Pussy Riot! A Punk Prayer for Freedom

The documentary of the 2012 trial of three members of Pussy Riot, who were charged with hooliganism after a punk performance in a Moscow cathedral. It follows the court proceedings, their families and the media storm, with footage the group shot themselves. The film shows how a state and a church turn a 40-second protest into a national crisis.

Why it’s here: It's a punk protest watched by a whole country. What's punk is the defendants' refusal to apologize, and their families who stand by them. What's pedagogical is the courtroom: how a trial becomes theater, and who writes the charges. Pairs with Pussy Riot! A Punk Prayer for Freedom (suggested today), Citizenfour and The Future Is History. Note: the group's views and later work are debated; this film stops at the 2012 trial. English and Russian with subtitles.

On a distant planet, giant blue Draags keep tiny humans, called Oms, as pets. One Om, Terr, escapes with a stolen learning device and teaches himself to read. The Oms organize in the wild and the Draags have to decide what to do. Animated by Roland Topor and made in Czechoslovakia, it won a Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1973.

Why it’s here: The film turns a pet-and-owner story into an allegory of how a ruling class sees the people it keeps. What's punk is that the hero's weapon is literacy and the story is about who gets to learn. What's pedagogical is how easily it can be read as slavery, colonialism or cold-war Czechoslovakia, so a class can argue which. Pairs with Animal Farm, The Giver and Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Note: strange, surreal and slow in places, with some nudity and a violent first act; best for older teens and adults.