The Political Film Society Award for human rights is given out each year to a film that deals with struggle for human rights in both fictional and non-fictional stories. This award has been handed out by the Society since
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
. Depending on the number of films that qualify, as few as one film has been nominated for this award before but as many as fourteen have been nominated in years past.
The film that first won this award was '' Matewan'' in 1987 that was directed by John Sayles. The award, as with any other Political Film Society Award, can go to a mainstream film, independent film, or even an international film. The Political Film Society looks at a broad selection of films before it nominates them for an award.
The Accused
Accused or The Accused may refer to:
* A person suspected with committing a crime or offence; see Criminal charge
** Suspect, a known person suspected of committing a crime
* The Accüsed, a 1980s Seattle crossover thrash band
*''The Accused'', a ...
Mississippi Burning
''Mississippi Burning'' is a 1988 American crime thriller film directed by Alan Parker that is loosely based on the 1964 murder investigation of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in Mississippi. It stars Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe as two FBI ...
Driving Miss Daisy
'' Driving Miss Daisy'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry, based on his 1987 play of the same name. The film stars Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. Freeman reprised his ...
Romero
The name Romero is a nickname type of surname for a Roman or an Italian. The name was originally derived from the Latin word Romaeus and the Greek word Romaios, which mean Roman.
#A person on a religious journey or pilgrimage from Rome (possibly t ...
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Boyz n the Hood
''Boyz n the Hood'' is a 1991 American coming-of-age hood drama film written and directed by John Singleton in his feature directorial debut. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Nia Long, Regina King, and An ...
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Come See the Paradise
''Come See the Paradise'' is a 1990 American drama film written and directed by Alan Parker, and starring Dennis Quaid and Tamlyn Tomita. Set before and during World War II, the film depicts the treatment of Japanese Americans in the United States ...
Jungle Fever
''Jungle Fever'' is a 1991 American romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Spike Lee. The film stars Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Lee, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Lonette McKee, John Turturro, Frank Vincent, ...
Europa, Europa
''Europa Europa'' (german: Hitlerjunge Salomon, lit. "Hitler Youth Salomon") is a 1990 historical war drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland, and starring Marco Hofschneider, Julie Delpy, Hanns Zischler, and André Wilms. It is based on the 1 ...
Go Fish
Go Fish or Fish is a card game usually played by two to five players, although it can be played wi ...
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On Deadly Ground
''On Deadly Ground'' is a 1994 American environmental action adventure film directed, co-produced by, and starring Steven Seagal, and co-starring Michael Caine, Joan Chen, John C. McGinley and R. Lee Ermey. It is Seagal's only directorial effort ...
Beyond Rangoon
''Beyond Rangoon'' is a 1995 Drama (film and television), drama film directed by John Boorman about Laura Bowman (played by Patricia Arquette), an United States, American tourist who vacations in the country of Myanmar, Burma (now known as Myanmar ...
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Picture Bride
The term picture bride refers to the practice in the early 20th century of immigrant workers (chiefly Japanese, Okinawan, and Korean) in Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States and Canada, as well as Brazil selecting brides from their nat ...
Ghosts of Mississippi
''Ghosts of Mississippi'' is a 1996 American biographical courtroom drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, and James Woods. The plot is based on the true story of the 1994 trial of Byron De La Beckwith, the ...
L.A. Confidential
''L.A. Confidential'' (1990) is a neo-noir novel by James Ellroy and the third of his L.A. Quartet series. It is dedicated to Mary Doherty Ellroy. The epigraph is "A glory that costs everything and means nothing"— Steve Erickson.
Plot
The s ...
Seven Years in Tibet
''Seven Years in Tibet: My Life Before, During and After'' (1952; german: Sieben Jahre in Tibet. Mein Leben am Hofe des Dalai Lama; 1954 in English) is an autobiographical travel book written by Austrian mountaineer and Nazi SS sergeant Heinrich ...
The Siege
''The Siege'' is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by Edward Zwick. The film is about a fictional situation in which terrorist cells have made several attacks in New York City. The film stars Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Tony ...
Hard
Hard may refer to:
* Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture
* Hard water, water with high mineral content
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series
* Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock super ...
