Topic: Social Drama

Direction Charles Chaplin

Cast Charles Chaplin · Paulette Goddard · Henry Bergman · Chester Conklin

Synopsis In Modern Times (1936), Charlie Chaplin's iconic Tramp struggles to survive in an industrialized world. As a factory worker, he faces the dehumanizing effects of machinery and efficiency-driven labor. After a nervous breakdown, he embarks on a series of misadventures,...

Direction Frederick Wiseman

Synopsis Frederick Wiseman examines a wide diversity of welfare-related situations during the film’s 167 minutes. Areas covered include unemployment, housing, divorce, medical and psychiatric problems, concerns of the elderly, child abuse, and abandoned children.

Direction John Ford

Cast Henry Fonda · Jane Darwell · John Carradine · Charley Grapewin

Synopsis When Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) returns home after being released from prison, he discovers his family has been kicked out of their farm. Seeking a better future, he leaves with his mother (Jane Darwell) and the rest of the family...

Direction Luis Buñuel

Cast Alfonso Mejía · Roberto Cobo · Estela Inda · Miguel Inclán

Synopsis The Young and the Damned (1950) follows the lives of impoverished youths in the slums of Mexico City. The story centers on Pedro, a troubled boy caught between his desire for a better life and the harsh realities of his...

Direction Tony Kaye

Cast Edward Norton · Edward Furlong · Fairuza Balk · Stacy Keach

Synopsis American History X (1998) follows the story of Derek Vinyard, a former neo-Nazi leader, who is released from prison after serving time for a violent hate crime. Determined to prevent his younger brother, Danny, from following the same destructive path,...

Direction Mireia Sallarès

Direction Mario Camus

Cast Alfredo Landa · Francisco Rabal · Juan Diego · Terele Pávez

Synopsis In the 60s, somewhere in the Spanish countryside, Paco and his wife Régula are poor. Their lives are resignation, sacrifice and obedience as they work for a very wealthy landowner. Their fates are marked unless some unexpected event frees them.

Direction Bruno Stagnaro

Cast Rodrigo de la Serna · Diego Alonso Gómez · Ariel Staltari · Franco Tirri

Synopsis TV miniseries (2000). 11 episodes. Four young man with different backgrounds merge in the same house and have to face new experiences living in a stolen house, being prosecuted by the police and other gangs.

Direction Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Cast Gottfried John · Hanna Schygulla · Luise Ullrich · Werner Finck

Synopsis TV Miniseries (1972-1973). Five episodes. "Eight Hours are Not a Day" describes the problems and reality of the german society in the 70's, through the lives of a young man, his parents, the grandma and the rest of a working...

Direction Bong Joon-ho

Cast Song Kang-ho · Lee Seon-gyun · Jang Hye-jin · Cho Yeo-jeong

Synopsis Parasite (Gisaengchung) (2019) follows the struggling Kim family, who live in a cramped semi-basement and hustle to make ends meet. When the son, Ki-woo, lands a tutoring job for the wealthy Park family, he seizes the opportunity to infiltrate their...

Direction Jorge Furtado

Synopsis Isle of Flowers (S) (1989) is a thought-provoking Brazilian short film that blends documentary and satire to explore themes of poverty, inequality, and human dignity. The narrative follows a seemingly simple journey—a tomato's path from a farm to a landfill—but...

Direction Bill Bain · Christopher Hodson · Raymond Menmuir · Derek Bennett

Cast Gordon Jackson · David Langton · Jean Marsh · Angela Baddeley

Synopsis TV Series (1971-1975). 5 Seasons. 68 Episodes. The series follows the lives of both the family and the servants in the London townhouse at 165 Eaton Place. Richard Bellamy, the head of the household, is a member of Parliament, and...

Direction Roberto Gavaldón

Cast Ignacio López Tarso · Pina Pellicer · Enrique Lucero · Mario Alberto Rodríguez

Synopsis Macario is a poor, hungry peasant, with a wife and several children, who sells wood in the town. Fed up with a life full of hardships, Macario longs for a good meal. In an attempt to satisfy his wishes, his...

Direction Bahman Ghobadi

Cast Avaz Latif · Soran Ebrahim · Hirsh Feyssal · Saddam Hossein Feysal

Synopsis In Turtles Can Fly (2004), set on the Iraq-Turkey border, a group of Kurdish refugee children navigate the harsh realities of war. The story follows 13-year-old "Satellite," a clever and resourceful boy who organizes his peers to clear landmines for...

Direction Alejandro González Iñárritu

Cast Emilio Echevarría · Gael García Bernal · Goya Toledo · Alvaro Guerrero

Synopsis "Love Dogs (2000)" intertwines three gripping stories in Mexico City, linked by a tragic car accident and the lives of dogs. Octavio, a young man, enters his rottweiler into brutal fights to escape poverty and win his brother's wife. Valeria,...

Direction Robert Bresson

Cast Nadine Nortier · Jean-Claude Guilbert · Jean Vimenet · Marie Cardinal

Synopsis Mouchette is a young teenager living in the tough country. Her mother is going to die, and her father does not take care of her. Mouchette does not manage to express her rebellion against the humiliations she undergoes. One night,...

Direction Sergei M. Eisenstein

Cast Maksim Shtraukh · Grigori Aleksandrov · Mikhail Gomorov · Ivan Klyukvin

Synopsis In Russia's factory region during Czarist rule, there's restlessness and strike planning among workers; management brings in spies and external agents. When a worker hangs himself after being falsely accused of thievery, the workers strike. At first, there's excitement in...

Direction King Vidor

Cast Walter Miller · Sylvia Sidney · William Collier Jr. · Estelle Taylor

Synopsis Based on the pullitzer prize winning broadway play, Street scene is a study in the daily lives of people...

Direction Hirokazu Koreeda

Cast Yûya Yagira · Ayu Kitaura · Hiei Kimura · Momoko Shimizu

Synopsis Nobody Knows (2004) tells the poignant story of four siblings living in a Tokyo apartment, abandoned by their mother. The eldest, 12-year-old Akira, struggles to care for his younger brothers and sister while hiding their situation from the outside world....

Direction Walter Salles

Cast Fernanda Montenegro · Vinicius de Oliveira · Marilia Pêra · Soia Lira

Synopsis In Central Station (1998), Dora, a jaded retired teacher, writes letters for illiterate passengers at Rio de Janeiro's bustling train station. Her life changes when Josué, a young boy whose mother dies tragically, is left stranded. Reluctantly, Dora agrees to...