I know there's significant overlap with some other threads (especially [topic=5211]this one on human rights[/topic], and [topic=8230]this one on 'calls to conscience and action'[/topic] and probably [topic=14943]this one on 'movies that move you to action, change'[/topic]) but none of them seem to be quite right for what I'm trying to think of, which is films that deal with political issues. It's broader than human rights and calls to action.

I'm particularly interested in relatively recent (and upcoming) films, though it would be interesting to see if there are more political films now than they were, say, five or ten or twenty years ago. It feels to me like there's been a rise, but is that purely subjective. Certainly documentaries make a bigger splash than I remember them doing before (is Michael Moore, whatever you think of his politics and approach, a cause or a symptom?).

So far I have these:

• The Corporation (2003)
• Fast Food Nation (Richard Linklater, 2006)
• Catch a Fire (Philip Noyce, 2006)
• This Film Has Not Yet Been Rated (Kirby Dick, 2006)
• Sand and Sorrow (George Clooney, 2007) - just closed the Monaco film festival
• Syriana (Stephen Gaghan, 2005)
• Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005)
• In My Country (John Boorman, 2004)
• Hotel Rwanda (Terry George, 2004)
• The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles, 2005)
• The Road to Guantanamo (Michael Winterbottom, 2006)
• Beyond Borders (Martin Campbell, 2003)
• Tsotsi (2005, Gavin Hood)

I'm including some older Hollywood movies (1930s-80s or so) in this list - will add titles to it. Many are comedies that tackle serious subjects.

Most anything by Costa-Gavras (Z, Music Box, Missing, Hanna K..)

Hiroshima Mon Amour -Alain Resnais

My Man Godfrey - Gregory La Cava (Depression-era political issues)

Many of Frank Capra's films, including Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington, Mr. Smith Goes to Town and Meet John Doe
.
The Candidate - Michael Ritchie

All the President's Men - Alan J. Pakula

Julia - Fred Zinneman

Ninotchka; To Be or Not to Be - Ernst Lubitsch

Sullivan's Travels; Hail the Conquering Hero - Preston Sturges

Cabaret - Bob Fosse

Dick - Andrew Fleming

Reds; Bulworth - Warren Beatty

Fail-Safe - Sidney Lumet

Viva Zapata!; A Face in the Crowd - Elia Kazan

All the King's Men (both versions)

The Border -Tony Richardson

Dr. Strangelove - Stanley Kubrick

Wag the Dog - Barry Levinson

Medium Cool; Underground; Coming Home- Haskell Wexler

Fat Man and Little Boy - Roland Joffé

Matewan - John Sayles

Shadows - John Cassavetes

The Last Hurrah - John Ford

The Great Dictator - Charlie Chaplin

Blaze - Ron Shelton

Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

I think The Day the Earth Stood Still fits as well

More:

Mississippi Burning - Alan Parker

The Long Walk Home - Richard Pearce

Skokie - Herbert Wise (made for TV; there are so many other US-made TV movies that would fit this category).

A Soldier's Story; In the Heat of the Night - Norman Jewison

To Kill a Mockingbird; The Spiral Road - Robert Mulligan

The Year of Living Dangerously - Peter Weir

Rabbit-Proof Fence - Philip Noyce

The Last Metro - François Truffaut

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman - John Korty (again, made for TV, but a very important film re. the Civil Rights movement. Superb performance by Cicely Tyson in the lead role.)

The Molly Maguires; Edge of the City (this one is very hard to find)- Martin Ritt

The Little Drummer Girl - George Roy Hill

Jim Wall blogs on his top political films. His top choice: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Just watched The Best Man, runner up on Wall's list. Excellent. But it seems dated: a womanizer running for President. Swiftboating. My favorite is when the former pres asks Russell (Henry Fonda) about believing in God, Russell makes a point that he's never mentioned God in a speech. The former pres replies "In [my] days we had to pour God over everything like ketchup."

The more things change, the more they remain the same.