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Naturally Native
''Naturally Native'' is a 1998 American drama film directed by Valerie Red-Horse. It is the first feature film created by and about Native American women, and the first entirely financed by a tribe.
The film follows three Native American sisters ...
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One Man's Hero
''One Man's Hero'' is a 1999 historical war drama film directed by Lance Hool and starring Tom Berenger, Joaquim de Almeida and Daniela Romo. The film has the distinction of being the last film released by Orion Pictures' arthouse division Orion ...
Before Night Falls
''Before Night Falls'' ( es, Antes que anochezca: autobiografía) is the 1992 autobiography of Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas, describing his early life in Cuba, his time in prison, and his escape to the United States in the Mariel Boatlift of 1 ...
Sunshine
Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when th ...
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
''Atlantis: The Lost Empire'' is a 2001 American animated science fiction film, science fiction action film, action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ...
Bread and Roses
"Bread and Roses" is a political slogan as well as the name of an associated poem and song. It originated from a speech given by American women's suffrage activist Helen Todd; a line in that speech about "bread for all, and roses too" inspired ...
The Hidden Half
''The Hidden Half'' (''Nimeh-ye Penhan''; نيمه پنهان) is a 2001 controversial drama film, written and directed by Iranian feminist Tahmineh Milani. The film stars Niki Karimi, Mohammad Nikbin and Atila Pesiani. The story is told as a man ...
Journey to the Sun
''Journey to the Sun'' ( tr, Güneşe Yolculuk) is a 1999 Turkish drama film written and directed by Yeşim Ustaoğlu. It was entered into the 49th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Blue Angel Award.
Cast
* Nazmi Kırık as Be ...
Ararat
Ararat or in Western Armenian Ararad may refer to:
Personal names
* Ararat ( hy, Արարատ), a common first name for Armenian males (pronounced Ararad in Western Armenian)
* Ararat or Araratian, a common family name for Armenians (pronounced A ...
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Das Experiment
''Das Experiment'' (English: ''The Experiment'') is a 2001 German drama thriller film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. It is based on Mario Giordano's novel ''Black Box'' and deals with a social experiment which resembles Philip Zimbardo's Sta ...
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Evelyn
Evelyn may refer to:
Places
* Evelyn, London
*Evelyn Gardens, a garden square in London
* Evelyn, Ontario, Canada
* Evelyn, Michigan, United States
* Evelyn, Texas, United States
* Evelyn, Wirt County, West Virginia, United States
* Evelyn ...
The Dancer Upstairs
''The Dancer Upstairs'' is a 1995 novel by Nicholas Shakespeare. It is based on the Maoist insurgency of the 1980s in Peru, and tells the story of Agustin Rejas, a police Lieutenant (later promoted to Captain), hunting a terrorist based on Abimae ...
The Life of David Gale
''The Life of David Gale'' is a 2003 dramatic crime thriller film directed by Alan Parker and written by Charles Randolph. The film is an international co-production, between the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. It was Parker's final ...
Hotel Rwanda
''Hotel Rwanda'' is a 2004 drama film directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay co-written by George and Keir Pearson, and stars Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina and his wife Tatiana. Based on the Rw ...
The Gatekeeper
''Atmosfear: The Gatekeeper'' is a video board game released in 2004 by A Couple 'A Cowboys and Yoram Gross, Flying Bark Productions as the first DVD version of the Atmosfear (series), Atmosfear series.
It is recommended to create a perfect "' ...
The Sea Inside
''The Sea Inside'' ( es, Mar adentro) is a 2004 Spain, Spanish psychological drama film co-written and directed by Alejandro Amenábar, who also co-produced, scored and edited. It is based on the real-life story of Ramón Sampedro (played by Javie ...
The Great Water
''The Great Water'' ( mk, Γолемата вода, Latinic: Golemata voda) is a 2004 Macedonian film starring Saso Kekenovski, Maja Stankovska, Mitko Apostolovski, Meto Jovanovski and Verica Nedeska. It was directed and written by Ivo Tra ...
The War Within The War Within may refer to:
* ''The War Within'' (film), a 2005 film
* ''The War Within'' (Shadows Fall album), 2004
* ''The War Within'' (Wells book), a 1994 book by Tom Wells on America's internal battle over the war in Vietnam
* ''The War W ...
