Good films about slavery
by guisreis | created - 06 Mar 2014 | updated - 26 Dec 2022 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Spartacus (1960)
PG-13 | 197 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.
Directors: Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Mann | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton
Votes: 143,289 | Gross: $30.00M
2. Cloud Atlas (2012)
R | 172 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.
Directors: Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 374,502 | Gross: $27.11M
3. Free State of Jones (2016)
R | 139 min | Action, Biography, Drama
A disillusioned Confederate army deserter returns to Mississippi and leads a militia of fellow deserters and women in an uprising against the corrupt local Confederate government.
Director: Gary Ross | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Keri Russell
Votes: 62,494 | Gross: $20.76M
4. Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury (2013)
74 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Revolves around the love between an immortal hero and Janaína, the woman he has been in love with for 600 years, through Brazil's colonization, slavery, military regime and the future, in 2096, in the midst of wars for water.
Directors: Luiz Bolognesi, Jean Cullen De Moura, Marcelo Fernandes De Moura | Stars: Selton Mello, Camila Pitanga, Rodrigo Santoro, Carlos Alayeto
Votes: 1,956
5. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt
Votes: 741,618 | Gross: $56.67M
6. Animal Farm (1954)
Approved | 72 min | Animation, Drama
A successful farmyard revolution by the resident animals vs. the farmer goes horribly wrong when the victors create a new tyranny among themselves.
Directors: Joy Batchelor, John Halas | Stars: Gordon Heath, Maurice Denham
Votes: 19,021
7. Amistad (1997)
R | 155 min | Biography, Drama, History
In 1839, the revolt of Mende captives aboard a Spanish owned ship causes a major controversy in the United States when the ship is captured off the coast of Long Island. The courts must decide whether the Mende are slaves or legally free.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman
Votes: 82,827 | Gross: $44.18M
8. Gladiator (2000)
R | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
Votes: 1,621,457 | Gross: $187.71M
9. Chicken Run (2000)
G | 84 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
When a cockerel apparently flies into a chicken farm, the chickens see him as an opportunity to escape their evil owners.
Directors: Peter Lord, Nick Park | Stars: Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha, Phil Daniels, Lynn Ferguson
Votes: 212,349 | Gross: $106.83M
10. The Prince of Egypt (1998)
PG | 99 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
Egyptian Prince Moses learns of his identity as a Hebrew and his destiny to become the chosen deliverer of his people.
Directors: Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, Simon Wells | Stars: Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock
Votes: 146,503 | Gross: $101.22M
11. 13th (2016)
TV-MA | 100 min | Documentary, Crime, History
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: Melina Abdullah, Michelle Alexander, Cory Booker, Dolores Canales
Votes: 37,691
12. Triumph of the Spirit (1989)
R | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
In Greece during World War II, a young Jewish boxer, his girlfriend, and their families are sent to Auschwitz. When the camp guards learn of his boxing abilities, they force him to participate in weekly boxing matches.
Director: Robert M. Young | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Edward James Olmos, Robert Loggia, Wendy Gazelle
Votes: 2,787 | Gross: $0.41M
13. Joaquim (2017)
97 min | Biography, Drama, History
A partly fictional, partly historical account of the life of Brazil's national hero Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, alias Tiradentes.
Director: Marcelo Gomes | Stars: Julio Machado, Isabél Zuaa, Rômulo Braga, Marco Perpétuo
Votes: 573
14. Planet of the Apes (1968)
G | 112 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
An astronaut crew crash-lands on a planet where highly intelligent non-human ape species are dominant and humans are enslaved.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans
Votes: 193,583 | Gross: $33.40M
15. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
R | 164 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
Young Blade Runner K's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Dave Bautista
Votes: 666,054 | Gross: $92.05M
16. Clementina (2019)
75 min | Documentary
A glance over the trajectory of the samba singer Clementina de Jesus (1901-1987). Revealed late, at the age 63, she became one of the biggest voices in samba and was considered the link between the Brazilian culture and the African roots.
Director: Ana Rieper
Votes: 15
17. The Innocents (2015)
98 min | Horror
In 19th century Argentina, when a man returns to his family's plantation after 15 years, it revives a violent past, slave abuses and evil spirits.
Director: Mauricio Brunetti | Stars: María Eugenia Arboleda, Lito Cruz, Stella Delphino, Ludovico Di Santo
Votes: 473
18. Blazing Saddles (1974)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Western
In order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black Sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman
Votes: 152,587 | Gross: $119.50M
19. Vazante (2017)
116 min | Adventure, Drama
Brazil 1821. A rich cattle herder finds out that his wife dies in labor. Forced to live in the property with numerous African slaves, he marries his wife's niece. But he returns to droving, leaving his wife behind alone with the slaves.
