streets, but he resisted the discrimination as much as he could. He was only supposed to stay in South Africa for a year to work on a certain case but after he finished that job, he stayed to work against the discriminatory policies that he and other Indians faced there. Gandhi organized the Indian population into a political force to more effectively oppose disenfranchisement laws. He became a community leader and his role in society even led to him being attacked by Whites. Determined to change the place of Indians in society, he led a massive wave of Indian volunteers to help the British in the Boer War (1899-1902) and the British conflict with the Zulus in 1906. He also led the protests against an ethnic tracking law in 1906. This is where his famous method of non-violent civil disobedience (Satyagraha) was born. His days of shyness were over, and he was fully engaged with bettering the position of Indians in South African society. He became famous for his peaceful protests in name of racial equality. Then in 1915, after 22 years in South Africa and an incredible transformation into a leader, Gandhi was called back to India by leaders of the Indian Independence Movement. He joined the independence based political party, the Indian National Congress, and became the leader by 1920.

During WWI, he continued his old strategy of recruiting Indians for the British war effort, but this time he focused on recruiting men to fight so that India could establish defense forces in its fight for freedom. But Gandhi's primary accomplishments were in leading Indians in non-violent protests and civil disobedience against the British. He began by leading poor Indian farmers in resisting paying over-burdensome and unjust payments to British landowners. The British government made concessions and even some political reforms, but did not give India independence. Gandhi advocated for a combined Hindu-Muslim effort and an overall united Indian movement for independence even though the religious and ethnic distinctions were frequently the source of violence between Indians. He did manage to get a lot of Muslim support, at the risk of unwavering Hindu support. But his unification successes only raised his prominence and strengthened his role as a leader in the independence movement. Gandhi's non-violent protests and economic boycotts of British goods resulted in a very violent response from the British and even massacres of Indian people. Gandhi's leadership role led to his arrest, which, in addition to the British retaliation, caused a lot of rioting all over India. He was imprisoned for 2 years. His hunger strikes and consistent call for non-violence helped end the riots and further mobilize Indians to boycott and peacefully protest the British. Gandhi and the Indian National Congress declared India to be independent after the British continuously refused to negotiate and liberate India. One of Gandhi's most famous acts of civil disobedience was the Salt March in 1930 in protest of the British salt tax and salt laws. Thousands of Indians joined his march and this protest against the British controlling Indian salt mines and making Indians mine the salt and then selling it with a tax back to the Indians. No matter the violence that came in British retaliation, Gandhi succeeded in leading a fully non-violent movement. The British eventually brought Gandhi to the bargaining table but these negotiations resulted in nothing because one side wanted a colony and the other wanted a free nation. He continued his protests, getting arrested again in the process, and was as focused as ever on seeing a completely independent India. Gandhi was released from prison after a couple years when he was 74, in 1944 as WWII was coming to an end. It was clear that the British were going to give up India. But, to Gandhi's disappointment, Britain divided India by religion because the Muslim-Hindu feud was so severe. India became Independent in 1947, and it also was split into Pakistan. Gandhi was assassinated in 1948. He died in an independent India.

This movie is about one of the world's most famous civil rights leaders who helped lead India's movement for independence from Britain. The concept of civil disobedience and peaceful protest is widely associated with Gandhi and he proved to the world that it can work. The movie follows Gandhi from his political awakenings when he faced discrimination in South Africa, through his protests against the British in India, and to his death in his free nation.
Starring Ben Kingsley, Rohini Hattangadi, and Roshan Seth.

In the Name of the Father
2 hours, 15 min.

Gerry Conlon
March 1, 1954 - June 21, 2014
The Guildford Four

He was born in Belfast, Ireland to a working class family. When he was 20, Conlon went to London to find work and better living conditions. During this time there was a tense political climate between Ireland and Britain because of the constant Irish nationalist movement and attacks by the IRA. Completely unrelated to Conlon, on October 5th, 1974, the IRA bombed two pubs in Guildford in England. 5 people died, 4 soldiers, and over sixty were injured. Like in any country. horrible acts of terrorism sparked a strong political response. In this case it was the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which gave British police very wide lattitude when conducting terrorism investigations. The police were also under intense social pressure to catch the bombers. They arrested Gerry Conlon and three others, two of them Irish, in connection to the bombings. They all confessed to the crimes after severe pressure and probably torture from the police while in custody. All their confessions were coerced and were the only evidence against them. The new law allowed the police to hold and interrogate suspects for a week. In October 1975, when Gerry was 21 years old, he and the other three were convicted and became known as the "Guildford Four" during the trial. Conlon and the others were sentenced to life in prison only because hanging was no longer a legal option. Even though these four did not fit the profile of IRA bombers, they went to prison. During the trial, Conlon's family came to his aid in England. Then the family, including Gerry's father, Giuseppe Conlon, was arrested for aiding the Guildford Four by providing materials for the bombs. This second group was called the "Maguire Seven" after Anne Maguire, Gerry Conlon's aunt. The Maguire Seven were also convicted but the maximum punishment for any of them was 14 years.

The wrongly convicted Guildford Four and Maguire Seven obviously were adamant about proclaiming their innocence and tried to appeal their convictions. Although the early attempts at appeal were unsuccessful, the legitimate grounds for appeal provided for a solid base from which grew public support to free them. The convictions became increasingly criticized. In 1977, actual IRA members being tried for bombings were publicly stating that the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were wrongly accused. Actual IRA members even admitted to the Guildford bombings. Everything from the arrest to the interrogations to the trial to the convictions of the innocent prisoners was wrapped in injustice. But the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven could still not get their convictions overturned. The British government even acknowledged that they were probably not the bombers or members of the IRA and that the trials were tainted with elements of corruption to force the convictions. But still, the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were locked up. In 1980, Gerry Conlon's father, Giuseppe died in prison. That tragedy only led to more scrutiny of the cases. Major breakthroughs came in 1989 when investigators looking into the cases found evidence of a serious miscarriage of justice: evidence supporting the defense was kept from the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven; interrogation notes were heavily edited; those notes were used at trial as a definitive record of the confessions; records of what actually happened in the interrogations were kept hidden and they would have resulted in the case being thrown out and charges dropped because everything would've been inadmissible and maybe even involved illegal police actions. In light of all the revelations of unjust process against the Guildford Four, their appeals drew much public support and they had their convictions overturned and were released in October of 1989. The Maguire Seven were cleared and released in 1991. Gerry Conlon was free and had his name cleared. He died in Belfast, having survived one the U.K.'s biggest miscarriages of justice.

