Movies and shows about activists

[sasha_feather]

Movies and shows about activists that I have seen and recommend:

United in Anger - ACT UP documentary, free on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrAzU79PBVM

How to Survive a Plague - documentary about ACT UP. Apple TV, Amazon Prime.

BPM (beats per minute), French fictional film about ACT UP Paris. I got this from the library IIRC. One of my favorite films of all time.

Rūrangi - Hulu. 2 short seasons.
This doesn't exactly focus on activism but the characters are involved with activism in one way or another. Indigenous, New Zealand, queer and trans.

Pride. Fictional film, based on Lesbians and Gays support the miners (LGSM) in England in the early 80s. Unions yay! Coalition building! On Amazon Prime.

The times of Harvey Milk - doc. Made in 1984. I liked this more than the biopic because it gets into his politics and why he was a successful organizer. HBO Max or the library.

Crip Camp - Netflix documentary about ADAPT, disability activist group that led to the ADA. ETA: it's about organizers working prior to ADAPT, free on youtube, see comments to this post.

Drunk History, episode about ADAPT. I think it is episode 5.05
Free on Comedy Central: https://www.cc.com/video/2p86bg/drunk-history-judy-heumann-fights-for-people-with-disabilities
Article about this ep: https://themighty.com/topic/disability/drunk-history-highlights-section-504-sit-ins-for-disability-rights/

Ones that I don't really remember but I think I liked:

Brother Outsider, PBS documentary about Bayard Rustin, a gay civil rights organizer. There is an upcoming biopic about him called "Rustin".
Before Stonewall and After Stonewall, 2 documentaries.

ETA, Norma Rae,
about union organizing. Hulu and Amazon Prime. 

ETA, Salt of the Earth, available legally on YouTube / public domain.

Comments

Minor corrections

[jesse_the_k]

Crip Camp is indeed a great story of activism. Its primary focus are events before ADAPT formed in 1983. The disabled kids who attended Camp Jenned in the 1960s made life-long connections. These ties enabled organizing nationally to force the US government to actually enforce section 504, a disability rights law passed in 1973.

entire Crip Camp movie free on YouTube with pro captions

and

entire Crip Camp movie free on YouTube with audio description

I did view a history of ADAPT film at the OSU/SDS conference, but I can't seem to find the names of its creators or any more detail.

Re: Minor corrections

[sasha_feather]

Thank you!! Memory LOL

Re: Minor corrections

[jesse_the_k]

also single-minded perseverance yields results!

The ADAPT movie is finished. It's called PISS ON PITY: We Will Ride https://vimeo.com/ondemand/pop1/310826193 30-day rental costs 99 cents.

Re: Minor corrections

[sasha_feather]

You and I also watched that one about the British couple who were involved in direct action disability activism. There was some stand up comedy or musical portion? They split up at the end of the film. It was based on a true story and the real people showed up at the end.

Re: Minor corrections

[jesse_the_k]

That Netflix/BBC movie is Then Barbara Met Alan. Barbara does standup, Alan (performing as Johnny Crescendo) does punk growling with guitar.

[bibliofile]

Thank you for this list. I've heard of only some of these; it's always good to learn more.

[sasha_feather]

If you end up watching any, I'd love to know what you think!