Recommendations for films and TV series on social/political/cultural themes

Bir baskadir, 2020 (Ethos)

Set in Istanbul, this series addresses, through the protagonists’ everyday lives—narrated with a psychoanalytic lens—the predominant socio-cultural issues in Turkey; for example, the split between modernity and tradition, and the scourge of gender-based violence.

Unorthodox, 2020
Almost entirely performed in Yiddish, this series tells the story of a young Jewish woman raised in an ultra-Orthodox community in Brooklyn that relegates her to the role of mother and wife. After a courageous escape to Berlin, she discovers a new world and—though not without difficulties—takes her first steps toward freedom.

Persepolis, 2007

A film adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel about the Iranian Revolution.

Bar Bahar, 2016 (translated as In Between)
Set in Tel Aviv, it tells a story of female solidarity among three young Palestinian women who must confront aspects of Arab society such as homophobia and gender-based violence—an environment perceived as hypocritical and oppressive, which only intensifies their relentless desire for uninhibitedness and freedom.

The Good Mothers, 2023
An Italian series that allows us to understand the ’Ndrangheta entirely from the perspective of the women who defied it—unlike most TV series that depict organized crime from a male perspective, often dwelling excessively on violence.

Sayen, 2023

Chile — A young Mapuche woman carries on the struggle against a Spanish multinational that wants to force her family to sell their cobalt-rich land. This film highlights the dynamics of this neocolonial practice, which during the 20th century was carried out with the complicity of Pinochet’s fascist government, and explores the Mapuche people’s bond with the land and its elements, such as minerals.

City of God (Cidade de Deus), 2002
The film is set in a favela of Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s, marked by poor access to water and electricity, police corruption, violence, and clan wars for power. The only way out for the protagonist/narrator, Buscapé, is his dream of becoming a photographer, to denounce to the world the horrors of the place where he was born and raised.

Coco, 2017

Set in Mexico, this widely acclaimed film offers a glimpse into the country’s culture—particularly the celebration of Día de los Muertos, the importance of ancestry, and the spiritual guides known as alebrijes. It also touches on the theme of intergenerational trauma.