This movie is about a group of people being falsely accused and convicted and imprisoned while remaining determined enough to seek justice. The movie focuses on Gerry Conlon, part of the GuildFord Four, and his father, who was part of the Maguire Seven. They were not actually cellmates as the movie depicts, but they were wrongly imprisoned and had a long and difficult fight for freedom and justice.
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, and Emma Thompson.

The Iron Lady
1 hour, 45 min.

Margaret Thatcher
October 13, 1925 - April 8, 2013
First Female Prime Minister of the U.K. (1979-90)

She was born in England to grocery store owners and community leaders. Her father was involved in local government throughout her childhood. Thatcher was an excellent student and participated in many extracurricular activites. She even got a scholarship to Oxford University to study chemistry. She studied under a future Nobel Prize winner, Dorothy Hodgkin, but she also studied politics and law; she was interested in many areas and got involved in political clubs at the school. She graduated in 1947 and went on to work as a chemist in the private sector but continued to be active in political clubs and associations, impressing everyone with her knowledge and her strong opinions. It was at one of these associations where she met her husband. The local Conservative political party chose Thatcher to run for the House Commons in the 1950 and 1951 elections, but she lost both times due to more support for the Labor party. Thatcher worked as a tax lawyer until finally winning a seat in the House of Commons in the 1959 election. She had impressed everyone she met in her life, and that only continued as she began her political career. She rose to the higher ranks of the party and became the youngest woman to reach that level. She voted against high taxes, was strongly against socialist ideals, supported decriminalizing homosexuality, was against mass immigration from throughout the Commonwealth, and supported legalizing abortion. Her popularity within political circles grew throuout the 1960s and the United States even picked her for a foreign exchange program where she visited the U.S. and met with important political figures. When she returned to England after the couple of months abroad, towards the end of the 1960s, she was given a leadership role in the Conservative party, which won the majority and thus leadership in the 1970 election.

Thatcher was made the Secretary of State for Education and Science. Her tenure in this role was controversial because she almost immediately pushed through new education rules, but these rules gave local governments power to regulate their schools. The Conservative government got much press and criticism for its spending cuts, which ultimately involved education spending and Thatcher ending free milk programs for most students. Despite the intense negative criticism, Thatcher remained steadfast in her decisions and persevered through the political storm. Not suprisingly, the Conservative party lost the next election in 1974. This put the Conservative leadership up for grabs because it was obviously failing. Thatcher was selected to lead the party and thus be the "Leader of the Opposition" while the Labor party was in control of Parliament. In this role, Thatcher became a prominent international figure and advocated for her economic beliefs in small government and less taxes. She also was very vocal about international politics and drew criticism from the media in the Soviet Union that included giving her the nickname, "The Iron Lady" which became her proud brand. The economic policies that she was advocating were extremely relevant because the U.K. was facing a lot of economic problems in the late '70s, which gave the Conservative party a lot of ammunition for the next election. The 1979 election resulted in a Conservative victory. Margaret Thatcher became the first femal Prime Minister of the U.K. and also the first one with a science degree.

As Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher was the most powerful woman in the world during the 1980s. Now in her 50s, Thatcher was as strongwilled as ever and very confident in her governing ability. She still opposed the mass immigration and supported policies limiting such immigration. She also finally was in the position to put her economic policies in place: lower taxes; increased interest rates; limited government spending, especially cutting funds to social programs like housing and education; and reducing power of labor unions, which led to widespread but unsuccessful strikes. The early '80s brought a lot of social problems in England, mostly race riots, and Thatcher got a lot of heat a criticism for her tough social policies. The global recession of the early '80s also hurt her economics and she was forced to raise taxes. She was still strongly opposed to socialism and ensured that her policies fixed the country's economic issues without falling into welfare trends. Her policies became known as "Thatcherism" with privatization being among the most famous. She sold a lot of government agencies and functions and property to the private sector and made billions for the country in doing so. Much of this resulted in permitted monopolies and increased legal regulation in place of government control. Thatcher significantly reduced financial regulations in an attempt to liberalize the economy and let the finance industry expand, but she also put climate change laws in place and promoted the seriousness of the issue. She survived an IRA bombing that tried to kill her because of her hard line on IRA criminals. One the most infamous parts of her time as Prime Minister was the Falklands War in Argentina in 1982. The Argentina military in power attacked the Falkland islands sparking a strong response from Thatcher that ended in a violent victory for the U.K. Thatcher won 3 elections and was Prime Minister until 1991, after all her cabinet members had resigned over the years and her domestic approval ratings continued to decline. She was a strong politician and would not budge on her beliefs, which led to internal opposiiton against her in the Conservative party. She continued her very vocal support on international matters such as European politics after the Conservative party ousted her as PM. In her later years, Thatcher suffered from strokes and dementia and died in London.

This movie is about one of the most influential and famous world leaders in history. The movie jumps through Margaret Thatcher's life as she goes from ambitious student to Prime Minister of the U.K. The film mainly focuses on Thatcher's late life as she struggled with dementia but often shows the most notable parts of her time as Prime Minister and her determination that earned her the title nickname.
Starring Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, and Olivia Colman.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
2 hours, 32 min.

