Best movies about dictatorships
Fictitious or not modern totalitarian regimes have not been incuded. Movies about colonial oppression have.
See also my list about distopy and fictional dictatorships.
Add: Militares da Democracia, by Silvio Tendler - https://www.facebook.com/Militares-Da-Democracia-Militares-que-resistiram-ao-Golpe-de-64-584276421662211/
On Sacred Land - https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/works/2017.9/
https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/354.1988/
See also my list about distopy and fictional dictatorships.
Add: Militares da Democracia, by Silvio Tendler - https://www.facebook.com/Militares-Da-Democracia-Militares-que-resistiram-ao-Golpe-de-64-584276421662211/
On Sacred Land - https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/works/2017.9/
https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/354.1988/
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- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsIvana BaqueroAriadna GilSergi LópezIn the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLiam NeesonRalph FiennesBen KingsleyIn German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
- DirectorHelvecio RattonStarsCaio BlatDaniel de OliveiraLéo QuintãoDuring the period of 1964 to 1985, Brazil lived a military dictatorship. In the 60s, the Dominican friars Tito, Betto, Fernando and Ivo help leftist organizations. However, they are arrested and tortured by the despicable Chief of DOPS Fleury, who is trying to arrest the leader Carlos Marighella. Tito and Fernando do not resist the violent torture and betray Marighella, who is ambushed and executed by Fleury. In 1973, in France, the exiled friar Tito is unable to overcome his trauma and depression and commits suicide in the Convent of La Tourette.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsIan HartRosana PastorIcíar BollaínDavid is an unemployed communist that comes to Spain in 1937 during the civil war to enroll the republicans and defend the democracy against the fascists. He makes friends between the soldiers.
- DirectorTalal DerkiStarsAbdul Basset SarootA look behind the barricades of the besieged city of Homs, where for nineteen-year-old Basset and his ragtag group of comrades, the audacious hope of revolution is crumbling like the buildings around them.
- DirectorMikhail KalatozovStarsSergio CorrieriSalvador WoodJosé GallardoFour vignettes about the lives of the Cuban people set during the pre-revolutionary era.Cuba under the rule of Fulgencio Batista.
- DirectorJorge FurtadoStarsMarco RiccaDrica MoraesChay SuedeAn adaptation of the namesake play by Oduvaldo Vianna Filho, which tells the story of Manguari Pistolão, an anonymous militant, that after 40 years of fighting for what he thought was new and revolutionary, his son accuses him of being conservative, antiquated, and anachronistic. With no money to pay the monthly bills, suffering chronic arthritis pain, and in a growing conflict with Luca, Manguari recalls his past and sees himself repeating the same attitudes as his father. Staggering fragments of various moments of Manguari's life, the film shows forty years of Brazilian political history through a father-son relationship.
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsJames McAvoyForest WhitakerGillian AndersonBased on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his personal physician during the 1970s.
- DirectorJoão Batista de AndradeStarsJosé DumontAldo BuenoRafael de CarvalhoSão Paulo police mistakenly thinks a folk poet and singer is the same man who had stabbed his boss.Dictatorship is not a main issue of this film but the story happens during military rule in Brazil. Besides that, the values of military dictatorship and repression against unions appear in the movie.
- DirectorLeon HirszmanStarsGianfrancesco GuarnieriFernanda MontenegroCarlos Alberto RiccelliUnion leader's son doesn't want to engage in a strike, because his wife is pregnant, thus disregarding his father's tradition of political activism.
- DirectorMaria de MedeirosStarsStefano AccorsiMaria de MedeirosJoaquim de AlmeidaStory of the 1974 coup that overthrew the right-wing Portuguese dictatorship--which continued the fascist policies of long-time dictator Antonio Salazar--and of two young army captains who were involved in it.
- DirectorEran RiklisStarsHiam AbbassRona Lipaz-MichaelAli SulimanThe story of a Palestinian widow who must defend her lemontree field when a new Israeli Defense Minister moves next to her and threatens to have her lemon grove torn down.
