15 Inspiring Movies about Activism

Progress doesn’t happen without activism. Every cultural, political and social change occurs because people decide they want to impact the world. The risks are often very high. Activists have been financially ruined, ostracized, imprisoned and killed for standing up for what they believe in. Activists also inspire millions of people for generations after them, and while they may not always see the outcome of their activism, they are part of the work that secures a better future. In this article, we’ll explore 15 inspiring movies about activism and the people who’ve risked everything for the greater good:

Note: Streaming availability is subject to change

#1. Selma (2014)

Director: Ava DuVernay

In 1956, civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and 25,000 other activists and supporters marched from Selma to Montgomery for equal voting rights. The film “Selma,” which received excellent reviews, explores the events that inspired the march, the challenges and violence faced by the activists, and what the march ultimately led to. The film was nominated for several major awards, including Best Picture at the 2015 Academy Awards. It won Best Original Song.

Streaming availability (United States): Amazon, Vudu, Apple TV, Google Play, Paramount+.

#2. I Am Greta (2020)

Director: Nathan Grossman

When she was 15 years old, Greta Thunberg started skipping school to protest outside the Swedish Parliament. Her goal? Get the politicians to take stronger action on climate change. Others joined her, and in 2018, Thunberg addressed the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Weekly student climate strike protests began occurring on Friday all around the world. Thunberg soon became an internationally recognized activist. The documentary “I Am Greta” explores her campaign for climate action, her beliefs and her seemingly boundless passion for climate justice and human rights.

Streaming availability (United States): Hulu, Amazon

#3. 5 Broken Cameras (2011)

Director: Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi

In 2005, Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat bought his first camera so he could record his fourth son’s birth. According to the Wikipedia summary of the film, Burnat then turned his camera on Bil’in, his village. Israelis started bulldozing olive groves to build a barrier separating Bil’in from the Israeli settlement. Villagers protested as this barrier cut off farmland. While Burnat films and takes photos, his cameras are destroyed, which is where the film’s title comes from. In 2009, Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi joined the project. “5 Broken Cameras” was nominated for a 2013 Academy Award.

Streaming availability (United States): Tubi, Plex

#4. The Janes (2022)

Director: Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes

Before Roe v. Wade in 1973, people seeking abortions had to have the right connections and resources. In Chicago, a group of women organized a network that performed around 11,000 abortions between 1968 and the Roe decision. “The Janes” details the risky activism these women undertook, interviews several members and puts the history of secret abortions into context. The movie is now more relevant than ever. It was released just months before the US Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade and ushered in a new era of illegal, secret abortions.

Streaming availability (United States): Max, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video

#5. Gasland Part I and II (2010/2013)

Director: Josh Fox

When “Gasland” came out in 2010, it became essential to the anti-fracking movement. Director Josh Fox focuses on the impacts of natural gas drilling activity and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on communities around the United States. Fox’s interest is personal: in 2008, he received a letter from a gas company offering him almost $100,000 to lease his family’s land for drilling. Gasland Part I and II, which came out three years later in 2013, exposes the environmental and social impact of fracking on peoples’ homes, land, water and health. It’s not necessary to watch Gasland I before Gasland II.

Streaming availability (United States): Amazon (Gasland I), Max, Hulu, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video

#6. Dark Waters (2019)

Director: Todd Haynes

Based on a 2016 article, “Dark Waters” is a legal thriller focused on lawyer Robert Bilott’s twenty-year battle against Dupont, one of the most powerful chemical manufacturing corporations in the world. “Dark Waters” begins in 1998 when corporate defense lawyer Billott (played by Mark Ruffalo) gets a visit from a farmer asking him to investigate unexplained animal deaths in a West Virginia town. Bilott soon learns Dupont has dumped thousands of tons of toxic chemicals, including one not regulated by the EPA, into the town. The film follows Bilott’s quest for justice, which changes his life and the lives of those affected by Dupont forever.

Streaming availability (United States): Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV, YouTube

Check out our article here for more movies about human rights lawyers.

#7. How To Blow Up A Pipeline (2022)

Director: Daniel Goldhaber

Based on Andreas Malm’s 2021 nonfiction book How To Blow Up A Pipeline, this film creates a fictional group of eight young environmentalists. In California, the friends experience the deadly impacts of climate change; one of them loses their mother during a heat wave, while another is diagnosed with cancer. The environmentalists decide to take on more radical action and begin planning to blow up an oil pipeline. Like the book, the movie explores ethical questions surrounding extreme activist tactics, the meaning of terrorism, the history of social justice and more.