Nelson Mandela
July 18, 1918 - December 5, 2013
Civil Right Leader; First President of South Africa (1994-99)

He was born in the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. He was a descendent of African royalty and his immediate family were council to the monarch until they were released and removed from those positions. So Mandela grew up taking care of farm animals in a village with his family at a time when South Africa was a British self-governing colony. He was the first in his family to go to a formal school and the teachers gave everyone English names; his was Nelson. He went to church regularly with legal guardians that his mother gave him to. The guardians were the local leaders and Mandela got to grow up in a palace. He went to the nearby school and learned English, history, and politics. He excelled at school and attended the same institutions as the local royalty. Mandela increasingly became interested in African culture and history even though his education was more Anglo-focused. He was raised with strict tradition and custom, but his Western focused education allowed him to be surrounded in diversity. In 1939, he went to the University of Fort Hare, which was a very prestigious university for Black South Africans. He was pretty active in campus life and, notably, he was in support of certain aspects of British culture while there was an increasing movement for South Africa to be an independent nation. He was kicked out of school for leading a protest against food quality in 1940. In 1941, he went to Johannesburg and began his adult life. His first job was as a guard at the mines that the British owned and South Africans worked in. Then, he got a job as a clerk at a law firm where he first became friends with White people and saw all different races interact and socialize. He worked on getting his bachelor's degree at night through the University of South Africa. He got his degere in 1943 and then went to law school at the University of the Witwatersand; He was the only Black student. Mandela befriended Whites, Jews, Indians, and communists while at law school. He also joined the African National Congress (ANC) political party that was focused on attaining an independent South Africa. Mandela was part of the subgroup that believed that Black South Africans needed to achieve political autonomy without help from other non-White groups. Mandela was also very active in the ANC and failed out of law school because of his increased activism against the apartheid laws, which legalized racial discrimination against non-Whites, that came out of the 1948 election.

Mandela's role in the ANC increased and he took note of the Indian protest methods and adopted the civil disobedience to fight back against apartheid. Mandela's mindset also changed and he began to see the benefit and strength of a multiracial united fight against apartheid, and he even began reading communist literature and being open to Marxist ideas and how they overlapped with some of his original racial conflict ideas. In 1952, Mandela led a huge protest against apartheid and was subsequently arrested and thrusted into the public eye as a Black leader. Mandela then managed to pass all the required tests to get a law license and opened the first Black run law firm in South Africa with his lawyer friend in 1953. His political activism and legal work caused a lot of strain with his family as he had little time for his wife and kids. Beginning in 1956, Mandela faced charges of treason for his anti-apartheid activism and as a result of all the laws passed to protect apartheid. All the defendants in this trial were acquitted in '61. The protests continued and so did the violent oppression of non-Whites. The government eventually imprisoned Mandela and other ANC leaders without charging them; they just had them locked up for months. South Africa became an independent nation in May 1961, but it was ruled by the White minority that kept all the apartheid laws in place. Mandela increasingly believed that violence was necessary to win this fight and he helped create a military group inspired by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Mandela implemented a strategy of attacking and bombing public utilities and military bases. Mandela had been a wanted man for a while before he was captured in 1962. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Then, evidence of his involvement with the bombings were found and he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964. Through the trial, Mandela received international attention for his "I Am Prepared to Die" speech where he promoted his ideals of an equal society. While in prison, Mandela continued to get international attention and the world increasingly disapproved of South Africa's apartheid policies. He also finally got his law degree in 1988 while in prison. Then, in 1989, the year of revolutions throughout Europe and the end of the Cold War and the Soviet Union, Nelson Mandela was freed by the new South African leader, F.W. de Klerk. In 1990, Mandela walked out of prison, a free man after 27 years.

Now 72 years old, Mandela was still a political leader fighting against apartheid. He traveled around the world, gaining support for his cause and meeting with all the world leaders. He became head of the ANC and began negotiating with the White government and trying to avoid violence on both sides. He eventually got a deal. South Africa would have its first election open to all races and make a new constitution based on the U.S. model. Mandela and de Klerk won the Nobel Peace Prize. Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa in the 1994 election and apartheid was over. Mandela's wisdom also saw him keeping many White South Africans in their government positions to help successfully transition the nation into a post-apartheid existence. He wanted unity while the Black majority was finally being represented in government. He saw that peace between the races was necessary for peace and prosperity in South Africa. He was president for only one term, choosing not to run again and he retired in 1999 after having succeeded in transitioning his country into a fairly democratic nation with equality. He continued to speak publicly on international political issues. He died in South Africa.

This movie is about a man whose whole life was dedicated to transforming his country from a racist oppressive State to a freely democratic nation. The movie follows Mandela from his childhood to the protests to prison and then to the presidency. Dying at 95 years old, Mandela lived for his country and is an inspiration to the world.
Starring Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, and Tony Kgoroge.

The Deal
1 hour, 16 min.

The Queen
1 hour, 43 min.

The Special Relationship
1 hour, 33 min.

Tony Blair
May 6, 1953 -
Prime Minister of the U.K. (1997-2007)

He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He spent of his early childhood in Australia and then the family moved to England, following Blair's father's teaching career. Apparently Blair was not a good student and was a bit of a rebel even trying to enter the world of rock and roll before going on to Oxford University where he studied law and graduated from in 1975. He was exposed to communist ideas while at university and that's where his left leaning politics really took root. After university, he went on to work as a lawyer. He joined the Labor political party and became active enough to be put up as a candidate in a few elections in the early '80s. Blair was never a hard lined Labor member, as he thought that extreme views on either side were unproductive. He was always pretty much a centrist, but he did strongly believe in socialism as a just and equal political system. But he campaigned as necessary to win a seat in the 1983 election and was elected to Parliament. He had a meteoric rise in the Labor party and was in the higher ranks by 1984. Through the 1987 and 1991 elections, Blair continued to rise and achieved leadership positions in the Labor party that had been the Opposition since he entered Parliament. Blair was also relatively progressive and forward thinking by looking to expand and moderate the Labor party's politics to get more support from Britain's middle class. A very skilled politician, Blair was able to make the deals necessary to form coalitions and strong support within the Labor party. Blair became the Leader of the Opposition, and thus the Labor party, in 1994. He moved the party more towards the center and abandoned the total socialist revolution mission that Labor was founded on and had been losing support for. The Conservative government was suffering from economic trouble, which led to increased popularity for the Opposiiton party and Tony Blair's new ideas. In 1997, Labor finally won again. Tony Blair became Prime Minister - he was one of the youngest ever and the first one born after WWII.

