50+ Movie Ideas for Development Workers
Have a movie night coming up, and want to watch a movie with a take-away? If you’re an aspiring development worker or missionary, there are a lot of films with lessons and ideas which will make watching it worthwhile. Here are four lists categorized by documentaries on broad social issues, documentaries on specific people or situations, movies based on or inspired by true stories, and fiction movies. Remember to use discernment and openness to God as you explore concepts that may be foreign, surprising, or even jarring to you. I recommend watching them with friends so that you can dialogue together about what you find!
13 Documentaries on Social Issues
Documentaries on social issues can be great introductions to topics as the filmmakers gather lots of research and information and then craft it together in a way that is informative and interesting. They are beneficial for bringing awareness and teaching aspects of social issues that may exist in your community or other communities throughout the world. However, don’t forget documentaries still have an agenda they are trying to push, and thus they may not always tell both sides of the story. This is why it’s important to do further research and gain other perspectives as well, and not simply believe we are experts on a topic simply because we watched a documentary. We should use discernment when we watch, and of course, view everything through a biblical lens. With that said, here are 15 documentaries on various social issues that are good to be aware of if you plan to be a development worker:
The Up Series (1964-) [Psychology / Aging]
The Century of Self (2002) [Psychology / Society]
The Corporation (2003) [Legal Rights of Corporations]
An Inconvenient Truth (2006) [Climate Change]
Food Inc. (2008) [Food Production]
The Business of Being Born (2008) [Birth and Maternal Health]
The End of Poverty? (2008) [Poverty]
Not My Life (2011) [Human Trafficking / Modern Slavery]
Half the Sky (2012) [The Oppression of Women]
Poverty Inc. (2014) [The Business of Relief Organizations]
True Cost (2015) [Fast Fashion]
13th (2016) [Race & Incarceration]
The Social Dilemma (2020) [Social Media]
13 Documentaries Following Specific People / Situations
While some documentaries cover large societal issues, others give insight by focusing on specific situations or people. The following documentaries may be smaller in focus, but in doing so are able to highlight certain realities of situations and serve as case studies for a variety of community and social issues.
Lost Boys of Sudan (2003) [Sudan]
Born Into Brothels (2004) [India]
Darwin’s Nightmare (2004) [Tanzania]
Jesus Camp (2006) [America / North Dakota]
God Grew Tired of Us (2006) [Sudan/America]
Pray the Devil Back to Hell (2008) [Liberia]
Prisoners of a White God (2008) [Thailand]
Which Way Home (2009) [Mexico]
The Interrupters (2011) [America / Chicago]
The Central Park 5 (2012) [America / New York]
On the Way to School (2013) [Kenya / Argentina / Morocco / India]
Living on One Dollar (2013) [Guatemala]
The Overnighters (2014) [America / North Dakota]
The Heart of Nuba (2016) [Sudan]
Good Fortune (2016) [America / California]
In My Blood It Runs (2019) [Australia]
The Kingmaker (2019) [Philippines]
20 Movies Based on or Inspired by True Stories
Movies based on true stories can be heart wrenching, eye-opening, or even inspirational. Seeing dramatizations of real stories helps the viewer feel more invested into the characters, while still allowing them to pick up on themes or lessons. These films can be a springboard for dialogue on a variety of topics, but all of which will hopefully be beneficial for how one considers ideas related to community development.
Lean on Me (1989) [PG-13]
Patch Adams (1998) [PG-13]
To End All Wars (2001) [R - Violence and Some Language]
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) [PG]
Osama (2003) [PG-13]
Hotel Rwanda (2004) [PG-13]
Defiance (2006) [R - Violence and Language]
The Great Debaters (2007) [PG-13]
Freedom Writers (2007) [PG-13]
The Help (2011) [PG-13]
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013) [PG-13]
Selma (2014) [PG-13]
The Good Lie (2014) [PG-13]
Queen of Katwe (2016) [PG]
Hidden Figures (2016) [PG]
Pele (2016) [PG]
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019) [PG]
Dark Waters (2019) [PG-13]
12 Fiction Movies
Even if they may not be based on true stories, fiction movies can still give us a lot to think about, and many even portray scenarios quite realistically, allowing viewers to gain insight on specific types of situations. However, while some fiction movies seek to make a moving narrative, they may do so at the expense of perpetuating negative stereotypes of certain people groups or focusing the narrative on the “white savior.” It does not mean there is nothing to glean from films which may do so (whether deliberately or in ignorance), but don’t forget to take into account the wider scope of a film, and how it is trying to shape the audience’s worldview by the way it portrays characters or events.
The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980) [PG]
The Mission (1986) [PG]
Dangerous Minds (1995) [R - Language]
Water (2005) [PG-13]
Gran Torino (2008) [R - Language & Some Violence]
Three Idiots (2009) [PG-13]
District 9 (2009) [R - Language & Violence]
Trash (2014) [R - Violence & Language]
Silence (2016) [R - Violent Content]
Hichki (2018) [Not Rated]