Babel
Babel is a name used in the Hebrew Bible for the city of Babylon and may refer to:
Arts and media Written works Books
*Babel (book), ''Babel'' (book), by Patti Smith
* Babel (2012 manga), ''Babel'' (2012 manga), by Narumi Shigematsu
* Babel (20 ...
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Blood Diamond
''Blood Diamond'' is a 2006 American political war action thriller film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds min ...
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Cautiva
''Captive'' ( es, Cautiva) is a 2003 Argentinian film that concerns itself with what happened to the children of the people killed after the 1970s military coup. The film states it was made with the support of Argentine National Institute of Cin ...
The Road to Guantanamo
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
September Dawn
''September Dawn'' is a 2007 Canadian-American Western film directed by Christopher Cain, telling a fictional love story against a controversial historical interpretation of the 1857 Mountain Meadows massacre. Written by Cain and Carole Whang Sc ...
Battle in Seattle
''Battle in Seattle'' is a 2007 political action-thriller film written and directed by Stuart Townsend, in his directorial debut. The story is loosely based on the protest activity at the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999. The film premiered ...
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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' is a 2006 Holocaust novel by Irish novelist John Boyne. Much like the process he undertakes when writing most of his novels, Boyne has said that he wrote the entire first draft in two and a half days, without ...
Miracle at St. Anna
''Miracle at St. Anna'' is a 2008 AmericanItalian epic war film directed by Spike Lee and written by James McBride, based on McBride's 2003 novel of the same name. The film stars Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Pierfra ...
American Violet
''American Violet'' is a 2008 American drama film directed by Tim Disney and starring Nicole Beharie. The story is based on Regina Kelly, a victim of Texas police drug enforcement tactics.
Plot
Set in the midst of the 2000 presidential election, ...
Invictus
"Invictus" is a short poem by the Victorian era British poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903). It was written in 1875 and published in 1888 in his first volume of poems, ''Book of Verses'', in the section ''Life and Death (Echoes)''.
Backgr ...
The Stoning of Soraya M.
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, director = Cyrus Nowrasteh
, producer = Stephen McEveety John ShepherdTodd BurnsDiane Hendricks
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The Yes Men Fix the World
''The Yes Men Fix the World'' is a 2009 English language documentary film about the culture jamming exploits of The Yes Men. The film premiered in New York City and Los Angeles on October 23, 2009 and in other U.S. cities beginning on October 30. D ...
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2010s
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My Name Is Khan
''My Name Is Khan'', is a 2010 social drama film directed by Karan Johar and written by Shibani Bathija and lyricist Niranjan Iyengar. It was produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Gauri Khan under their production companies, Dharma Productions and ...
The Ghost Writer
''The Ghost Writer'' is a 1979 novel by the American author Philip Roth. It is the first of Roth's novels narrated by Nathan Zuckerman, one of the author's putative fictional alter egos, and constitutes the first book in his ''Zuckerman Bound'' ...
Princess Ka'iulani
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
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Shake Hands with the Devil ''Shake Hands with the Devil'' may refer to:
* ''Shake Hands with the Devil'' (1959 film), American drama set in 1921 Ireland
* ''Shake Hands with the Devil'' (album), Kris Kristofferson 1979 release on Monument Records
* ''Shake Hands with the ...
5 Days of War
''5 Days of War'' is a 2011 action film directed by Renny Harlin. The story is about the Russo-Georgian War over the Russian-backed breakaway autonomous republic of South Ossetia in Georgia, including the events leading up to the conflict.
The ...
The Flowers of War
''The Flowers of War'' () is a 2011 Chinese-Hong Kong historical drama war film directed by Zhang Yimou, starring Christian Bale, Ni Ni, Zhang Xinyi, Tong Dawei, Atsuro Watabe, Shigeo Kobayashi and Cao Kefan. The film is based on a novella by Gel ...
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In Darkness In Darkness may refer to:
* ''In Darkness'' (2009 film), a 2009 Turkish film
* ''In Darkness'' (2011 film), a 2011 Polish film
* ''In Darkness'' (2018 film), a 2018 American film
* ''In Darkness'' (album), a 2013 album by German band Agathodaim ...