As Prime Minister, he helped end much of the violence that had been plaguing the country due to the conflict with Ireland. Blair also led the country through the tragedy of Princess Diana's death that brought a lot of criticism to the Queen, Elizabeth II, but a lot of good press to Blair who named her "The People's Princess". He contributed a lot to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 that brought peace. Blair also had a lot of military situations to deal with as PM, including operations in Iraq and Afghanistan where he partnered with the United States to widespread disapproval in the U.K.; Kosovo; and Sierra Leone where the British missions were pretty successful unlike the other operations. But he was still a fantastic politician and continued his progressive policies and managing to push on the traditional limitations of the Prime Minister role while getting support from both parties. The conflicts in Iraq from the Thatcher administration and the age of terror after 9/11 caused him to support the U.S. operations in the Middle East in addition to strengthening police powers in Britain and ramping up the anti-terror security in the U.K. Blair also created a minimum wage, pushed gay rights, strengthened ties to the E.U., and allowed for easier immigration. His time as PM was also marked by close relationships with other foreign leaders, most notably U.S. presidents Clinton and Bush. His deal from the '90s with Gordon Brown came due and after three electoral victories, Blair resigned and Brown became PM in 2007. In his retirement from politics, Blair has still been very active in international affairs with charities and private sector work, often speaking and writing about globalization and religion.

These movies are about a very popular Prime Minister who helped bring the U.K. into the 21st century and set the tone for its War on Terror. The first movie deals with inne party politics of Labor, and specifically between Blair and Brown who made a power agreement that began in 1994 and ended in 2007. The second movie focuses on the death of Princess Diana and how Blair and Queen Elizabeth II handled the tragedy and learned how to work together in general. The last movie centers on the close relationship that Blair had with American Presidents, specifically with Bill Clinton in this film.
Starring Michael Sheen, David Morrissey, Helen Mirren, and Dennis Quaid.

Latin America

Evita
Che
Noriega: God's Favorite

Evita
2 hours, 14 min.

Eva "Evita" Perón
May 7, 1919 - July 26, 1952
First Lady of Argentina (1946-52)

She was born in Argentina and grew up in the Buenos Aires province. Her father was a rich rancher but he had more than one set of wife and kids; he left Evita's family in extreme poverty in a very poor neighborhood as social outcasts due to their illegitimacy. Evita grew up having to work a lot to help support the family, but she also developed a love for movies and acting. That passion became her career goals and she moved to Argentina's capital city, Buenos Aires, when was 15 years old. She pursued a career in acting and even dyed her hair the signature blonde that she is known for. While she was trying to begin her acting career, the whole world was in the middle of the Great Depression. But she got her first role in 1935 in a play. The late 1930s were pretty good for Evita: she toured the country in a theater company, modeled, and was even in a few movies. She got a permanent job on a radio show at the biggest station in Argentina in 1942. She became extremely popular and definitely worked her way out of poverty and into a good neighborhood in the capital in 1943 when she was in her early to mid 20s.

The 1944 San Juan earthquake killed thousands and sparked an immediate relief effort response from the government, specifically from the Labor Minister, Juan Perón. This response included a large fundraiser full of celebrities, including Evita. Evita met Juan and apparently they instantly hit it off and began a famous relationship. She was surrounded by his politics and he was also mentoring her. After they met, the government forced radio performers to organize into a single union and they selected Evita as the union's president. She started a political show that mainly aired content in strong support of Juan Perón. His popularity increased as did his political power. He became so powerful and popular throughout the country that in 1945 his political enemies had him imprisoned in an attempt to cut his influence. That plan failed: hundreds of thousands of people protested the government and demanded his release. When he got out, he married Evita in late 1945. Eva Perón achieved a real life Cinderella story. Then, Juan finally became president of Argentina, winning a huge majority in the 1946 election with Evita using her radio influence to support his populist campaign. In 1947, as First Lady of Argentina, Evita went on her famous tour of Europe where she met with world leaders and had several difficult moments but an overall good trip that raised her international profile and got her on the cover of Time.

Evita faced many challenges getting acclimated to her new position at the top of Argentinian society. Traditional "high society" people would not accept her due to her background, and the fact that she came from nothing made every little issue harder. She began the Eva Perón Foundation, which was a large charity organization that became extremely successful a helped build up poor parts of the country and serve healthcare throughout the nation. Through this charity work, Evita gained saint-like status as she often interacted with the poor and the sick on an intimate level unlike any other politician. The people loved her and she did a lot for them. She also pushed for women's suffrage and her large public role helped build up mass attention towards the cause, which eventually led to the government passing the law allowing women the right to vote and Juan Perón signing it into law in 1947. Evita created the first female political party: Women's Peronist Party. She was directly responsible for many women becoming politically active and politically involved in Argentina and throughout Latin America. Evita was so incredibly popular that she there were millions of people in support of her running for Vice President in the 1952 election with her husband as President. The only problem was the high society, military, and their pressure on Juan for Evita not to run for VP; they would never accept her as First Lady and certainly not as President. In 1951, a large crowd calling for Evita to run for office was speaking directly to her as she stood on a balcony above them and spoke with the crowd about her decision. For the sake of peace, Evita did not run; she also had serious health issues that probably played a large part in the decision. She was diagnosed with advanced cervial cancer in 1950. After Juan won the '52 election and Evita continued to be First Lady, Agrentina's Congress gave her the title, "Spiritual Leader of the Nation" but she was experiencing a dramatic health decline. She couldn't stand, she couldn't walk, and nothing could stop the cancer that had become too aggressive for any treatment. THe whole country stopped and then filled the streets of Buenos Aires for at least a month of mourning when, at 33 years old, Evita died in Argentina.

