LibGuides: Free Speech and Expression: Films

Docuseek (Streaming)

[CENSORED]. “Birth, sex and violence were cut from films by the Australian Censorship Board from 1958-1971 and went unseen...until now.”
Blowback: The 9/11 Wars in Global Film. “Using films about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as examples, BLOWBACK explores how movies shape our understanding of the wars that are fought in our name.”
Democracy on Deadline. “If, as the saying goes, information is power, then journalists can be seen as watchdogs of our government leaders and custodians of the public good, providing truthful information to help citizens build or preserve democratic societies. DEMOCRACY ON DEADLINE is a comprehensive look at journalists worldwide, working in different media and various languages, as they attempt to speak truth to power.”
Guardian. “GUARDIAN is a cautionary tale about the role of science in environmental decision-making and the repercussions of its censorship.”
Ithaka. “The campaign to free Julian Assange takes on intimate dimensions in this portrait of a father's fight to save his son.”
Propaganda: The Manufacture of Consent. “How do you control people in a democracy? A handful of thinkers developed the first tools of persuasion in 1914 because World War I had to be promoted in the United States. In less than 50 years, they would create one of the most booming industries of our time: public relations.”
Riot in the Matrix. “Why do data protection activists bother? What do they seek to achieve and who supports them? Their opponents, as their allies, often are in unexpected positions. The film explores the world of a community of well-connected activists who, with cleverness, wit and persistence, stand up to presumed almighty opponents. They are concerned with nothing less than the protection of privacy, the freedom of expression and therewith, democracy itself.”
Secrecy. “In a single recent year the U.S. classified about five times the number of pages added to the Library of Congress. We live in a world where the production of secret knowledge dwarfs the production of open knowledge. Depending on whom you ask, government secrecy is either the key to victory in our struggle against terrorism, or our Achilles heel. But is so much secrecy a bad thing?”
Selling Lies. “In 2016, an army of teenagers in Macedonia discovered a wildly lucrative game of posting false political clickbait news articles on Facebook for profit. By creating websites leading up to the presidential election that published sensationalized and misleading news stories about American politics, they generated a massive income and influenced the election. SELLING LIES offers a rare glimpse inside the secret network behind these websites, including one notorious ringleader whose social media reach had vast implications on American readers, and explores how disinformation campaigns are continuing to strongly impact the U.S. today leading into the 2020 presidential election.”
Shadows of Liberty. “Uses shocking examples of cover-ups and censorship by the US media to show how a few mega corporations exercise control over the content of our news.”
Silence Is Gold. “What are the limits to freedom of speech? Can we put a price on our spoken and written words? Following the 2008 release of the book Noir Canada, author Alain Deneault, his co-writers and his publisher, Éditions Écosociété, grappled with these questions -- at great personal expense -- after being sued for defamation in Quebec and Ontario courts by two large Canadian mining companies. Deneault and his publisher fought back, becoming entangled in a seemingly never-ending spiral of judicial proceedings.”
To Tell the Truth: The Strategy of Truth. “Examines documentary filmmaking during World War II and how it was used as propaganda.”
Town Destroyer. “A high profile battle erupts over images of African American slaves and Native Americans in New Deal-era murals at a San Francisco high school.”
The War You Don’t See. “John Pilger's powerful and timely investigation into the media's role in war.”
Zone of Silence. “Zone of Silence brings together the voices of five Cuban creators - poet Pedro Juan Guttierez, film director Fernando Perez, musician Frank Delgado, film critic and professor Gustavo Arco, and poet and playwright Anton Arrufat - in a wide-ranging and frank discussion on censorship.”

Kanopy (Streaming)

The Lord is Not on Trial Here Today. “THE LORD IS NOT ON TRIAL HERE TODAY is a Peabody Award-winning documentary that tells the compelling personal story of the late Vashti McCollum, and how her efforts to protect her ten year-old son led to one of the most important and landmark First Amendment cases in U.S. Supreme Court history - the case that established the separation of church and state in public schools. The case is little-known by the contemporary American public, yet the McCollum decision continues to have important ramifications for current conflicts over the role of religion in public institutions - from displays of the Ten Commandments in government buildings to student-led prayers at public school graduation ceremonies.”
Tell the Truth and Run. “The Academy-Award-nominated Tell The Truth and Run, is the dramatic story of muckraking journalist George Seldes, and a piercing look at censorship and suppression in America's news media.”
Trust Me. “TRUST ME is a feature-length documentary exploring human nature, information technology, and the need for media literacy to help people trust one another, bring them together and create a more resilient population.”