- DirectorMarcela Zamora"In the Salvadoran civil war, my father and thousands more were captured and tortured by the State. These are some of their stories. When I turned 33, my mother told me that my father, during the Salvadoran civil war, had been captured and tortured for 33 days by the National Police. Two years later I had the courage to ask him and other men and women about those days. These people do not ask for revenge, all that they ask is to know the truth."A very strong film on dire right-wing military dictatorship supported by the United States in El Salvador.
- DirectorMaria RamosStarsDilma RousseffJair BolsonaroJosé Eduardo CardozoThe Trial documents the trial of Dilma Rousseff, focusing on the defense team, who struggles to prove her innocence against a majority vote by a Congress riddled with corruption. A tale of betrayal and corruption, the film presents Rousseff's personal story: herself imprisoned and tortured by the country's former military dictatorship, she now faces impeachment accused of fiscal crimes. Rousseff declares herself innocent and accuses the right-wing opposition of perpetrating a parliamentary coup d'état. The Trial witnesses how the impeachment triggers a profound political crisis in Brazil. It looks at the collapse of the democratic institutions and at the economic and geopolitical interests at the very heart of this crisis. The film offers a behind-the-scenes look at this historical moment. The filmmaker was granted unique access to the defense team, to deputies and senators and to President Rousseff herself. Ramos' technique is wholly observational, without interviews and narrations. The camera captures physical and conversational interactions in private and political spheres while offering viewers a glimpse of the outdoor mass demonstrations.The coup in Brazil, 2016.
- DirectorÁlvaro BrechnerStarsAntonio de la TorreChino DarínAlfonso Tort1973. Uruguay is governed by a military dictatorship. One autumn night, three Tupamaro prisoners are taken from their jail cells in a secret military operation. The order is precise: "As we can't kill them, let's drive them mad."
- DirectorShola LynchStarsAngela DavisEisa DavisBrandon J. DirdenA documentary that chronicles the life of young college professor Angela Davis, and how her social activism implicates her in a botched kidnapping attempt that ends with a shootout, four dead, and her name on the FBI's 10 most wanted list.May a regime with political prisioners be called a democracy?
- DirectorJay RoachStarsBryan CranstonDiane LaneHelen MirrenIn 1947, Dalton Trumbo was Hollywood's top screenwriter, until he and other artists were jailed and blacklisted for their political beliefs.Authoritarian United States. Sorry to tell you, if you still did not know, but that is not a democracy.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsRod SteigerJames CoburnRomolo ValliA low-life bandit and an I.R.A. explosives expert rebel against the government and become heroes of the Mexican Revolution.Huerta's counter-revolutionary military dictatorship in Mexico.
- DirectorFlorian Henckel von DonnersmarckStarsUlrich MüheMartina GedeckSebastian KochIn 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
- DirectorLuis PuenzoStarsNorma AleandroHéctor AlterioChunchuna VillafañeDuring the final months of Argentinian Military Dictatorship in 1983, a high school teacher sets out to find out who the mother of her adopted daughter is.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsGael García BernalAlfredo CastroAntonia ZegersAn advertising executive comes up with a campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in Chile's 1988 referendum.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsLiam NeesonAidan QuinnJulia RobertsNeil Jordan's historical biopic of Irish revolutionary Michael Collins, the man who led a guerrilla war against the UK, helped negotiate the creation of the Irish Free State, and led the National Army during the Irish Civil War.
- DirectorFlávia CastroStarsJeanne BoudierSara AntunesEliane GiardiniIn 1979 a teenage girl emigrates back to Brazil from Paris, plunging her into the political and social storm of that country, and forcing her to confront the disappearance of her father many years earlier.