This movie is about a woman who was never elected to office but got a President's funeral when she died. Evita was born with nothing and was placed in a social rank that was less than nothing in Argentina, but she became an actress like she wanted to, became famous, fell in love with a powerful politican, and became one the most loved First Ladies in world history. Had she lived, she would've been President eventually. The movie follows Evita from poverty to Perón and to her tragic death.
Starring Madonna, Antonio Banderas, and Jonathan Pryce.

Che
4 hours, 17 min.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara
June 14, 1928 - October 9, 1967
Revolutionary

He was born in Argentina to a well-off family. He grew up with severe asthma that would follow him for his whole life, sometimes acting as a life-threatening disability. But he was still able to play sports and compete fiercely in his school's leagues. He was a great rugby player and that got him the nickname "Fuser" in reference to a spanish word for aggressive and one of his family names. Che Guevara also grew up in a house that was full of books and he loved to read everything from authors all over the world in subjects ranging from poetry to science to history and philosophy. His family was politically left, or closer to socialism than fascism, and that influenced his studies and outlook on the world and problems that he saw. Che went to the University of Buenos Aires for medical school in 1948, but he didn't just want to become a doctor; he wanted to see the world. In 1950, when he was 22 years old, Che traveled arounf Northern Argentina alone on a motorcycle. Then, in 1951, Che and his friend, Alberto Granado, went on a nine month motorcycle trip around South America. Che took a year off of med school to do that. Granado was also studying medicine and him and Che spent time helping out at the San Pablo leper colony in Peru. Che went through a dramatic ideological transformation on these trips, keeping a consistent written record of his experiences. He witnessed poverty like he'd never seen before; he saw extremely unfair economic situations; and he saw a deeply rooted exploitation problem that affected everyone in Latin America. That trip made Che view the people of Latin American nations as one group of people rather than different countries. The trip ended and he returned to Argentina, but the experience changed Che forever. He graduated med school at 25 years old, in 1953, but his most important lessons came in the form of people with deadly illnesses who couldn't afford healthcare and social systems that would never let most people be able to afford even the smallest of luxuries.

Che continued traveling to other Latin countries, now more firm in his politics and opinions that corporate greed was destroying the Latin people and causing criminally unjust economic situations. He was increasingly becoming more of a political activist with strong communist convictions. Che went to Guatemala, which was undergoing major economic reforms by the new government that was redistributing land in favor of the people and to the detriment of the big corporations. Che connected with the Guatemalan politicians, revolutionary activists, and people from all over Latin America that had been exiled for their political protests and uprisings. The United States and CIA overthrew the progressive government in Guatemala and condemned Che and his new friends to be fugitives. The CIA backed military coup against the land reforms and in support of American backed corporations is what began Che's militarization and he was in full support of armed resistance. However, the exiled president of Guatemala convinced all his supporters to escape to Mexico for safety. These events made Che see the U.S. as destructive and detrimental to fair economic reform in Latin America. Che got to Mexico in 1954 and worked as a doctor. He kept in contact with a lot of people that he met in Guatemala and soon got introduced to the Castro brothers: Raúl and Fidel, exiled from Cuba. It was around all these people from throughout Latin America that Guevara got his nickname "Che" which is an Argentinian word for friend or guy (in New York: "my guy"; in California:"bruh"). After Che met Fidel, he immediately joined their revolution against the U.S. backed Cuban dictator, Batista. Fidel and Che had one of the most important and impactful friendships in world history. Che trained and excelled in guerrilla warfare, becoming something of a guerilla prodigy. In 1956, Che and the Cubans sailed to Cuba and settled in the East side of the country in the mountains. Che was not the rebels' doctor; Che was a rebel leader.

Che Guevara led efforts to establish schools, training grounds, news distribution, radio, equipment workshops and factories, and medical clinics in the mountain towns that the revels were hiding in. Fidel Castro, the leader of the revolution, made Che second in command. Although Che grew up comfortably, studied to be a doctor, and was very well-read, Che was a military leader and, therefore, Che was an undoubtedly violent person. He was feared for his brutality and death penalty punishments for traitors. But he was a doctor nonetheless and strived to ensure the wellbeing of his soldiers and their education as well as that of the people they lived among. He was an extremely revered and admired leader, even by the enemy. The revolution moved from the East with Havana in the West as the end goal. Che led many attacks, the most important being the revolution's final one, the Battle of Santa Clara in December 1958. After Che won, despite being outnumbered ten to one, Batista's generals were done fighting; the rebels had won. The rebels' radio station transmitted the news and Batista fled Havana shortly after midnight on January 1st, 1959. Che entered Havana the next day and Fidel on the 8th. After the victory, Che had a bad asthma attack and focused on organizing the new government and literally writing the book on guerilla warfare titled, Guerrilla Warfare. He was made a Cuban citizen by birth by the revolutionary government. Fidel put Che in charge of the trials and punishments for the Batista officers and supporters. Che also helped lead many new reforms enacted by the new communist government that aimed for socioeconomic equity and ridding Cuba of external political forces like the U.S. Among Che's successful projects was a Cuban literacy campaign in which the literacy rate rose to near 100% in 1961. Che was an adamant Marxist and structured all of his programs on Marxist ideals aiming for a perfectly communist society. He was in charge of many parts of the new government, including Finance, and his signature needed to be printed on the currency. He signed it "Che" rather than his real name in a subtle insult to the idea of money. As Cuba lost U.S. support, Che helped establish economic and political ties with the Soviet Union. By 1964, Che was frequently vocal on international issues of inequality and even spoke at the U.N. in New York about racism in America as he traveled the world promoting his vision and his mission. Che left Cuba in 1965, perhaps because of his many failed programs, maybe because of ideological differences with Castro, maybe both. Che was a revolutionary, not a politician and not an economist; he continued the fight. He was captured by CIA backed forces and died by execution in Bolivia.