on DVD

Cinema Paradiso. “The story of an Italian boy's love of the movies, and of the projectionist who teaches him the secrets of movie-making.” Described by the American Library Association as “[a] subtle tale that explores the unacceptability of censorship.”
Freedom of Expression. “This provocative and amusing documentary...explores the legal and ethical battles being waged in courts, classrooms, museums, film studios, and the Internet over control of our cultural commons.”
Howl. “Allen Ginsberg recounts the road trips, love affairs, and search for personal liberation that led to the most timeless, electrifying, and controversial work of his career. Pushing the limits and challenging the mainstream, the passionate and provocative Howl and its publisher find themselves on trial for obscenity, with prosecutor Ralph McIntosh setting out to have the book banned, while defense attorney Jake Ehrlich fervently argues for freedom of speech and creative expression.”
Inherit the Wind. “A small Tennessee town gained national attention in 1925 when a biology schoolteacher was arrested for violating state law and teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in the classroom.”
Inside Deep Throat. “Looks at the social and political firestorm ignited by the sexually explicit film Deep throat as it was banned in twenty-three states, the government tried to prevent people from seeing it, and feminists and others protested it.”
The Most Dangerous Man in America. “Documents the efforts of Pentagon official and Vietnam War strategist Daniel Ellsberg to leak top secret government documents to the New York Times to inform the public of government actions concerning the war.

Alexander Street Press (Streaming)

Academic freedom prevents us from getting trapped in circles of delusion. “Without expressing and evaluating ideas, we would never be able to determine what's right or wrong.”
Academic freedom: What it is, what it isn’t and why there’s confusion. “Academic expression is neither free expression nor political, though it is connected to both. Because of this misunderstanding, academic expression is often attacked, not because of the quality of scholars' ideas, but because of scholars' audacity in sharing them. The Scholars at Risk network is working to ensure that academics of all stripes have the academic freedom they need to pursue their work. In this video, Robert Quinn stresses that this is not a left/right issue, nor is it something that's only happening halfway across the world, and he explains why it's so important to defend academic freedom.”
Censorship or Selection: Choosing Books for Public Schools. “This video presents a condensed version of a seminar that was given at the 1982 conference of the National School Boards Association. Among the topics discussed are selection, utilization, and removal of school library materials and whether students have the constitutional right to read. Participating in the discussion are professors, school board members, principals, teachers, authors, community activists, students and members of Moral Majority.”
The Crucible. “'The Crucible' is the all-star casted 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It's the dramatized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in 1692-93. An allegory for McCarthyism and its hearings in the early 1950's, Miller was questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and convicted of contempt of Congress in 1956 for refusing to provide the names.”
The Dark(er) Side of Media. “Propaganda! Misinformation! Disinformation! Today we're talking about the dark -- or, shall we say, darkER -- side of media. Understanding these media bogeymen is essential to being a more media literate citizen.”
The First Amendment and Hate Speech. “Fred Friendly hosts these programs on the Bill of Rights and its effect on the United States. Part of the Bicentennial Celebration of the Bill of Rights.”
Freedom of Assembly or Association. Short (3 min) explanation of the freedom of assembly or association.”
First Amendment Jurisprudence & Religion. “A distinguished panel covers the background and history of the 1st Amendment; Jefferson’s 'Wall of separation'; Religion as a fundamental right; the establishment clause; the 'Lemon Test' and how the court balances the state’s interest; the balancing test used in 1st Amendment Jurisprudence; recent court challenges – i.e. the Girl Scouts and the Mt. Soledad cases; why the 'Ten Commandments' removal from the Alabama Supreme Court is important; and is the 'Pledge' advancing religion.”
Freedom of Press. Short (3 min) explanation of the freedom of the press.
Freedom of Speech. Short (2 min) explanation of the freedom of speech.
Freedom of Speech. Short (7 min) newsreel interview about the freedom of speech.
The Internet’s Own Boy. “Programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz has his fingerprints all over the internet - he was integral to the development of the basic internet protocol RSS and co - founded the global social news and entertainment website Reddit. But it was Swartz's groundbreaking work in social justice and political organizing combined with his aggressive approach to information access that ensnared him in a two - year legal nightmare. It was a battle that ended with the taking of his own life at the age of 26.”
Nancy Giles on UCLA Student Video and Freedom of Speech. Short (3 min) Sunday Morning episode about the freedom of speech.
National Security and Freedom of the Press. “What right does the public have to know about national security issues? Former CIA director and secretary of defense James Schlesinger, former attorney general Griffin Bell, and others debate the issue.”
The right to know: How does censorship affect academics? “Academic freedom is what makes a university space work as a setting to develop students' capacities. It is the permission to think freely, and have contrarian discussions, that leads to new insights. There are whole zones of knowledge that we never get to because of intimidation put on academics: ‘We simply don't know what we haven't even thought to ask.’ Self-censorship, especially regarding sensitive topics, is the dark matter of the academic freedom universe. Out of fear of being attacked, or their families being harmed, some journalists and scholars will forego publishing their findings.”
The Satanic Verses vs. The First Amendment. “This panel discussion, directed by Bob Morris, features the growth of Islam among African-Americans in the United States and how the government and Black Christian church might react.”
School Prayer, Gun Control, and the Right To Assemble. “A series of events embroils a small town in First and Second Amendment controversies. Featured are Griffin Bell, former secretary of education Shirley Hufstedler, and civil liberties counsel Jeanne Baker.”
Why the First Amendment is America in a nutshell. “The ability to say what we want, when we want, is an important part of American democracy.”

