Salt to the Sea

In 1994, Paul Rusesabagina, the manager of a luxury hotel in Kigali, shelters more than a thousand Tutsi and moderate Hutu refugees while militias kill outside and the UN pulls back. The film follows him as he bribes, bluffs and begs to keep them alive. Terry George directs, and Don Cheadle earned an Oscar nomination for the lead.

Why it’s here: The film puts a viewer inside what it means to ask for help and be left alone. What's pedagogical is how clearly it names the radio propaganda and the foreign officials who knew. Note: it's a dramatization, and Rusesabagina's role has been disputed by some survivors, so watch it with the book Gourevitch (suggested 10/23) and a Rwandan voice.

Spain, 1944. Ofelia moves with her pregnant mother to a military outpost run by her stepfather, Captain Vidal, a Francoist officer hunting the last rebels in the hills. She finds a labyrinth and a faun who gives her three tasks to prove she's a lost princess. Del Toro cuts between her fairy tale and the real cruelty around her, and the real one is worse.

Why it’s here: The film sets a child's imagination against fascism and shows imagination winning something that matters. What's punk is Ofelia's disobedience, which is the whole plot. What's pedagogical is how clearly it shows the cruelty of an obedient man. It's violent and not for young kids despite the fairy-tale look. Pairs with The Tin Drum and the fascism bundle.