J. Hoberman on What is a “Political Film,” Anyway?

As you might have heard, The New Republic released a list of the 100 most significant political films of all time. Initially, the list was going to be called “the best,” but when TNR enlisted J. Hoberman to curate the results, he decided “most significant” was a better title.

The results feature plenty of entertaining and hilarious feature films (Duck Soup and Starship Troopers, to name a few), but we can’t help but highlight the films you can stream on OVID. They include Raoul Peck’s gripping Lumumba, Lizzie Borden’s highly provocative Born in Flames, OVID favorite Chris Marker’s legendary A Grin Without a Cat, and in the top twenty, Patricio Guzmán’s The Battle of Chile and the epic Peter Watkins work (and Hoberman’s top pick) La Commune.

Hoberman’s essay is thoughtful and expansive (what else did you expect?) He is quick to point out that of the top fifty films, only eight directly address racism, and a whopping two confront feminist themes. This is an evolving conversation, and we hope that a more diverse collection of voices can be tapped for such polls in the future. But in the meantime, we invite you to read J. Hoberman’s thoughts, and check out these five films on OVID!