This movie is really two movies or at least two parts on one about the most famous revolutionary in the world, Che Guevara. The first part focuses on Che becoming involved with Castro's revolution and jumps back and forth through time as Che goes from rebel leader to Cuban spokesman at the U.N. The second part focuses on Che's experience in Bolivia and the end of his life. We also recommend watching The Motorcycle Diaries, which is about Che's journeys around South America in his youth.
Starring Benicio del Toro, Demián Bichir, Rodrigo Santoro, Santiago Cabrera, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Franka Potente, and Lou Diamond Phillips.

Noriega: God's Favorite
2 hours.

Manuel Noriega
February 11, 1934 - May 29, 2017
Dictator of Panama (1983-89)

He was born in Panama City, Panama and grew up in poverty and was raised mostly by his grandmother. Noriega went to good schools and was a very serious student. He didn't grow up with his sibilings, but eventually met his older brother at school and he got Noriega involved in the Socialist Party. Noriega got his political awakening through the Socialist Party and became critical of the U.S. role in Panama, writing several articles about his views. Apparently at this time he began informing on the Socialist Party to U.S. agents in secret. Unable to get into med school, Noriega went to military school in Peru and graduated in 1962. Then he became a lieutenant in the Panama National Guard. Apparently Noriega had a lot of issues with violence and illegal acts, but he had good friends in high places that kept him from getting in trouble. Noriega even got to attend the School of the Americas, which was a U.S. institution to teach Latin American militaries about warfare, intelligence, and everything in between. He got on the U.S. radar then as he was rising in the military and he kept on informing to U.S. intelligence about things going on in Panama through the 1960s.

After the 1968 election, the new Panamanian president immediately launched reforms that included breaking apart the military. That quickly backfired and the military overthrew that president and took over; Noriega's mentors and friends were in charge. Noriega's loyalty to his friends and his ability to keep order got him promoted to the Head of Intelligence in 1970. Noriega played key roles in maintaining order through the '70s and helping the military government enforce its new laws, some of which were actually good for the people (maternity leave). This government even negotiated with U.S. President Carter and made a deal that would give Panama ownership of the Panama Canal. Noriega also officially got on the CIA's payroll at this time. He was pretty in the middle of a lot of the CIA's Latin American operations like Cuba and the Sandinistas. Noriega was also heavily involved in the drug trade as well as weapons smuggling to rebel forces in Central America revolting against U.S. supported governments. The leader of Panama, Noriega's friend and boss, died in a plane crash in 1981 (Noriega handled the investigation). Noriega and his military friends filled the power vaccuum immediately and set things up so one of them could get elected President in the 1984 election that had previously been planned. Noriega became the Head of the military and thus controlled all the power in Panama. When the 1984 election came, Noriega went back on the deal and decided to not let the agreed on candidate become president. However, Noriega did not want the spotlight either and so he arranged for an easily controllable politician to be elected President in a grossly rigged election. Noriega was the real ruler of Panama and he seixed control of everything.

As ruler of Panama, Noriega made the country a fixture in the drug and arms trade of the '80s. He profited immensely off of the cocain golden age and even made Panama a hot spot for money laundering. This was a slight conflict for his work with the U.S. during the start of the War on Drugs. But Noriega's position and power in the region was too valuable to the U.S. and so the U.S. turned a blind eye. This became prevalent during the Iran-Contra scandal of the Reagan administration. In addition to the international controversy, Noriega also faced internal criticism concerning his drug trafficking involvement. His biggest critic had been a long time rival and this critic was found decapitated in Panama in '85. This marked the end of strong U.S. support for Noriega. The U.S. and the people of Panama were no longer tolerating such blatant corruption; Noriega was forced to decrease his drug trade and money laundering activities. But he still held on to power, and internal opposition mounted. In 1987, there was a huge protest in Panama City against Noriega; the U.S. government even began to make official moves towards arresting Noriega for his crimes. The opposition within Panama led to a heavily contested and monitored 1989 election that resulted in Noriega placing another puppet as president but to widespread anger and disdain throught Panama and the U.S. There was even a few coup attempts against Noriega that led him to officially declare himself as the ruler of Panama. In late December 1989, the U.S. attacked and invaded Panama, causing billions in destruction. Noriega, a master in intelligence, went on the run. The U.S. found him and Noriega surrendered on January 3, 1990 and was taken back to the U.S. for prosecution. He got a 30 year sentence, but was released after 17 in 2007. The U.S. then extradited Noriega to France in 2010 for prosecution there where he ended up getting a 10 year sentence for money laundering. In 2011, Noriega was then extradited back to Panama to face trial there. He was between prison and hospitals in Panama for the rest of his life as his health deteriorated. He died in Panama.

This movie is about a man who was at the center of crime, politics, and international relations in the Western Hemisphere during the 1970s through the 1980s. The movie follows Noriega from his poor childhood to his ultimate power in Panama and in American politics.
Starring Bob Hoskins, Luis Avalos, and Nestor Carbonell.

Asia

Mongol
The Last Emperor
The Lady

Mongol
2 hours, 6 min.

Genghis Khan
c.1162 - August 18, 1227
Founder and First Emperor of the Mongol Empire (1206-27)

He is believed to have been born in what is today northern Mongolia. Legends say that he was born holding a blood clot, which was a sign of future greatness; his father was also a chief in a Mongol tribe. Genghis Khan was named "Temujin" and he was born into an era of Mongol tribe confederations and delicate alliances. He grew up in a violent world with no real political stability. Temujin's father was killed by his enemies when Temujin was a child. The tribe refused to let Temujin take the vacant leadership position and they left the family to poverty where Temujin's mom would teach him about politics. He killed his older brother at the end of a serious feud and became the head of his family. Then, when he was 16, Temujin went to look for the girl who he had been bethrothed to before his father died. He found her, married her, and then she was kidnapped by a rival tribe. Temujin, with the help of soldiers from allied tribes, saved his wife and they had four sons together. In line with Mongol culture, Temujin had many wives and other children, but his first wife and her kids were the only line of succession. Temujin was himself captured by rival tribes and had to escape slavery. These early accomplishments, plus his lineage, allowed him to make strong alliances, which increased his popularity and fame for his military skill. He strengthened his alliances with continuous attacks and conquests over other tribes. Eventually, after enough victories, the Mongols gave Temujin the title and new name, "Genghis Khan" which meant supreme leader or ruler.