- DirectorRoberto FariasStarsReginaldo FariaCarlos ZaraAntônio FagundesThis movie is about one of the worst periods for the Brazilian people. Shows the days of military dictatorship when the Brazilian people against the government were put in jails, tortured, and some of them assassinated by the military and para-military people. At the same time, the same government censored the press and didn't allow anything but news about three times-champion soccer team. While the people made parties, etc for the soccer team, in the underground, people suffered all kinds of torture.
- DirectorNikita MikhalkovStarsElena SoloveyRodion NakhapetovAleksandr KalyaginA fate of popular film actress during the turbulent years of the Russian Civil War.Under White Army occupation.
- DirectorMarcelo PiñeyroStarsRicardo DarínCecilia RothHéctor AlterioThe film is seen through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy, Harry (Matías del Pozo), who does not know that Argentina's 1976 coup d'état is impacting his life. After witnessing the "disappearance" of dissident friends, a human rights lawyer (Ricardo Darín) and his research scientist wife (Cecilia Roth) flee the city and hide from the military police in a vacant summer house. With them are their two kids: Harry, who is fascinated with the escape artistry of Harry Houdini, and El Enano, his little brother. (Translated as "Little Guy" in the English subtitles, played by Milton de la Canal. The actual translation is "dwarf".) The family adopts new identities and attempts to lead a normal life. Later, they are joined by a student who is using the alias Lucas (Tomás Fonzi). Their new life is difficult, but a visit with their estranged grandparents (Fernanda Mistral and Héctor Alterio) reveals that they are still a close-knit family. Subtly hinted, however, and used as a metaphor, is the mother's constant smoking and El Enano's renewed bed-wetting. Both serve to show how stressful and precarious their situation is.
- DirectorZeca BritoStarsCleoLetícia SabatellaFernando Alves PintoIn 1961, Gov. Leonel Brizola leads the unparalleled Legality movement, a first in the history of Brazil. Fighting for the Constitution, he mobilizes the resistance to ensure President João Goulart's coming to power. Amidst the impending military coup, a mysterious journalist could change the country's path.The film is about the risk of a military coup in Brazil 1961, avoided by a non democratic change of system of government from presidentialism to parliamentarism in order to limit president João Goulart's powers. Military dictatorship would take place three years afterwards anyway.
- DirectorCao HamburgerStarsMichel JoelsasGermano HaiutDaniela PiepszykA boy is left alone in a Jewish neighborhood in 1970, when the World Cup coincides with political crackdowns by the military dictatorship.
- DirectorAndrés WoodStarsMatías QuerAriel MatelunaManuela MartelliTwo 12-year-old Chilean children from different social classes become friends in 1973. They both discover each other's world as political tensions in their country increase.
- DirectorPaulo Henrique FontenelleStarsCarlos DieguesJoão GoulartPaula MorenoAn account of the mysterious death of a former president of Brazil whose deposition led to the Military Revolution in Brazil in 1964, seeking to clarify obscure facts in the country's history at that time.
- DirectorJoão LeitãoStarsGonçalo WaddingtonDavid Chan CordeiroJosé PintoFollows Portugal's first fascist superhero: the ultra patriotic Captain Falcon!
- DirectorNora TwomeyStarsSaara ChaudrySoma ChhayaNoorin GulamgausIn 2001, Afghanistan is under the control of the Taliban. When her father is captured, a determined young girl disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.Taleban.
- DirectorCamilo TavaresStarsAuro de Moura AndradeRobert BentleyJúlio de Sá BierrenbachProvides evidence of manipulation and investment funding from the U.S. government to carry out the Brazilian military coup that occurred in 1964.
- DirectorMiguel LittinStarsBenjamín VicuñaBertrand DuartePablo KröghThe ex-members of Chile's cabinet survive the prison on Dawson Island.I have only watched the final part of this film, unfortunately.
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsYves MontandRenato SalvatoriO.E. HasseUsing the interrogation of a US counterinsurgency agent as a backdrop, the film explores the consequences of the struggle between Uruguay's government and the leftist Tupamaro guerrillas.
