Poll: Inspirational Women's History Humanitarian Biopics
Each March in the USA, we recognize female achievements during Women's History Month. Biographical movies are a great way to educate the public about landmark events in the struggle for gender equality. At the same time, these movies honor and celebrate each woman's achievement with the star power they deserve. Bios Source: Wikipedia.com In honor of these trailblazing women: Which of these female humanitarians* who championed social change or justice inspires you the most, or alternatively their biopic does? * Political Activist, Social or Human Rights Champions, Humanitarians, Whistle-Blowers, Rebels, Etc. Women's History Month Companion Polls Leader Biopics : Trailblazer Biopics : Humanitarian Biopics : Sports Biopics : Writer Biopics : Singer/Musician Biopics : Visual Artist Biopics : Performance Artist Biopics Discuss the topic here.
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The Letters (2014)
Mother Theresa: Religious Order Founder, the Saint and Nobel Peace Prize winner founded Missionaries of Charity. Her order with 4500 sisters serving in 133 countries touches millions of the world's poorest souls. Alternate Biopics: Mother Teresa (2003), Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor (1997) -
Suffragette (2015)
Emmeline Pankhurst and British Suffragettes: Political Activists, helped women win the right to vote in Britain and set in motion a shift in society that would change everything. -
Dead Man Walking (1995)
Helen Prejean: Roman Catholic Nun, a leading advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. She ministers to inmates on death row. She also founded Survive, an organization devoted to counseling the families of victims of violence. -
The Blind Side (2009)
Leigh Anne Tuohy: Hero Mother, she showed making a big difference in the world can start by forever changing the course of one life. -
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)
Sophie Scholl: Anti-Nazi Political Activist, a German national who stood up to Hitler and was executed for high treason. Her resistance group, the White Rose tried to stop the Nazis by exposing their atrocities to the German people and marshaling a movement of passive resistance. -
Fair Game (2010)
Valerie Plame: CIA Operative, a central figure in "Plamegate" scandal that would rock the White House. She and her husband uncovered hard evidence against the justification for the war in Iraq and bravely exposed it as the lie it was. -
Erin Brockovich (2000)
Erin Brockovich: Environmental Activist, the legal clerk was instrumental in securing a record breaking legal judgment against Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), despite no formal legal training. -
Iron Jawed Angels (2004)
Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and American Suffragettes: Political Activists, helped women win the right to vote in America and set in motion a shift in society that would change everything. Alternate American Suffragettes Biopic: True Women (1997) -
The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
Antonina Zabinski: Hero Author, she and her husband rescued, sheltered, fed and cared for hundreds of Jews in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Both were active members in the Polish underground during the war and helped undermine the Nazi's hold on Warsaw. -
Silkwood (1983)
Karen Silkwood:, Chemical Technician and Labor Activist, her activism and death highlighted the cover-up of poor corporate health and worker safety practices in the nuclear industry. -
Neerja (2016)
Neerja Bhanot: Hero Stewardess, her courage against terrorism helped save the lives of 359 passengers and posthumously earned her India's highest peacetime award for bravery. -
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (2009)
Irene Sendler: Hero Nurse, she smuggled 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto, saving them from the Holocaust. She saved more Jews than any other individual during the Holocaust, aside from a few diplomats who helped Jews flee Nazi-occupied Europe by issuing them exit visas. -
The Whistleblower (2010)
Kathryn Bolkovac: Police Detective, she uncovered sex trafficking as a UN contract official in Bosnia. When her efforts to stop it were subverted by her bosses, she exposed their corruption and complicity within the UN peace-keeping mission to the BBC. -
Belle (2013)
Dido Elizabeth Belle: Human Rights Champion, her speculated influence on her great-uncle, the Lord Chief Justice of England led to favorable judgments in the Zong Massacre and Somersett trials. Both decisions are seen to set the stage for the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act and end of slavery in England. -
The Miracle Worker (1962)
Helen Keller or Anne Sullivan: Disability Activist or Miracle Worker, Helen Keller was the first deaf-blind person to earn a BA, plus leader, author and speaker in worker, women's and handicapped rights movements -
