For movie and television addicts, the first day of each new month is like Christmas. This Sept. 1 is no different.
Tomorrow, multiple streaming services — from Netflix to iTunes — will release hundreds of new movies for avid viewers to consume.
Spanning different genres, eras, and continents, these movies run the gamut from art house horror films to Bollywood comedies.
Many of these films delve into issues that Global Citizens passionately follow: climate change, global poverty, education, women and girls’ empowerment.
Global Citizen campaigns on the global goals — a set of 17 concrete goals for ending extreme poverty by 2030 — many of which are addressed in the powerful films and series on this list. You can take action here.
1/ “City of God,” Netflix, Sept. 1
Citizenship
“City of God” captures the evolution of Brazil’s favelas — shantytowns that house an estimated 11 million people across the country, or about 6% of the country’s population — between the 1960s to the 1980s. Powerful, devastating, and ultimately tinged with hope, the drama follows two young slum dwellers: one who becomes a photojournalist, the other a drug dealer.
2/ “Princess Ka'iulani,” Hulu, Sept. 1
Women & Girls
This biopic follows the life of Princess Kaʻiulani, a Hawaiian heroine who lived between 1875–1899 and resisted the colonization of her native Hawaii only to see it annexed by the United States.
3/ “The New Public,” Amazon Prime, Sept. 1
Education
A 2013 documentary about the promise and challenge of reshaping the US public education system, “The New Public” is a must-watch for those who care about the fight to reform the public education system to better serve its intended audience: students. It follows educators and students at a charter school called the Brooklyn Community Arts and Media high school, which opened in August 2006.
4/ “Amores Perros,” Netflix, Sept. 1
Citizenship
A story about dog-fighting, love, violence, and the struggle to escape poverty in the harsh streets of Mexico City, “Amores Perros” catapulted director Alejandro González Iñárritu to fame. He would later go on to direct Oscar-winning films including “Birdman,” “The Revenant,” and “Babel.”
5/ “Outbreak” Hulu, Sept. 1
Health
“Outbreak” throws it back to 1995, but tackles a very real problem that still exists in 2017, and continues to contribute to extreme poverty worldwide: communicable diseases. A fictional airborne pathogen called Motaba virus breaks out in Zaire, before making its way around the world.
Each year, infectious diseases — airborne pathogens among them — kill an estimated 17 million people worldwide, according to the WHO.
6/ “An Inconvenient Truth,” Hulu, Sept. 1
Environment
Remember that time Al Gore made a video about global warming before it was a hot topic? Well, now the OG “Inconvenient Truth” is coming to Hulu, and it’s more important than ever — as climate change panels are being disbanded and the icy country of Greenland is catching flame.
7/ “The Unknown Girl,” iTunes, Sept. 5
Health
A Belgian murder mystery, “The Unknown Girl” begins with tragedy: an unnamed African migrant woman is found dead on the side of the road. But as the film builds, it approaches redemption, as Jenny, a doctor at a small clinic, embarks on a crusade to give the girl a name, and find her killer.
Worldwide, the issue of femicide — the murder of women on account of their gender — affects an estimated 66,000 women each year, with a concentration of these murders in Latin America and North Africa.
8/ “The Big Sick,” iTunes, Sept. 5
Citizenship
The directing debut of comedian Kumail Nanjiani, this romantic comedy tackles more than just a traditional love story. Its dialogue and scenes reflect upon some of the most pressing issues in the United States, including mental health, Islamophobia, and race.
9/ “Ghost of the Mountains,” Netflix, Sept. 13
Environment
Intrepid filmmakers brave crushing temperatures and ever-piling snow in China’s mountains in search of the elusive snow leopard, of which there are only 4,000 left in the world. According to WWF, the snow leopard’s population is threatened by “habitat loss, poaching and the impact of climate change.”
10/ “First They Killed My Father,” Netflix, Sept. 15
Citizenship
In 1975, Loung Ung’s life changed forever when her native Cambodia came under the military dictatorship of the Khmer Rouge and she was sent to a prison camp for training child soldiers. This documentary follows Ung’s unlikely trajectory that led her to meet actress Angelina Jolie and eventually tell her story to the world.
11/ “Beauty and the Beast,” Netflix, Sept. 19
Citizenship
The 2017 remake of “Beauty and the Beast” made history for its depiction of the first-ever LGBTQ character in a Disney movie. Normalizing depictions of LGBTQ issues through mainstream media helps remove stigmas for future generations, and pave the way for greater equality around the world, the directors said.
Oh, and the movie features Emma Watson.
12/ “Transparent,” Amazon Prime, Sept. 22
Citizenship
Much like “Beauty and the Beast,” “Transparent,” entering its fourth season, brought a transgender character to a wide audience in a thoughtful, human way. The series follows a Los Angeles family as its “patriarch,” Mort, grapples with a transition to living publicly as a woman.
13/ “City of Ghosts,” iTunes, Sept. 26
Citizenship
A powerful work of documentary journalism, “City of Ghosts” follows the unheralded heroes of the group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) — a citizen journalist network in the capital of the Islamic State.