- DirectorCristian MungiuStarsAnamaria MarincaLaura VasiliuVlad IvanovA woman assists her friend in arranging an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania.Ceausescu dictatorship is not an openly treated issue in this movie about abortion, but life conditions under the regime are shown throughout the film.
- DirectorCamilo TavaresHistories of Hunger in Brazil is a documentary that sets a timeline of hunger in the country. From Colonial Brazil, where the seeds of social inequalities were planted, to the recent public policies that culminated with Brazil finally exiting UN official World Map of Hunger, we portray how the confrontation of this evil on the part of the society and of the government took place.How military dictatoship contributed for maitaining the hunger in Brazil.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJulia OrmondBenicio Del ToroOscar IsaacIn 1956, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and a band of Castro-led Cuban exiles mobilize an army to topple the regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.
- DirectorFrancisco J. LombardiStarsGianfranco BreroGustavo BuenoPatricia PereyraThrough out six different and yet parallel stories that take place during the corrupted government during the 90s in Peru, Lombardi tells the moral decomposition that ran through all classes and generations of the peruvian society.
- DirectorJosé Luis CuerdaStarsManuel LozanoFernando Fernán GómezUxía BlancoBased in 1936 Spain, Moncho is an outcast at school but is able to form a strong bond with his outspoken teacher. When fascism arrives to Spain, his teacher is considered an enemy of the regime & arrested.
- DirectorChaim LitewskiStarsHennig Boilesen Jr.Fernando Henrique CardosoJarbas PassarinhoA documentary about the controversial businessman Henning Boilesen Jr. and his involvement with the military regime as one of its most enthusiastic supporters, financing it and participating in the tortures of political prisoners. Those actions later culminated in his assassination in 1971 by members of militant groups opposed to the regime.
- DirectorAlceu ValençaStarsHermila GuedesIrandhir SantosAlceu ValençaIn arid and treacherous lands, Lampião and his band are pursued by Antero Tenente and his troop, which faces the capture of the bandit as a matter of honor.Part of the story happens during Getúlio Vargas dictatorship.
- DirectorSergio RezendeStarsJosé WilkerMarieta SeveroJonas BlochBiography of Brazilian congressman Tenório Cavalcanti, who used to appear in public carrying a machine-gun, and wearing a black cloak.The final part shows the military coup d'état.
- DirectorRenate CostaStarsMiguel Auad PetuniaNancy BarujaRenate CostaOf all my uncles, Rodolfo was the only one who didn't want to be a blacksmith like my grandfather: He wanted to be a dancer. The search for the traces of his life leads to the discovery that in the eighties in Paraguay, under Stroessner's dictatorship, Rodolfo was included in one of the "108 lists of homosexuals", arrested and tortured. Rodolfo's story reveals a part of the hidden and silenced history of my country. In "Cuchillo de palo" two generations come face to face in a confrontation that ultimately allows each of us to understand our place in the world.About Strossner's dictatorship in Paraguay, particularly about violence against homosexuals.
- DirectorVitaliy ManskiyStarsLee Zin-MiYu-YongHye-YongA propaganda documentary about North Korea that reveals a few hidden facts because the director continues filming between the scripted scenes.
- DirectorRuth ZylbermanStarsOdette DiamantAlbert BaumHélène BaumZylberman tells the story of a building in rue Saint-Maur during the German occupation of Paris through the memories of those who lived there and survived the war.
- DirectorCarlos DieguesStarsLeonardo VillarAnecy RochaAntonio PitangaLuzia comes from the backwoods of Northeast Brazil to Rio de Janeiro, in search of her fiancé. But soon she'll find out he has turned into a dangerous criminal and is being looked after by the police.
- DirectorFernando MeirellesStarsJonathan PryceAnthony HopkinsJuan MinujínBehind Vatican walls, the conservative Pope Benedict XVI and the liberal future Pope Francis must find common ground to forge a new path for the Catholic Church.Very important depiction of Argentine military dictatorship and the behaviour of Bergoglio then.