Director: Daniela Thomas | Stars: Adriano Carvalho, Luana Nastas, Sandra Corveloni, Juliana Carneiro da Cunha
Votes: 669 | Gross: $0.02M
20. Django Unchained (2012)
R | 165 min | Comedy, Drama, Western
With the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington
Votes: 1,696,632 | Gross: $162.81M
21. Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1994)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Fictional chronicle of Squanto's life prior to and including the arrival of the "Mayflower" in 1620.
Director: Xavier Koller | Stars: Adam Beach, Mandy Patinkin, Sheldon Peters Wolfchild, Irene Bedard
Votes: 1,432 | Gross: $3.34M
22. Paradise (2016)
130 min | Drama, War
Follows three people whose paths cross during a terrible time of war: Olga, a Russian aristocratic emigrant and member of the French Resistance; Jules, a French collaborator; and Helmut, a high-ranking German SS officer.
Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy | Stars: Peter Kurth, Jakob Diehl, Yuliya Khlynina, Yuliya Vysotskaya
Votes: 2,031 | Gross: $0.01M
23. All the Dead Ones (2020)
120 min | Drama, History
1899. The fates of the women in two families become entangled when the Soareses, former land and slave owners, request help from Iná, a woman of African descent they once dismissed due to religious differences.
Directors: Marco Dutra, Caetano Gotardo | Stars: Mawusi Tulani, Clarissa Kiste, Carolina Bianchi, Thaia Perez
Votes: 593
24. A Última Abolição (2018)
82 min | Documentary
The documentary addresses slavery in Brazil with a special focus on the period of abolition, highlighting the abolitionist movements, their allies and enemies.
Director: Alice Gomes | Stars: Ângela Alonso, Elciene Rizzato Azevedo, Luciana Barreto, Fernando Conceição
Votes: 28
25. Birth of the Dragon (2016)
PG-13 | 95 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Set against the backdrop of 1960s San Francisco, BIRTH OF THE DRAGON is a modern take on the classic movies that Bruce Lee was known for. It takes its inspiration from the epic and still controversial showdown between an up-and-coming Bruce Lee and kung fu master Wong Jack Man - a battle that gave birth to a legend.
Director: George Nolfi | Stars: Billy Magnussen, Yu Xia, Philip Ng, Jingjing Qu
Votes: 8,808 | Gross: $6.90M
26.
Slavery Routes (2018)
Episode:
1620 - 1789: Du sucre à la révolte
(2018)
53 min | Documentary, Animation, History
1620 - 1789: From sugar to rebellion: 17th century. The Atlantic has become the battleground of the sugar war. French, English, Dutch and Spanish fight for the Caribbean to grow sugar cane.... See full summary »
Directors: Daniel Cattier, Fanny Glissant, Juan Gélas, Philippe Lacôte | Stars: Gaël Kamilindi, Nathan Willcocks, Nikolaj A. Brucker, Mathieu Amalric
Votes: 20
27. Sob a Pata do Boi (2019 Video)
49 min | Documentary
This documentary covers the change in Brazil's rainforest, where a portion the size of France has been transformed into pastures for grazing cattle.
Director: Marcio Isensee e Sá | Stars: Paulo Adário, Daniel Azeredo, Paulo Barreto, João Bueno
Votes: 47
28. Cavalo de Santo (2021)
70 min | Documentary
The feature-length documentary "Cavalo de Santo", based on the homonymous book by the photographer Mirian Fichtner, is the result of ten years of research among the terreiros of Rio Grande ... See full summary »
Directors: José Carlos Caramez, Mirian Fichtner
Votes: 9
29. Casinha Pequenina (1963)
95 min | Comedy, Drama
In colonial Brazil, rich farmer and owner of slaves is blackmailed by a lady; to get rid of the problem, he involves innocent countrymen in a diabolical plan.
Director: Glauco Mirko Laurelli | Stars: Amácio Mazzaropi, Geny Prado, Roberto Duval, Tarcísio Meira
Votes: 112
30. Boy 23 - The Forgotten Boys of Brazil (2016)
80 min | Documentary
Brazil, 1930. Local elites not only admired Nazi and Fascist regimes, they even subjected victims to racist experiments. But one of them (BOY 23) survived to tell the tale.
Director: Belisario Franca | Stars: Reginaldo Alves Almeida, Circe Bittencourt, Maria da Glória, Pedro Theodoro de Camargo
Votes: 253
31. Pornô! (1981)
83 min | Drama
Collection of erotic stories that includes The Gazelles, The Pleasure of Virtue and The Grasshopper.
Directors: David Cardoso, Luiz Castellini, John Doo | Stars: David Cardoso, Patrícia Scalvi, Matilde Mastrangi, Zélia Diniz
Votes: 356
32. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)
PG | 117 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A father's wish magically brings a wooden boy to life in Italy, giving him a chance to care for the child.
Directors: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson | Stars: Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Burn Gorman
Votes: 113,220
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