Genghis Khan was apparently a very progressive leader. He ran things on a meritocracy system instead of the traditional aristocracy based on lineage; he spread the spoils of war among loyal followers; and he immediately brought conquered peoples into his community and even family. As he became more successful and conquered more tribes, he earned a god-like status among the Mongols. However, Genghis Khan had strong Mongol enemies who were the only real threat to his power and consolidation efforts. He was not only a very skillful general, able to learn new tactics and strategies quickly through gathering intelligence on rivals, but Genghis Khan was a fierce and ruthless warrior who was more than able to wipe out his enemies. By 1206, Genghis Khan conquered all of his enemies and brought political stability to the Mongol tribes. His new title made it official: he was the supreme leader of the Mongols as a whole - the Mongol Empire. Next came expansion. Genghis Khan first moved West and then, after he conquered that neighboring empire, he went to war against China and the Jin Dynasty. In the year 1215, Genghis Khan took the Chinese capital, what is now Beijing, and drove the emperor South. Genghis Khan won Northern China. In the lead up to that capture, the Mongols slaughtered a countless number of Chinese forces. Once he had firmly established himself as a dominant force, Genghis Khan began looking for economic expansion to the Muslim countries West of his empire. One kingdom refused to deal with the Mongols and killed an ambassador. Genghis Khan was infuriated. The Mongols absolutely destroyed that kingdom and even massacered civilians. Apparently, Genghis Khan poured melting silver down a kingdom's leader's eyes and ears. Genghis Khan stretched the Mongol Empire in every direction and its expansion only continued after his death as his sons took over. There are various theories about how he died: killed in battle; sickness; old age; hunting accident; or some combination. But what is clear is that Genghis Khan organized his succession among his sons so that what he built would not be broken by that common issue. Genghis Khan asked to be buried in an umarked grave so his body has never been found. He died in the massive empire that he built, the Mongol Empire.

This movie is about one of the greatest conquerors in history, Genghis Khan. He basically took over asia and his legacy is the ruler of one of the biggest, most diverse, and most powerful empires that ever existed. The movie follows young Genghis Khan; Temujin's rise to power. The film shows him as a child, a prisoner, and young fighter, and then a great leader and unifier who became the Mongol's ruler.
Starring Tadanobu Asano, Sun Honglei, and Chuluuny Khulan.

The Last Emperor
3 hours, 39 min.

Puyi
February 7, 1906 - October 17, 1967
Last Emperor of China; 12th Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1908-12)

He was born in the Northern Mansion in Beijing, China. Puyi was part of the royal family in the Qing dynasty that had no set succession order; the emperor or empress selected their heir from the family. Empress Dowager Cixi whose Puyi as her successor; she died in 1908, making Puyi emperor of China at 2 years old. The royal guards took the todler away from his parents to put him on the throne in the Forbidden City. Like any todler, Puyi cried and screamed and wanted to be with his parents; but unlike any todler, Puyi ruled China and could not be denied anything by anyone. Just imagine your younger sibling or little cousin being able to do whatever he wanted. Instead of little action figures to play with, Puyi had full-grown people who were forced to do whatever he wanted them to do. There was a lot of abuse, probably more than anyone could imagine because most kids are told "no" and denied most of the ridiculous things that they want. His education consisted mainly of Confucius teachings. He was constantly surrounded by eunuchs who were basically his slaves and Puyi didn't see his family until he was around 13 years old. During the time that Puyi was emperor, China and the world was modernizing at a rapid pace and old political systems were changing. The Qing Dynasty, however, was not modernizing and its child Emperor was enjoying things as they were. In 1911, when Puyi was 5 years old, the people of China began revolting against the Qing dynasty. This unrest resulted in the Chinese Revolution of 1911. In February 1912, when Puyi was 6 years old, Puyi was forced to abdicate the throne under an agreement negotiated by Puyi's guardians with the victorious Republic of China. But Puyi did not really understand at the time what was going on. The agreement let him stay at his residence in the Forbidden City and provided him with a huge stipend to live off of. So in 1912, Puyi wasn't emperor anymore.

The Qing Dynasty was in power since 1644; China had had an emperor for over 2,000 years. Naturally, after Puyi was removed, there was a period of instability in the transition to a new form of government. Puyi was even placed back on the throne in 1917 for two weeks as a Qing loyalist was the dominant military force for awhile. But Puyi was mainly confined to live within the abdication agreement terms. One of the transitional government's presidents decided that Puyi should get a Western education to prepare him for the modern world in case he is restored to the throne. A Scottish tutor named Reginald Johnston began teaching Puyi English, history, and politics in 1919. Puyi even took the name "Henry" and absolutely admired Johnston, who had an enormous effect on everything about Puyi. Puyi was dressing less traditional and more Western; he was speaking more English; he often rode a bike; he changed his hair style from the traditional bald and long tail to a common full head of hair cut; and he was entranced by the new technology of the time (phones). In 1922, when Puyi was 16 years old, he got married to the daughter of a rich noble in China. Apparently he had problems consummating the marriage and this led to many theories about his sexuality and lack of maturity stemming from his unusual childhood. Puyi also expelled almost all of his eunuchs from the Forbidden City due to massive theft over the years. In 1924, the new military power decided to terminate the abdication agreement and remove Puyi completely. Puyi was forced out of the Forbidden City and fled Beijing to an area controlled by Japan, who was interested in building an alliance with Puyi. While in exile, Puyi was trying to play all sides in the Chinese political instability and his marriage was falling apart, but he was pretty much powerless to do much about anything except give money to potential allies. In 1931, Puyi was sneaked to Manchuria, and in 1932 he was instilled as ruler of this Japanese puppet State.

