20 entertaining yet informative things to watch about women activists and politicians
Every March, the United States observes Women’s History Month and celebrates the contributions of women to events in history and society. Check out our watch list of film and TV stories about women and girls who changed the world!
Moxie (2021)
Logline: Inspired by her mom’s rebellious past and a confident new friend, a shy 16-year-old publishes an anonymous zine calling out sexism at her school.
Rating: PG-13
Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World (2021)
Logline: The 17-year-old’s environmental campaigning and her journey into adulthood.
Rating: Not Rated
Without a Whisper – Konnon: Kwe (2021)
Logline: This documentary uncovers the hidden history of the profound influence Indigenous women had on the beginnings of the women’s rights movement in the United States.
Rating: Not Rated
I Am Greta (2020)
Spotlight: Greta Thunberg
Logline: The documentary follows the teenage climate activist from Sweden on her international crusade to get people to listen to scientists about the world’s environmental problems.
Rating: Not Rated
Mrs. America (2020)
Spotlight: Phyllis Schlafly, Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, Jill Ruckelshaus, Brenda Feigen, Bella Abzug, Betty Friedan
Logline: Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly leads an unexpected fight against the Equal Rights Amendment movement during the 1970s.
Rating: TV-MA
Represent (2020)
Logline: In the heart of the American Midwest, three women take on entrenched political systems in their fight to reshape local politics on their own terms.
Rating: Not Rated
Hillary (2020)
Logline: A look at the life and work of Hillary Rodham Clinton, interweaving biographical chapters of her life with behind-the-scenes footage from her 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.
Rating: Not Rated
Knock Down the House (2019)
Spotlight: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, Paula Jean Swearengin
Logline: Four working class women run for Congress, overcoming adversity to battle powerful political machines in very different American landscapes.
Rating: PG
RBG (2018)
Logline: The exceptional life and career of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has developed a breathtaking legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon.
Rating: PG
On the Basis of Sex (2018)
Logline: The true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her struggles for equal rights, and the early cases of a historic career that lead to her nomination and confirmation as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.
Rating: PG-13
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017)
Logline: Victoria Cruz investigates the mysterious 1992 death of black gay rights activist and Stonewall veteran, Marsha P. Johnson using archival interviews with Johnson and new interviews with Johnson’s family, friends and fellow activists.
Rating: Not Rated
He Named Me Malala (2015)
Logline: A look at the events leading up to the Taliban’s attack on Pakistani schoolgirl, Malala Yousafzai, for speaking out on girls’ education followed by the aftermath, including her speech to the United Nations.
Rating: PG-13
Women in Politics (Makers: Women Who Make America) (2014)
Spotlight: Hillary Clinton, Barbara Mikulski, Olympia Snowe, Shirley Chisholm, Rashida Tlaib, Raquel Castaneda-Lopez, Elizabeth Warren, Susan Collins, Tulsi Gabbard
Logline: “Makers: Women in Politics” profiles women in public office who were “firsts” in their fields.
Rating: PG-13
Betty & Coretta (2013)
Spotlight: Betty Shabazz, Coretta Scott King
Logline: The widows of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and how they carry on as single mothers after the assassination of their husbands.
Rating: Not Rated
Gloria: In Her Own Words (2011)
Logline: A vivid portrait of Gloria Steinem whose career as a journalist and a pivotal member of the feminist movement has left an indelible mark.
Rating: Not Rated
Walkout (2006)
Spotlight: 1968 East Los Angeles school walkouts
Logline: A teacher becomes a mentor to Chicano high-school students protesting injustices in schools in 1968.
Rating: TV-14
For One Night (2006)
Spotlight: Gerica McCrary, 2002 Taylor County High School prom integration
Logline: Based on a true story, this touching story depicts a high-school girl’s struggle to put an end to the decade-old tradition of racially segregated proms at her school.
Rating: TV-14
Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed (2004)
Logline: A documentary on Brooklyn-based Congresswoman Shirley’s Chisholm’s 1972 presidential bid.
Rating: Not Rated
Selma, Lord, Selma (1999)
Logline: The film tells the story of Bloody Sunday through the eyes of an 11-year-old African-American girl named Sheyann Webb.
Rating: G
The Long Walk Home (1990)
Spotlight: 1955 Montgomery bus boycott
Logline: Two women, black and white, in 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, must decide what they are going to do in response to the famous bus boycott led by Martin Luther King.
Rating: PG