Streaming availability (United States): Hulu, YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video

#8. Just Mercy (2019)

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

“Just Mercy,” which stars Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx, is based on attorney Bryan Stevenson’s memoir of the same time. It follows Bryan Stevenson early in his career as he establishes the Equal Justice Initiative, which represents death row inmates who can’t afford legal aid. Walter McMillian, a man wrongfully convicted of murder, is the film’s focus. As he works to achieve justice, Stevenson encounters numerous obstacles, including overt racism from the court system.

Streaming availability (United States): Max, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Peacock

#9. The Hate U Give (2018)

Director: George Tillman Jr.

Based on the 2017 young adult novel of the same name by Angie Thomas, “The Hate U Give” follows the story of Starr Carter, a 16-year-old who sees police shoot her unarmed best friend. While her identity as a witness is kept private at first, Starr eventually takes on a public role and becomes an activist. The film was acclaimed for its writing (screenwriter Audrey Wells died the day before the film’s release) and performances, especially the performance of Amandla Stenberg, who plays Starr.

Streaming availability (United States): Hulu, YouTube, Sling TV, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu

#10. How To Survive A Plague (2012)

Director: David France

When the AIDS epidemic first erupted, the institutions in power did very little. It was activists who demanded action and did the hard, unforgiving work of raising awareness and pushing the FDA to approve treatments. “How to Survive A Plague” covers the work of groups like ACT UP and TAG through archived footage, interviews and recordings of meetings, demonstrations and other materials collected by ACT UP members. The film’s director, journalist David France, covered AIDS from its earliest days. He dedicated the movie to his partner who died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1992.

Streaming availability (United States): Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video

#11. Navalny (2022)

Director: Daniel Roher

Alexei Navalny was a Russian opposition leader. In 2020, he was hospitalized and nearly died. His sickness was soon attributed to a nerve agent, which Navalny blamed on Russian president Vladimir Putin. The film follows the activist, as well as a journalist from Bellingcat and an investigator from Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, as they uncover the plot to silence Navalny. The film received universal acclaim and won Best Documentary Feature at the 95th Academy Awards. Navalny survived his poisoning but returned to Russia, where he was soon imprisoned. On February 16th, 2024, he died in a Western Siberian prison.

Streaming availability (United States): Max, Max Amazon Channel

#12. Malcolm X (1992)

Director: Spike Lee

“Malcolm X” (sometimes written as just “X”) is based on Alex Haley’s 1965 book The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Several events in Malcolm X’s life and career are explored, including his past, his incarceration, his conversion to Islam, his work as an activist and his assassination. The film received two Oscar nominations for Best Actor for Denzel Washington, who plays Malcolm X, and Best Costume Design for Ruth E. Carter. The United States National Film Registry also selected the film for preservation in 2010.

Streaming availability (United States): Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, Max, YouTube

Interested in learning more about activism? Here’s our article on Activism 101: Types, Examples and Learning Opportunities.

#13. Rustin (2023)

Director: George C. Wolfe

Bayard Rustin played a pivotal role in the March on Washington in 1963. He was also a close advisor to Martin Luther King Jr and an activist for racial equality, human rights and democracy around the world. However, as an openly gay Black man with radical beliefs, Bayard Rustin was not as recognized as other activists in the Civil Rights movement. “Rustin” received several award nominations, including Best Actor in a Leading Role for Colman Domingo.

Streaming availability (United States): Netflix

#14. Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom (2013)

Director: Justin Chadwick

Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and politician who became the first president of South Africa in 1994. He was the nation’s first Black head of state and the first to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. During his time in government, he focused on racial reconciliation and undoing the devastating impacts of apartheid. “Mandela,” which stars Idris Elba as Mandela, follows the South African activist through his early life, education, and nearly three decades in prison leading up to the end of apartheid. It is based on the 1994 autobiography Long Walk To Freedom by Nelson Mandela. The film received generally good reviews.

Streaming availability (United States): Tubi, Plex

#15. Hunger (2008)

Director: Steve McQueen

“The Troubles” were a violent conflict from 1968-1998 in Northern Ireland between Protestant loyalists, who wanted Northern Ireland to stay part of the United Kingdom, and the Roman Catholic republicans, who wanted the area to be part of the Republic of Ireland. In 1981, the British government revoked the political status of convicted paramilitary prisoners, which revoked certain privileges. In protest, republican prisoners engaged in a series of hunger strikes. In “Hunger,” Michael Fassbender stars as Bobby Sands, who led the second IRA hunger strike. His protest raised awareness of prisoner treatment and the IRA’s mission.

Streaming availability (United States): Amazon Prime, The Roku Channel, Tubi, PLEX, YouTube, AMC+