Puyi was pretty much a puppet ruler for Japan over Manchuria. But, he was still treated like an emperor by most people so it was almost back to normal for Puyi. Apparently he was still fairly abusive and never really grew up; his wife became an opium addict; and he was basically Japan's pawn in Asia as it was expanding its power. During this time, Puyi's homosexuality became more widely known, his wife cheated on him but had her child killed in front of her eyes, and Puyi remained a docile ruler over part of Japan's growing empire that severely mistreated non-Japanese people. The Japanese expansion and global politics led to WWII. Puyi was extremely sheltered for his whole life and was never up to date on any news outside of his own life. So to his surprise, in 1945 he learned that Japan had been losing the war and that the U.S. had dropped two atomic bombs. Puyi abdicated the throne and declared that Manchuria was part of China. Then he fled but was captured by the Soviet Union. His wife was captured by Chinese forces and she was abused and starved to death while on display for the people. The Russians refused to extradite Puyi who was allowed a pretty comfortable life in Siberia. That was so until 1949 after the Chinese Communist Party won the civil war. The Soviet Union sent Puyi back to Mao Zedong's China. Mao thought it would be the ultimate communist victory for the old emperor to become a reformed communist, so Puyi was kept prisoner as he learned to live like a normal person and do the most menial tasks for himself that servants had literally always done for him. Puyi was also lectured at about the atrocities that the Japanese committed to the Chinese people and how Puyi could have done something to stop it. This period of time was a great punishment and forced Puyi to finally see the horror that he was sheltered from but that he was complicit in. In 1959, when he was 53, he was released and allowed to live in Beijing, work as a street cleaner, tour the Forbidden City like anyone else, and eventually became a gardener and a fervent communist party supporter. As he aged, he never really got used to normal life, but he tried and was probably sincerely apologetic for the rest of his life. He got kidney cancer and heart disease and died in Beijing.

This movie is based on Puyi's autobiography and follows him from his reign over China at 2 years old all the way to his dramatic transformation to a loyal communist member after WWII. The movie works through flashbacks as Puyi is held prisoner in China but it ends with him reformed as a normal member of the communist party in China.
Starring John Lone, Joan Chen, and Peter O'Toole.

The Lady
2 hours, 12min.

Aung San Suu Kyi
June 19, 1945 -
State Counsellor of Myanmar (2016 - )

She was born in Burma, now known as Myanmar, under British rule. Aung San Suu Kyi's father created a military group that aligned with Japan during WWII and he led the country to independence from the United Kingdom in 1947 negotiations. Later in 1947, her father was assassinated. Aung San Suu Kyi was two years old. Her mother was made the ambassador to India and Nepal, so Aung San Suu Kyi grew up in India and became Buddhist. She graduated from the University of Delhi with a degree in politics in 1964. Then, Aung San Suu Kyi went to Oxford where she got a Bachelor's degree in a combined program of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics in 1967; she also got a Master's degree from there in politics in 1968. Aung San Suu Kyi moved to New York and worked for the United Nations. She got married in 1972 to a British historian and they had two kids together. She got a Master of Philosophy degree in Burmese literature in 1987 at the University of London. After all her academics, Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma in 1988, just in time for uprisings demanding democracy.

Burma was under military rule after its independence from the U.K. and in 1988, the military leader resigned. That opened the door for what is known as the 8888 Uprising, which took place on August 8, 1988. It was a mass protest all over the country against the military government and in favor of a real democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi, like her father, immediately became involved and entrenched in her country's politics and the movement of the people. She was a founding member of the National Leage for Democracy political party later in 1988. The party led the social movement for political reform and adopted Gandhi's strategies of non-violent protest. The ruling military regime placed her under house arrest in 1989. But the social unrest remained and the government decided to have an election in 1990. The National League for Democracy won a large majority. However, in a classic authoritarian move, the military regime threw out the election results and basically cancelled any political change. This caused outrage in the country and internationally. Aung San Suu Kyi was increasingly seen as Burma's symbol for democracy and she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts and for the political movement in Burma. While under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi was consistently given the choice to leave Burma and never return or stay under arrest. She stayed. But, due to her international status and her popular support in the country, she had many meetings with foreign and domestic politicians. Several health issues also got her visits from her doctor and medical care. The United Nations even tried to negotiate her freedom, which did not last too long. Aung San Suu Kyi had strong support and demands for her release from all over the world. Burma had another controversial election in 2010, where a new military government took over, but they finally released Aung San Suu Kyi on November 13, 2010. She was free to be politically active again and helped get the National League for Democracy to register as a political party, she got many political prisoners released from prison, and met with U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, after talking about it with President Obama. The National league for Democracy had a huge win in the 2012 election and Aung San Suu Kyi was elected into Parliament and became leader of the Opposition.

The constitution from 2008 was made by the ruling military regime and it included a provision that prevented Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president of Myanmar. The 2015 elections resulted in an enormous victory for the National League for Democracy. It was understood that Aung San Suu Kyi would be the party's and nation's leader despite her title and the constitution. The president made her "State Counsellor" which was a role created for Aung San Suu Kyi specifically. The function is equal to a prime minister and the legislature made her role official in 2016. Her tenure as State Counsellor has been marred by a genocide level persecution of Rohingya Muslims, a minority population. Aung San Suu Kyi has consistently denied that she is committing genocide, but she refuses to give the Rohingyas citizenship. The ethnic cleansing has led to many refugees fleeing the country and a significant amount of criticism against Aung San Suu Kyi, even calls for her Nobel Peace Prize to be revoked. Her extraordinary record of democratic achievements is increasingly fading to her horrible complicitness in a genocide.

This movie follows Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma's independence led by her father, to her receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 while being a political prisoner fighting for democracy. This movie came out in 2011, and was before Aung San Suu Kyi even became State Counsellor, and was made mostly before she was even released from house arrest. The movie is about an international figure who once inspired millions but has now let the world down in a seeming betrayal to the things she once stood for.
Starring Michelle Yeoh, David Thewlis, and Jonathan Woodhouse.


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