Hello everyone! I am going to teach a politics through film course next semester and I am finalizing my syllabus. I’ve been scouring the internet for a few weeks now and would love some recommendations in the blank weeks! As you can see, I’d like to balance the film lists with some black comedy hits (given that films that portray politics tend to be very dreary).
Thank you in advance! Below is the draft:
Course Schedule
Week 1 Introduction
Week 2 - Indigenous Sovereignty
Required Film:
• También la lluvia (Bolivia/Spain, 2010)
Recommended Films:
Week 3 - Civil Resistance
Required Films:
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Recommended Films:
Week 4 - Fragile Powers
Required Films:
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Recommended Films:
Week 5 - International Crises
Required Films:
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (United States, 1964)
• The Terminal (United States, 2004)
Recommended Films:
Week 6 - War
Required Films:
• West Beirut (Lebanon, 1998)
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Recommended Films: Hacksaw Ridge (United States, 2016) + 1917 (United Kingdom, 2019)
Week 7 - Dictatorships
Required Films:
• No (Chile, 2012)
• In The Time Of The Butterflies (Dominican Republic/United States, 2001)
Recommended Films: The Secret Agent (Brazil, 2025)
Week 8 - Repression
Required Films
• A Taxi Driver (South Korea, 2017)
• I’m Still Here (Brazil, 2024)
Recommended Films: Missing (United States, 1982)
Week 9 - SPRING BREAK
Recommended Films:
Week 10 - Interventions
Required Films:
• The Siege of Jadotville (Ireland, 2016)
• Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2020) (Live screening - details to come)
Recommended Films: The Whistleblower (Canada, 2010)
Week 11 - NO CLASS
Recommended Films:
Week 12 - Transitions
Required Films:
• Goodbye Lenin (Germany, 2003) with Guest Lecture
• Persepolis (France, 2007)
Recommended Films:
Week 13 - Migration
Required Films:
• Burros (Tohono O’odham Nation/United States, 2021)
• Limbo (Scotland/Syria, 2020)
• Riceboy Sleeps (Canada/South Korea, 2022)
Recommended Films: Visit this link for excellent recommendations.
Week 14 - Poverty
Required Films:
• Shoplifters (Japan, 2018)
• The Florida Project (United States, 2017)
Recommended Films: Parasite (South Korea, 2019) + Nomadland (United States, 2020)
Week 15 - Racism
Required Films:
• La Haine (France, 1995)
• Nickel Boys (United States, 2024)
Recommended Films:
Week 16 - Gender and Sexuality
Required Films:
• North Country (United States, 2005)
• Moonlight (United States, 2016)
Recommended Films:
Final Week - The Ordinary State
Required Films:
• Ikiru (Japan, 1952)
• Court (India, 2015)
Recommended Films: