Women Without Men

Jess is a British Punjabi eighteen-year-old in West London who plays soccer better than anyone in her park, and her parents want her to learn to cook a full Indian dinner. She joins a women's team behind their backs, falls for her coach, and has to find a way to be both daughters at once. It's a comedy with a wedding, an ugly sports bra and a lot of heart.

Why it’s here: The film makes a joke out of the fight between family expectations and a girl's ambition, and the girl wins on her own terms. What's punk is that Jess isn't asked to choose between her people and her game. What's pedagogical is how it handles racism, sexism and homophobia in a form a family can watch together. Pairs with Persepolis and Funny Boy.

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.