It may only be Tuesday, but that shouldn’t stop you from daydreaming about what adventures this weekend may hold.
Movies can be a great way to unwind after a long week, but they can also be an experience that broadens your world, and helps you understand an issue on a new level.
Art can be a powerful medium for change. As you plan your activities this weekend, consider watching one of these important films that will educate, move, and inspire you to take action on the wide variety of causes Global Citizen campaigns on.
“BPM (Beats Per Minute)”
This French-language film, directed by Robin Campillo, depicts the work of an activist group in Paris in the 1990s that brings attention to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. "BPM" manages to humanize the health crisis in a way that matches the fervor of real activists who bravely fought for recognition so many decades ago.
Campillo wonderfully illustrates the highs and the lows of the men and women involved in the struggle. Variety’s Guy Lodge concluded that, “[Campillo’s] sexy, insightful, profoundly humane film is most moving in those ecstatic interludes where, for a blissed-out moment or two, AIDS is no one at all.”
“Jane”
If you aren’t already obsessed with legendary primatologist and Global Citizen Jane Goodall, this movie will convert you. Using never-before-seen footage from National Geographic’s deep film archives, “Jane” tells the story of a how a young, untrained Goodall slowly rose to eminence as one of the world’s leading experts in chimpanzee behavior.
Read More: Jane Goodall Calls for Climate Change Action to Save Planet at Global Citizen Festival
Goodall’s work revolutionized the way we understand our closest animal relatives, and led to a greater appreciation for the need to protect the resources the natural world offers us.
“Jane” will make you laugh, cry, and want to take action to ensure that our relationship with the environment and the creatures in it remains respectful and sustainable.
“Breathe”
Starring the widely-agreed-upon 2017 Oscar snub Andrew Garfield, as well as Golden Globe Winner Claire Foy, “Breathe” tells the true story of a family’s battle to overcome the stigma and disability of living with polio. At only 28 years old, Garfield’s character Robin Cavendish is completely paralyzed by the disease, which scientists had yet to fully understand in the early 20th century.
With the love and support of his wife, Cavendish learns to battle against expectations of what his new life should look like in this tale of humanism and inspirational courage.
Though the prevalence of polio has been reduced by almost 99% since 1988, since effective vaccines became more readily accessible, “Breathe” is especially poignant given recent cases of the disease resurfacing in some parts of the world. Read more about the film here.
(Global Citizen campaigns on the eradication of polio. You can take action here.)
“Battle of the Sexes”
“Battle of the Sexes” tells the story of the tennis match that changed the world.
In 1973, the world’s top-ranked female tennis player and outspoken feminist Billie Jean King took on the retired male tennis player Bobby Riggs in what would become one of the most-watched sporting events of all time. Without spoiling the movie, it’s safe to say that the outcome of the match seemed to matter less than the national conversation about gender equality that it sparked.
Read More: Why It's Critical That Pro Athletes Be Part of Our Political Discourse
Starring Emma Stone as King and Steve Carrell as Riggs, "Battle of the Sexes" is funny, heartfelt, inspirational, and frustrating all at the same time.
After her tennis career, Billie Jean King worked as an activist on behalf of women’s rights everywhere. “Battle of the Sexes” will show you why she is one of the best suited athletes and women to advocate for equality.
“Marshall”
“If you want freedom, you’re going to have to fight for it.”
“Marshall,” recreates the true events of young NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall (played by Chadwick Boseman) as he defended a black man accused of assaulting a young white woman. “Marshall” brings viewers a visceral reminder of the tremendous courage demonstrated by those who stood up for racial justice in Jim Crow America — not just in the South, but also in the North.
Before he became a supreme court justice, Marshall was on the front lines of several legal battles for equality, tackling some of the toughest cases in some of the most hostile parts of the country.
This movie will force you to acknowledge that justice should never be taken for granted. Standing up for what is right has always required bravery, sacrifice, and the belief in a better tomorrow.