Film may be the most entertaining of all art forms, and it can also be the most culturally influential. That’s why it’s no wonder that many filmmakers use the medium to push an agenda, to inspire others by revealing an injustice or making a strong political statement. While some of these movies suffer from being too preachy or repetitive, a handful hold our attention and make us think. Or even act. In honor of Sundance Channel’s airing of The Concert for Sandy Relief on December 12, we present a Top 10 list of notable movies that have a bigger purpose.

Author: Norm Schrager

10. BLOOD DIAMOND

10. BLOOD DIAMOND - Director Edward Zwick, best known for chronicling the Civil War’s first black volunteer company in GLORY, exposes the horrors of the diamond industry in this drama that’s part adventure, part political statement. Set in an unstable Sierra Leone in the 1990s, BLOOD DIAMOND exposes the forced labor and terrifying conditions that took place in the diamond mines during the nation’s dangerous conflict. A plotline involving a rare diamond can sometimes soften the film’s impact, but thrilling performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou keep the world real and the emotions in focus. Photo Credit: Cinema Squid

Author: Norm Schrager

9. BETTER THIS WORLD

9. BETTER THIS WORLD - In this gripping documentary, two impressionable young men head to the 2008 Republican National Convention as idealistic activists, and end up arrested on charges of terrorism. Were they being effectively persuaded into committing a violent crime that they wouldn’t have done on their own? Co-directors Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega let the facts—and the participants—speak for themselves, charting how two childhood buddies ended up in way over their heads. BETTER THIS WORLD is ultimately a cautionary tale about questionable investigative tactics and the influence that can be exercised on fertile minds. Photo Credit: Human Rights Watch

8. ALICE'S RESTAURANT

8. ALICE'S RESTAURANT - Arlo Guthrie was right in the middle of the hippie revolution when this satiric adaptation of his musical mini-opus hit theaters in the summer of 1969. The story, made legendary in Guthrie’s famed 18-minute song, recounts his arrest for unloading some garbage with some friends following a Thanksgiving dinner. (C’mon, man, the dump was closed!) Guthrie and director Arthur Penn humorously rail against the absurdities of the Law and the Draft, while ending the film with a melancholy conclusion to the decade. Guthrie has been known to say that ALICE’S RESTAURANT wasn’t really anti-war—it was anti-stupidity. Photo Credit: A Little Tour In Yellow

7. HOTEL RWANDA

7. HOTEL RWANDA - Steven Spielberg told the world about Oskar Schindler and Irish director Terry George introduced us to Paul Rusesabegina. The latter was a heroic hotel manager in Kigali, Rwanda who provided shelter and safety to more than 1,200 people during the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. This story of humanity amid human slaughter was one of the most acclaimed films of 2004, with Don Cheadle earning a Best Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Rusesabegina. HOTEL RWANDA isn’t as harsh or relentless as one might expect; the filmmakers have said they wanted to make the film accessible to most audiences, to tell as many people as possible about this horrible ethnic war. Photo Credit: The Movie Database

6. NORMA RAE

6. NORMA RAE - Sally Field and Ron Leibman play polar opposites—a textile factory girl in the Deep South and a Jewish union lawyer from New York City—who become the driving forces behind a dangerous labor strike. Director Martin Ritt, known for making films with pervasive social commentary (CONRACK, THE FRONT), makes it impossible for us not to root for Field’s gutsy title character, an important female role in the era of the Equal Rights Amendment fight. NORMA RAE introduced Field as a relevant dramatic actress (she would win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance), and marked one of the final triumphs for legendary screenwriting couple, Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr.. Photo Credit: Tout Le Cine

5. WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR

5. WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR - In some parts of the U.S. in the mid-1990s, you might have been driving an electric car. Hell, you would have been on your second or third one right now. But a conspiracy shut down that opportunity damned quick, as illustrated in Chris Paine’s revealing documentary. This tale of energy-enlightened drivers and the cars they loved unravels as a step-by-step mystery (as the title suggests), tracking the swift history of the electric car from its initial popularity to its demise, as major manufacturers refuse lease renewals and destroy the inventory. Followed by Paine’s 2011 sequel, REVENGE OF THE ELECTRIC CAR, which tells of the technology’s rise from the ashes. Call it car-ma. Photo Credit: PBS

4. NO NUKES

4. NO NUKES - Everybody knows that rock-n-roll has no shortage of activists (Bono alone counts for at least three.) While that hasn’t always been the case, it was in 1979, when a supreme showcase of musicians closed out the decade by hitting the Madison Square Garden stage for five nights to protest the use of nuclear power. Backstage conversations between Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and others reveal a time when artists’ opinions weren’t taken seriously; on-stage performances include Crosby, Stills and Nash, James Taylor, Carly Simon, and The Doobie Brothers. This is a must for fans of Bruce Springsteen, who is impossibly magnetic on stage, playing three powerhouse numbers including a “new” song called “The River.” See Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform “Thunder Road” at a No Nukes concert. Photo Credit: Movie Goods

3. PUTNEY SWOPE

3. PUTNEY SWOPE - In 1969, writer-director Robert Downey, Sr. (yeah, the father of Iron Man) created an ingenious plot for messing with the status quo: Put an African-American activist in charge of a Madison Avenue advertising agency. That’s the premise of this scathing farce, a landmark in independent film that mocks race and capitalism with a humor that’s as absurd as it is biting. When an agency board member is inadvertently selected the firm’s new leader, he changes the agency’s name (“Truth and Soul”), loads his staff with African-Americans and spends money like a drunken sailor. But Downey’s got a warning for us all: Beware the new boss, he may become the same as the old boss. Photo Credit: The Movie Database

2. MARIA, FULL OF GRACE

2. MARIA, FULL OF GRACE - Here’s a small film that came out of nowhere to capture people’s attention worldwide: A sad, scary, ridiculously tense chronicle of a young Colombian woman who voluntarily becomes a drug mule in exchange for a better life in America. For his impressive debut feature, writer-director Joshua Marston carefully details what it means to be a mule: How drugs are swallowed, what transpires during the flight, the way the cache is retrieved, and the crushed hopes on the other side of the transaction. Then-unknown actress Catalina Sandino Moreno was graced with a slew of awards and accolades for her quiet, lead performance, including a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Photo Credit: New Yorker Films

1. BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY

1. BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY - Tom Cruise is an emotional force of nature as real-life soldier Ron Kovic, an American who fought over in Vietnam and then fought at home to protest the war, becoming one of the nation’s most visible human rights activists. Director Oliver Stone amps up the intensity in ways few filmmakers would—that’s to be expected—but it helps in illustrating the confusion, frustration and guilt that Kovic suffered. Not to mention the physical mutilation he endured as a result of his service. Cruise (a guy born on the third of July) has rarely been better conveying Kovic’s painful, eye-opening transformation. Photo Credit: The Movie Database