- DirectorJustin ChadwickStarsNaomie HarrisOliver LitondoTony KgorogeThe story of an 84 year-old Kenyan villager and ex Mau Mau veteran who fights for his right to go to school for the first time to get the education he could never afford.The violent past of British colonial rule is a shadow for the main character.
- DirectorSusanna LiraStarsDilma RousseffAna Bursztyn-MirandaMaria Aparecida Costa"The Virgin's Tower" - Memoires of a group of rebel women that were imprisioned by the Brazilian dictatorship in the 60's.
- DirectorBeth FormagginiStarsClaudio GuerraEduardo PassosIvanilda VelosoA historic meeting between two personally antagonistic figures: Evangelical Bishop Claudio Guerra, responsible for murdering and incinerating opponents of the Brazilian military dictatorship, and Eduardo Passos, a psychologist and human rights activist.
- DirectorEmir KusturicaStarsPredrag 'Miki' ManojlovicLazar RistovskiMirjana JokovicTwo underground black marketeers, Marko and Blacky, sell weapons to the Communist resistance in wartime Belgrade, living the good life along the way.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMaxine AudleyJerry DesmondeA recently-deposed European monarch seeks shelter in New York City, where he becomes an accidental television celebrity and is later wrongly accused of being a Communist.If it is not held properly in a dictatorship, it depicts very undemocratic Mccarthism in US.
- DirectorHector BabencoStarsWilliam HurtRaul JuliaSonia BragaA gay man and a political prisoner are together in a prison. The gay man narrates the stories of two fake movies and his own life.
- DirectorAbner BenaimCarolina BorreroLuis Franco BrantleyStarsLakisha MayAndre MorrisCarlos Eduardo Goldstein AlemánFive shorts spanning a century on lives impacted by the Panama Canal.US domination over Panama in different moments of history.
- DirectorYoon Jong-binStarsHwang Jung-minLee Sung-minCho Jin-woongIn the mid-1990s, a loyal South Korean secret agent is caught in a political vortex plotted by the ruling classes of North and South Korea.Neither North Korea nor South Korea were democracies during this spy story.
- DirectorWarren BeattyStarsWarren BeattyDiane KeatonEdward HerrmannA radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.Lack of freedom of thought inside the United States, authoritarian regime in Soviet Union, colonialism throughout the world...
- DirectorHaifaa Al-MansourStarsWaad MohammedReem AbdullahAbdullrahman Al GohaniAn enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school's Koran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest.Politics is not clearly an issue in the movie, but the story happens not only under an authoritarian rule but also show a very authoritatian and sexist culture and the cult of personality.
- DirectorBeto BrantStarsLeonardo VillarHelio LahalZécarlos MachadoBrazil in the early 70s. Miguel, Eloi, Osvaldo and Paolo take part in armed attacks against the military dictatorship. They pay a heavy price with torture and arrest. Today the four friends still see each other. Only Miguel is politically active. On a photograph from a political meeting in Sao Paolo he recognises the policeman who tortured them 25 years ago and who was responsible for the death of Miguel's girlfriend. The policeman has been officially dead for a few years. On one of their fishing trips together, Miguel tells his friends of his discovery. When they hunt down and confront their nemesis they come into conflict with both themselves and each other.
- DirectorImanol UribeStarsIban GarateBlanca SuárezKarra ElejaldeHenry grows tired of witnessing injustices, and he engages in risky actions.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsMarisa ParedesEduardo NoriegaFederico LuppiAfter Carlos - a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War - arrives at an ominous boys' orphanage, he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets which he must uncover.
- DirectorJayme MonjardimStarsCamila MorgadoCaco CioclerLuís MeloBased upon the true story of Olga Benário, the German-born wife of Brazilian communist leader Luís Carlos Prestes. During the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas (1930-1945) she was arrested and sent to Nazi Germany, where she was put to death in a concentration camp. After World War II began, Vargas decided to support the Allies.