Machine Gun Preacher
''Machine Gun Preacher'' is a 2011 American biographical action drama film directed by Marc Forster and starring Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, and Michael Shannon. It tells the story of Sam Childers, a former gang biker turned preacher, and ...
For Greater Glory
''For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada'', also known as ''Cristiada'' and as ''Outlaws'', is a 2012 Epic film, epic historical war film, war drama film Young, James"''Cristiada'' welcomed in Durango" August 21, 2010, ''Variety'' direct ...
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Mulberry Child
''Mulberry Child'' is a 2011 documentary film that was written and directed by Susan Morgan Cooper, based on the book by the same name by Jian Ping. It had its world premiere on October 16, 2011 at the Heartland Film Festival and features Jacqueli ...
12 Years a Slave
''Twelve Years a Slave'' is an 1853 memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup as told to and written by David Wilson. Northup, a black man who was born free in New York state, details himself being tricked to go to Washington, D.C., ...
A Dark Truth
''A Dark Truth'' (also known as ''The Truth'') is a 2012 action thriller film directed and written by Damian Lee, and produced by Gary Howsam and Bill Marks. The film stars Andy García, Kim Coates, Deborah Kara Unger, Eva Longoria and Forest Whi ...
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Out in the Dark
''Out in the Dark'' ( he, עלטה) is a 2012 Israeli romantic drama film which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012 and in Israel in the Haifa International Film Festival in October 2012. It is the directorial d ...
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A River Changes Course
''A River Changes Course'' is a 2013 documentary by Kalyanee Mam. The film explores the damage rapid development has wrought in her native Cambodia on both a human and environmental level. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on ...
Devil's Knot
''Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three'' is a 2002 true crime book by Mara Leveritt, about the 1993 murders of three eight-year-old children and the subsequent trials of three teenagers charged with and convicted of the crimes ...
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Difret
''Difret'' is a 2014 Ethiopian drama film written and directed by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari. The film had its premiere in-competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival where it won the World Cinematic Dramatic Audience Award. Angelina Jolie se ...
The Monuments Men
''The Monuments Men'' is a 2014 war film directed by George Clooney and written and produced by Clooney and Grant Heslov. The film stars an ensemble cast including Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh ...
Rosewater
Rose water ( fa, گلاب) is a flavoured water made by steeping rose petals in water. It is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume. Rose water is also used to flavour ...
Walking with the Enemy
''Walking with the Enemy'' is a 2014 American action drama film directed by Mark Schmidt, and scripted by Kenny Golde and Mark Schmidt. The film stars Jonas Armstrong, Ben Kingsley, Simon Kunz, Hannah Tointon, Simon Dutton, Burn Gorman, and Char ...
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Suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
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Dukhtar
''Dukhtar'' (; ) is a 2014 Pakistani drama-thriller film directed by Afia Nathaniel. The film stars Samiya Mumtaz, Mohib Mirza, Saleha Aref, Asif Khan, Ajab Gul and Samina Ahmad. The film is Afia Nathaniel's feature directorial debut; she also ...
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Freeheld
''Freeheld'' is a 2015 American drama film directed by Peter Sollett and written by Ron Nyswaner. The film stars Julianne Moore, Elliot Page, Michael Shannon, Steve Carell, and Luke Grimes. It is based on the 2007 documentary short film of the ...
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Labyrinth of Lies
''Labyrinth of Lies'' (german: Im Labyrinth des Schweigens) is a 2014 German drama film directed by Giulio Ricciarelli. Based on true events, it was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festiv ...
Son of Saul
''Son of Saul'' ( hu, Saul fia) is a 2015 Hungarian historical drama film directed by László Nemes, in his feature directorial debut, and co-written by Nemes and Clara Royer. It is set in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, a ...
The Danish Girl
''The Danish Girl'' is a novel by American writer David Ebershoff, published in 2000 by the Viking Press in the United States and Allen & Unwin in Australia.
Summary
The novel is a fictionalized account of the life of Lili Elbe, one of the fir ...
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The Stanford Prison Experiment
The Stanford prison experiment (SPE) was a psychological experiment conducted in the summer of 1971. It was a two-week simulation of a prison environment that examined the effects of situational variables on participants' reactions and behav ...