Choices of the Heart: The Margaret Sanger Story (1995)
Margaret Sanger: Political Activist, her crusade to legalize birth control changed the game and spurred the movement for women's liberation. -
Truth (2015)
Mary Mapes: News Producer, the Peabody Award winning CBS producer broke a number of important stories. None more important than the one that could change the course of US presidential election, a story she got right but nonetheless cost her job. -
Loving (2016)
Mildred Loving: Wife, her landmark case, Loving v. Virginia and defiance brought down the South's anti-miscegenation laws that stood for a century, setting the precedent to do the same for same-sex marriage laws fifty years later. -
Harriet (2019)
Harriet Tubman: Abolitionist, an escaped slave herself, she was the leader of the Underground Railroad. She made some thirteen trips back to rescue some seventy slaves and help fifty others to freedom. Current Biopic: A Woman Called Moses (1978) -
Woman in Gold (2015)
Maria Altmann: Holocaust Survivor, best known for her successful legal campaign to reclaim from the Austrian government five family-owned paintings by the artist Gustav Klimt stolen by the Nazis. -
Desert Flower (2009)
Waris Dirie: Fashion Model, abandoned her career to stop Female Genital Mutilation, a practice common in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. She became it's leading spokesperson by starting the Desert Flower Foundation and a UN Special Ambassador. Her efforts to raise awareness have put the topic center stage around the world. -
Veronica Guerin (2003)
Veronica Guerin: Crime Reporter, she exposed Irish drug criminals, despite repeated threats to her life and family. She remained vigilante and undeterred, paying the ultimate price. -
Denial (2016)
Deborah Lipstadt: Historian, she fought for justice, historical truth and to prevent the re-victimization of Holocaust survivors, when sued for libel for claiming the Holocaust was real. -
The Nun's Story (1959)
Marie Louise Habets: Nurse, the nun nurses the poor and sick, first in a mental institution and later in Congo combating tropical diseases. Eventually, she leaves the order to combat greater injustice in the Belgian resistance and as a war nurse. (Sister Luke aka Gabrielle van der Mal) -
The Rosa Parks Story (2002)
Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Activist, Parks' act of defiance and the following Montgomery Bus Boycott became a watershed moment in and symbols of the freedom movement. -
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)
Gladys Aylward: Hero Missionary, she was devoted, at risk to her life, to her orphanage and missionary work. She led to safety over the mountains over 100 orphans and cared for them after when Japanese forces invaded China. -
Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer (2013)
Pussy Riot: Punk Rock Band, the all-female band stages provocative guerrilla performances in unusual public places at great personal risk. Themes included feminism, LGBT rights, and defiance to oppressive government. -
Freeheld (2015)
Stacie Andree & Laurel Hester: Police Detective, Hester's fight to secure pension benefits for her domestic partner was a key victory in the battle for equal rights within the LGBT movement. Alternative Biopic, Oscar Winning Documentary: Freeheld (2007) -
Rosa Luxemburg (1986)
Rosa Luxemburg: Anti-War Activist, founder of Spartacists political party that campaigned for democracy in Germany and opposed the ruling militaristic government in power. She was imprisoned as a political prisoner, but later vindicated and freed as Social Democrats took power. When the cause goes astray, she takes a stand and is executed as a result. -
Conviction (2010)
Betty Anne Waters: Lawyer, put herself through college and law school for the sole purpose of freeing her convicted brother. She worked tirelessly with the Innocence Project through an early use of DNA evidence to bring about his exoneration in 2001. -
First They Killed My Father (2017)
Loung Ung: Human Rights Activist, Author, and Lecturer She wrote a best-selling memor detailing her survival of "the Killing Fields" during Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. She was the national spokesperson for Campaign for a Landmine-Free World and International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the latter recieving the Nobel Peace Peace Prize for its work. added 05 February 2023 -
Betty and Coretta (2013)
Betty Shabazz and Coretta Scott King: Civil Rights Actists, Authors, and Educators Both were leaders within the civil rights movement, before and after the death of their husbands. Both were stewards of their husband's legacy and made notable contributions beyond those made in civil rights movement. added 05 February 2023