- DirectorSergio RezendeStarsPatricia PillarDaniel de OliveiraLeandra LealBased on the true story of Zuzu Angel, a famous Brazilian fashion designer in the 70's, who searches for her son Stuart, a member of a leftist university group who suddenly disappears during the darkest era of Brazilian military regime and media censorship.
- DirectorLúcia MuratStarsCaco CioclerFlavio BauraquiWerner SchünemannThe strange friendship between two men of opposite social classes. Miguel is a senator. His childhood friend Jorge is a major drug-dealer. In the 1970s, they meet in prison: Miguel was there for political reasons, and Jorge, as a common criminal.
- DirectorTrey ParkerStarsTrey ParkerMatt StoneElle RussPopular Broadway actor Gary Johnston is recruited by the elite counter-terrorism organization Team America: World Police. As the world begins to crumble around him, he must battle with terrorists, celebrities and falling in love.The movie is nice because it criticizes American imperialist foreign politics, but it also does show North Korean dictatiorship.
- DirectorJim AbrahamsDavid ZuckerJerry ZuckerStarsVal KilmerOmar SharifJeremy KempAn American rock and roll singer is invited to a cultural festival in East Germany in order to distract from a plot to destroy NATO submarines, but he accidentally becomes involved in a resistance plot to rescue an imprisoned scientist.A caricature of East German. Hilarious spoof.
- DirectorPeter CohenStarsRolf ArseniusBruno GanzSam GrayAn absorbing and chilling documentary about the National Socialist aesthetic, and how attempts to create the Aryan Ideal caused the extermination of millions. Aspects covered include: Hitler's epiphany while viewing Wagner's opera 'Rienzi', the rise of the homo-erotic Grecian/Nordic ideal, the parallels drawn between the 'degenerate' art of the cubists and dadaists and the mentally ill/physically deformed, the Nazi obsession with purity and cleanliness, and, finally, the descent of the Jewish people to the level of a virus/vermin.
- DirectorGuilherme Fiúza ZenhaStarsLino FacioliRegiane AlvesRicardo BlatThe story of a boy who sees his mirror reflection come to life.The movie happens during the dictatorship lead by Getúlio Vargas. Though, it does not focuses authoritarian rule, but the ban on fascist Brazilian Integralist Action, also known as "green shirts", besides other issues.
- DirectorIsa Grinspum FerrazStarsCarlos Augusto MarighellaLázaro RamosMiguel ArraesA documentary about the member of the brazilian Communist Party, Congressman elected by vote, and later on enemy number one of the brazilian dictatorship of 1964, Carlos Marighella.
- DirectorOswaldo CaldeiraStarsJosé WilkerBetty FariaJardel FilhoTrue story of Brazilian bank clerk who supplied money for the guerilla fighting against the military dictatorship of the 70s. When he changes his disguise, he gets involved with high society, and with industrialists who were financing repression to the groups he stood for.
- DirectorBruno BarretoStarsGlória PiresMiranda OttoTracy MiddendorfA chronicle of the tragic love affair between American poet Elizabeth Bishop and Brazilian architect Lota de Macedo Soares.The 1964 military coup and the first three years of dictatorship take place during the story.
- DirectorUwe BollStarsHenry MaskeHeino FerchSusanne WuestMax Schmeling's fights against Joe Louis are listed in the best ten boxing matches of all time.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsGaspard ManesseRaphael FejtöFrancine RacetteA French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. Occupying the next bed in the dormitory to the top student in his class, the two young boys begin to form a bond.
- DirectorChristian PetzoldStarsNina HossRonald ZehrfeldRainer BockA doctor working in 1980s East Germany finds herself banished to a small country hospital.