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Stonewall
Stonewall or Stone wall may refer to:
* Stone wall, a kind of masonry construction
* Stonewalling, engaging in uncooperative or delaying tactics
* Stonewall riots, a 1969 turning point for the modern LGBTQ rights movement in Greenwich Village, Ne ...
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Straight Outta Compton
''Straight Outta Compton'' is the debut studio album by rap group N.W.A, which, led by Eazy-E, formed in Los Angeles County's City of Compton in early 1987. Released by his label, Ruthless Records, on August 8, 1988, the album was produced b ...
Loving
Loving may refer to:
* Love, a range of human emotions
* Loving (surname)
* ''Loving v. Virginia'', a 1967 landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case
Film and television
* ''Loving'' (1970 film), an American film
* ''Loving'' (1 ...
Battle of the Sexes
Battle of the Sexes refers to a conflict between men and women.
Battle of the Sexes may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Battle of the Sexes'' (1914 film), American film directed by D. W. Griffith
* ''Battle of the Sexes'' (1920 film), a 1920 Germa ...
LBJ
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
Trafficked
''Trafficked'' is a 2017 American thriller drama film directed by Will Wallace and starring Ashley Judd, Sean Patrick Flanery and Anne Archer.
Plot
In California, Sara is eighteen and has to leave her foster home; she is offered training to be a ...
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A United Kingdom
''A United Kingdom'' is a 2016 biographical romantic drama film directed by Amma Asante and written by Guy Hibbert, based on the true-life romance of Seretse Khama, heir to the throne of the Bangwato Tribe in Serowe – one of many tribes f ...
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The Zookeeper's Wife
The Zookeeper's Wife is a non-fiction book written by the poet and naturalist Diane Ackerman. Drawing on the diary of Antonina Żabińska, unpublished in English (though published in Polish in 1968), it recounts the true story of how Antonina an ...
55 Steps
''55 Steps'' is a 2017 German-Belgian drama film directed by Bille August and starring Helena Bonham Carter, Hilary Swank, and Jeffrey Tambor. The film is based on the true story of Eleanor Riese.
Premise
The story is about a woman committed to ...
Ashes in the Snow
''Ashes in the Snow'' is a World War II drama film based on ''The New York Times'' best selling novel ''Between Shades of Gray'' by Ruta Sepetys. The film is a coming-of-age tale of a young teenager named Lina who, with her mother and younger b ...
Saint Judy
''Saint Judy'' is an American biographical drama film directed by Sean Hanish about Judy Wood, an immigration attorney who changed the law on granting asylum in the United States to save the lives of women. It stars Michelle Monaghan and Alfred M ...
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2020s
*2020
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The Banker
''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by ''The Financial Times'' Ltd. and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding Editor, Brend ...
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Burden
Burden or burthen may refer to:
People
* Burden (surname), people with the surname Burden
Places
* Burden, Kansas, United States
* Burden, Luxembourg
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Burden'' (2018 film), an American drama film
* ' ...
Hive
A hive may refer to a beehive, an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species live and raise their young.
Hive or hives may also refer to:
Arts
* ''Hive'' (game), an abstract-strategy board game published in 2001
* "Hive" (song), a 201 ...
Wife of a Spy
is a 2020 Japanese spy drama film directed and co-written by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Starring Yū Aoi and Issey Takahashi, the film is set in Japan during World War II, and centers on a wife who starts suspecting that her husband may be a spy for th ...
Argentina, 1985
''Argentina, 1985'' is a 2022 Argentine historical legal drama film produced and directed by Santiago Mitre. Written by Mitre and Mariano Llinás, it stars Ricardo Darín, Peter Lanzani, Alejandra Flechner and Norman Briski. The film follows ...
Political Film Society Award for Democracy
The Political Film Society Award for democracy is given out each year to a film that promotes, educates, and raises the awareness level of the public in the specific areas of democracy and freedom. This award has been handed out by the Society ...
Political Film Society Award for Peace
The Political Film Society Award for Peace is awarded annually by the Political Film Society Award to a film that deals with the struggle for peace in both fictional and non-fictional stories. The award has been made by the Society since 1987. The ...