Swank Digital Campus (Streaming)

1984. “An adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian tale set in a post-atomic war London—now capital of the futuristic, totalitarian state of Oceania—in which protagonist Winston Smith's job is to re-write history under the watchful gaze of "Big Brother" whose presence inhibits love and individualistic expression. Winston rebels by having an illicit love affair resulting in dire consequences.”
All the President’s Men. “Academy Award winners Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman star in this true story as Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, whose investigation of a seemingly minor hotel room break-in uncovers the greatest political scandal in United States history and leads to the downfall of President Richard Nixon.”
Citizenfour. “A reporter and a filmmaker meet with whistle-blower Edward Snowden, who wants to release documents related to the NSA's surveillance program.”
Fahrenheit 451 (2018). “Adaptation of Ray Bradbury's dystopian 1953 novel about a brutal totalitarian society in which books are not only banned, but burned, and all history, art, photos and facts are deleted or altered.”
Fahrenheit 451 (1966). “Francois Truffaut's interpretation of the Ray Bradbury story about a brutal totalitarian society in which books are banned.”
The Front. “Howard, a cashier and small-time bookie, poses as a writer to sell scripts for blacklisted screenwriters during the McCarthy era. When threatened with allegations, Howard takes a stand.”
Good Night, and Good Luck. “A vivid chronicle of CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow's battle with Sen. Joseph McCarthy over his Communist witch-hunts in the 1950s.”
The Insider. “A TV producer seeks to expose a tobacco industry cover-up with the aid of an ex-research scientist, but winds up fighting a battle on multiple fronts when the network balks at airing the story.”
The People vs. Larry Flynt. “Porn publisher Larry Flynt's life is chronicled from early childhood to adulthood, when he wins a First Amendment case before the Supreme Court.”
Shouting Fire: Stories From the Edge of Free Speech. “Liz Garbus' provocative documentary examines the largely unpopular opinions that have pushed the boundaries of free speech in the United States. Cases include the New York Times' uphill struggle to publish the Pentagon Papers, the American Nazis' efforts to organize a march in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood and an embattled college professor whose belief that Americans played a role in provoking the 9/11 attacks may have prompted his dismissal from his school.”

Projectr (Streaming)

Stonebreakers. “Stonebreakers chronicles the conflicts around monuments that arose in the United States during the George Floyd protests and the 2020 presidential election and continue to reverbate in towns and cities across the country. As statues of Columbus, Confederates and Founding Fathers fall from their pedestals and triumphalist myths are called into question, this film interrogates the link between history and political action in a nation that must confront its past now more urgently than ever.”