- DirectorFrancisco VargasStarsÁngel TaviraGerardo TaracenaDagoberto GamaIn an unnamed Latin American country that closely resembles Mexico, the government fights a rural insurgency with torture, assault, rape, and murder. Soldiers descend on a town, cutting off the rebels from their cache of ammunition hidden in a field. A family of grandfather, son, and grandson are among the rebels in the hills. The grandfather, with his violin over his shoulder, tries to pass the checkpoint, ostensibly to tend his corn crop. The commanding officer lets him pass but insists on a daily music lesson. Can the old man ferry out the ammunition in his violin case under the soldiers' nose?The "dirty war" in Mexico.
- DirectorAna Luiza AzevedoJorge FurtadoStarsJorge FurtadoAnna Bella GeigerEulalie LigneulPrimavera das Neves, full name Primavera Ácrata Saiz das Neves was a Portuguese translator, journalist and writer, who worked and lived a good part of her life in Brazil, having signed most of her works as Vera Neves Pedroso.
- DirectorAbderrahmane SissakoStarsIbrahim AhmedAbel JafriToulou KikiA cattle herder and his family who reside in the dunes of Timbuktu find their quiet lives -- which are typically free of the Jihadists determined to control their faith -- abruptly disturbed.Daesh rule over village Timbuktu in Mauritania.
- DirectorAlice de AndradeStarsAlfredo GuevaraJulia YipSantiago ÁlvarezThrough the files of Cuban cinema news program Noticieros ICAIC Latinoamericanos, the documentary shows the most relevant events of the second half of the 20th century as seen by the documentary filmmakers of the island. During three decades and under the general direction of Santiago Álvarez, these moviemakers witnessed almost everything: from the shivers of the Cold War to Bola de Nieve's piano solos; from the discovery of the killing fields in Cambodia to the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. In 2009, the original negatives of Noticieros ICAIC Latinoamericanos were declared part of the "world memory" by UNESCO.Many dictatorships, undemocratic regimes and colonial rules are discussed.
- DirectorRégis WargnierStarsCatherine DeneuveVincent PerezLinh-Dan PhamEliane adopts Camille, whose Vietnamese parents were friends. In 1930, a French navy officer is interested in Eliane (owns 60km2 plantation) and later in Camille. There's an uprising in Vietnam against French colonial power.Dire French colonization in Vietnam.
- DirectorChan-sang LimStarsSong Kang-hoMoon So-riLee Jae-eungFollows a president's barber, his wife, and their only son through four decades of tumultuous Korean history.The film starts with the repression and the fall of authoritarian First Republic of South Korea. Most of the movie happens during the electoral but not really democratic and very repressive Third Republic and the more explicit and dire Fourth Republic.
- DirectorJoram LürsenStarsJacob DerwigBarry AtsmaFockeline OuwerkerkIn Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, banker brothers Walraven and Gijs van Hall face their greatest challenge yet when they decide to help fund the Dutch resistance.Nazi occupation in Netherlands during WWII.
- DirectorLaura AstorgaStarsValeria ConejoAura DinarteCarol SanabriaFamily is no longer a safe place to grow up.Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua.
- DirectorMounia MeddourStarsLyna KhoudriShirine BoutellaHilda Amira DouaoudaIn 1997 Algiers, terrorists wanting an archaic Islamic state are everywhere. They oppress women, determined to control their bodies, clothing, and public space. Young student Nedjma is passionate about creating a fashion show.
- DirectorJirí ChlumskýStarsSamuel SpisákOndrej VetchýVladimir CernyThe true story of Jewish boy, and talented soccer player, Martin, who has to make risky lifetime decisions in order to survive in WWII when he sees his family is taken to Poland one by one.
- DirectorJoão Batista de AndradeStarsAntônio FagundesLouise CardosoMayara MagriTV reporter tries to find out who is killing prostitutes in a São Paulo neighborhood.Brazilian military dictatorship.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsAlfredo CastroAmparo NogueraHéctor MoralesA man is obsessed with John Travolta's disco dancing character from Saturday Night Fever (1977).
