This list of films is organized by format (streaming video databases and DVDs) and genre (feature films and documentaries). It is not a list of all the available films that explore diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism, but rather a list of streaming video databases and representative DVD titles that are available through the UNC Libraries. To find films related to your interests, search the Libraries Catalog by keyword, author, or title and limit the format to streaming media or DVD recording.
The 24th
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William Boston has just joined the all-black 24th infantry of the United States Army. A natural leader, Boston quickly rises within his troop and is looked up to by the others. When the men are sent to the South, where racism runs rampant in a merciless community, the troop is pushed to their limit. After endless brutal acts of violence, Boston and the men turn their fear and rage against the city, inciting one of the deadliest riots in history.
Dear White People
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A sharp and funny comedy about a group of African-American students as they navigate campus life and racial boundaries at a predominately white college. A sly, provocative satire about being a black face in a white place.
Encanto
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The Madrigals live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift from super strength to the power to heal, every child except one, Mirabel. But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her exceptional family's last hope.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
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Evelyn Wang, a flustered immigrant mother, is contacted from a parallel universe and told that only she can save the world. The unlikely hero must learn to channel her newfound powers and fight through the splintering timelines of the multiverse to save her home, her family, and herself in this big-hearted and irreverent adventure.
If Beale Street Could Talk
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A timeless love story set in early 1970s Harlem involving newly engaged nineteen-year- old Tish and her fiance Fonny who have a beautiful future ahead. But their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit. Now the pair and their families must fight for justice in the name of love and the promise of the American dream.
In the Heights
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The likeable, magnetic bodega owner Usnavi saves every penny from his daily grind as he hopes, imagines, and sings about a better life. Meanwhile, his tight-knit community faces the challenge of gentrification, losing their homes while trying to better themselves and hold on to their cultures.
Pariah
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The revelatory and assured feature debut by Dee Rees is a coming-of-age tale of a queer Black woman navigating the expression of her gender and sexual identities, built around a beautifully layered performance from Adepero Oduye.
Pájaros de verano = Birds of Passage
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The origins of the Colombian drug trade, as seen through eyes of an indigenous Wayuu family that becomes involved in the booming business of selling marijuana to American youth in the 1970s. When greed, passion and honor collide, a fratricidal war breaks out and puts their lives, culture, and ancestral traditions at stake.
Roma
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With his eighth and most personal film, Alfonso Cuarón recreated the early 1970s Mexico City of his childhood, narrating a tumultuous period in the life of a middle-class family through the experiences of Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio, in a revelatory screen debut), the indigenous domestic worker who keeps the household running. Charged with the care of four small children abandoned by their father, Cleo tends to the family even as her own life is shaken by personal and political upheavals. Written, directed, shot, and coedited by Cuarón, Roma is a labor of love with few parallels in the history of cinema, deploying monumental black-and-white cinematography, an immersive soundtrack, and a mitxture of professional and nonprofessional performances to shape its author's memories into a world of enveloping texture, and to pay tribute to the woman who nurtured him.
Sound of Metal
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Darius Marder's Academy Award-winning film stars Riz Ahmed in an intense, committed performance as a drummer who loses his hearing and comes to discover deafness not as a disability but as a rich culture and community.
Antisemitism
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This documentary masterfully traces the history of antisemitism and its effects, from cartoon-like medieval church iconography showing Jews with funnels on their heads to WWII propaganda comparing Jews to rats and new-Nazis marching in the streets of modern day France. While it takes a broad, sweeping approach, Ziv maintains a steadfast focus on human stories.
Asian Americans
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This five-part series traces the story of Asian Americans, spanning 150 years of immigration, racial politics, international relations, and cultural innovation. It is a timely, clear-eyed look at the vital role that Asian Americans have played in defining who we are as a nation. Their stories are a celebration of the grit and resilience of a people that reflects the experience of all Americans.
Dolores
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Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century--and she continues to fight to this day, at 87.
Photos of Angie
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This documentary chronicles the life and murder of Angie Zapata, a transgender teen who was murdered in Colorado in 2008.
The Pushouts
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"I was in prison before I was even born." So begins the story of Dr. Victor Rios who, by 15, was a high school dropout and gang member with three felony convictions and a death wish. But when a teacher's quiet persistence, a mentor's moral conviction, and his best friend's murder converge, Rios's path takes an unexpected turn. Through Rios's personal lens and its interplay with the stories of the young people of Yo!Watts, The Pushouts interrogates crucial questions of race, class, and power - and the promise and perils of education - at a particularly urgent time.
Sisters Rising
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Sisters Rising is the story of six Native American women fighting to restore personal and tribal sovereignty in the face of ongoing sexual violence against Indigenous women in the United States. Native American women are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault than all other American women. 1 in 3 Native women report having been raped during her lifetime and 86% of the offenses are committed by non-Native men. These perpetrators exploit gaps in tribal jurisdictional authority and target Native women as 'safe victims' with near-impunity. Sisters rising is an urgent call to action, a gorgeous portrait of powerful women acting in solidarity, and a demand for tribal sovereignty and self-determination as the necessary step to ending violence against Native women.
Stumped
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Will Lautzenheiser was chasing the loves of his life. A year into a promising relationship, he landed a dream job teaching film at Montana State University. After his first two classes, Will visited the hospital for what he assumed was a painful muscle pull. He had no idea that pain was being caused by a life-threatening bacterial infection. When Will's organs started shutting down, and his limbs began dying, doctors amputated his arms and legs to save his life. Will's world, as he knew it, would never be the same.Taking an unconventional approach to therapy, Will begins to perform stand-up comedy, a creative outlet that helps Will cope with his losses.
Summer of Soul (...or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
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In his acclaimed debut as a filmmaker, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson presents a powerful and transporting documentary, part music film, part historical record, created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture, and fashion. Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, just one hundred miles south of Woodstock, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park). The footage was largely forgotten, until now. This documentary shines a light on the importance of history to our spiritual well-being and stands as a testament to the healing power of music during times of unrest, both past, and present. The feature includes concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, The 5th Dimension, and more.
Symbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chican@ Movement
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Symbols of Resistance illuminates the untold stories of the Chican@ Movement with a focus on events in Colorado and New Mexico. The film engages student activists, the effect of police repression, and how issues of identity, land, and community still resonate in the Chican@ struggles of today. Through interviews with those who shaped the movement and rare historical footage, Symbols of Resistances offers a window into a dynamic moment in history and movement building.
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America
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Interweaving lecture, personal anecdotes, interviews, and shocking revelations, lawyer Jeffery Robinson draws a stark timeline of anti-Black racism in the United States, from slavery to the modern myth of a post-racial America.
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