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsDemián BichirRodrigo SantoroBenicio Del ToroIn 1967, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara leads a small partisan army to fight an ill-fated revolutionary guerrilla war in Bolivia, South America.Che Guevara's guerrilha vs. Barrientos's US-supported military dictatorship in Bolivia.
- DirectorOliver SchmitzStarsThomas MogotlaneMarcel van HeerdenThembi MtshaliMapantsula tells the story of Panic, a petty gangster who inevitably becomes caught up in the growing anti-apartheid struggle and has to choose between individual gain and a united stand against the system.South African apartheid.
- DirectorFarid EslamOliver WaldhauerStarsCan AtalayCahit BiniciAyan GünerThe 'Ultra' fans of Istanbul's three biggest football clubs, known for their violent rivalries begin fighting side-by-side to protect civilians from police, as 'Istanbul United'.Not a dictatorship, but a very violent regime.
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsHanna SchygullaGiancarlo GianniniMel FerrerIn 1938, a German singer falls in love with a Jewish composer in Zurich, who helps Jews flee Nazi Germany. She wants to help but is forced back to Germany. Her song "Lili Marleen" becomes a hit with soldiers and the Nazi top brass.
- DirectorFrédéric GarsonStarsLaurent LucasNatacha RégnierDaniel MartinIn northern Nigeria, two French scientists working for an environmental NGO disappear. Hugo Geoffroy, leader of a French police emergency unit, is sent to negotiate the freedom of the hostages.
- DirectorSarah MaldororStarsElisa AndradeDomingos de OliveiraJean M'VondoA man is wrongfully arrested and tortured to death after he is suspected of being part of a revolutionary group.
- DirectorRoberto MaderOperation Condor was a secret agreement between the military dictatorships of the Southern Cone in the 1970s, with the knowledge of the CIA. These governments to shared information and violently repressed suspected left-wing subversives.
- DirectorLeandra LealStarsRogériaJane di CastroDivina ValériaThe Divine Divas are the icons of the first generation of Brazilian transvestite artists in the 1960's. One of the first stages to host men dressed as women was the Rival Theatre, ran by Américo Leal, the director's grandfather. The film shows the intimacy, the talent and the stories of a generation that revolutionized the sexual behavior and defied the moral of a time.
- DirectorAndreas ProchaskaKurt MündlStarsFlorian TeichtmeisterHeino FerchMelika ForoutanOn June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria is in Sarajevo with his wife, Sophie. While through the city by car, they are victims of an attack and die. This is the trigger of the First World War.Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia under Austrian-Hungarian occupation.
- DirectorThierry BinistiStarsLine RenaudPierre MondyRichard SammelJanuary 1943. Louise is 70 and in her bar, militiamen are customers like anyone else and no one complains that her meals depend on the black-market. Her serenity is disturbed by a cry for help from an English airman who falls from the sky.
- DirectorMatías GueilburtStarsGastón PaulsThe return of the democracy in the Argentina in 1973 marks the beginning of the countdown towards the following "coup d'état". On March 24 1976 the worst dictatorship of the history of this country is established, as a result of a conspiracy carefully planned for months.Not only military coup in 1976 and its dire consequences, but also harsh authoritarian path under only formally democratic government of Isabel Martinez de Perón and of López Rega.
- DirectorGuillaume NiclouxStarsGaspard UllielGuillaume GouixLang Khê TranIndochina War, 1945: French soldier Robert is the only survivor of a massacre in which his brother has died. Blinded by revenge, he rejoins the forces in search of the assassins. But meeting the young Indochinese Maï disrupts his mission.Well done war film, but not very clear that the aggressors were the Frenchmen. It reminds Hollywood movies on Vietnam war.
- DirectorFlorian GallenbergerStarsEmma WatsonDaniel BrühlMichael NyqvistA young woman's desperate search for her abducted boyfriend draws her into the infamous Colonia Dignidad, a sect nobody has ever escaped from.Chilean coup and military dictatorship.