Guillermo del Toro, Neil Gaiman, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and More Share Their Favorite Films About Hope
by IMDb-Editors | created - 2 months ago | updated - 1 month ago | PublicJoining forces with IMDb and the United Nations Refugee Agency, Guillermo del Toro, Neil Gaiman, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon share their favorite uplifting dramas and gripping documentaries that inspire hope. They also raise awareness for refugees and other vulnerable communities who have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. If you can help, please make a donation at Covid19ResponseFund.org.
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1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
R | 142 min | Drama
Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler
Votes: 2,339,904 | Gross: $28.34M
2. Tampopo (1985)
Not Rated | 114 min | Comedy
A truck driver stops at a small family-run noodle shop and decides to help its fledgling business. The story is intertwined with various vignettes about the relationship of love and food.
Director: Jûzô Itami | Stars: Ken Watanabe, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kôji Yakusho
Votes: 15,869 | Gross: $0.22M
3. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
PG | 130 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 405,237
4. Brazil (1985)
R | 132 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond
Votes: 187,430 | Gross: $9.93M
5. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Dorothy Gale is swept away from a farm in Kansas to a magical land of Oz in a tornado and embarks on a quest with her new friends to see the Wizard who can help her return home to Kansas and help her friends as well.
Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy, Norman Taurog, Richard Thorpe, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 371,210 | Gross: $2.08M
6. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Not Rated | 93 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A beautiful young woman takes her father's place as the prisoner of a mysterious beast, who wishes to marry her.
Directors: Jean Cocteau, René Clément | Stars: Jean Marais, Josette Day, Mila Parély, Nane Germon
Votes: 24,199 | Gross: $0.30M
7. Up (2009)
PG | 96 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
78-year-old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his house equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway.
Directors: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson | Stars: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 934,474 | Gross: $293.00M
8. Amélie (2001)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Romance
Amélie is an innocent and naive girl in Paris with her own sense of justice. She decides to help those around her and, along the way, discovers love.
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta
Votes: 703,147 | Gross: $33.23M
9. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
PG-13 | 93 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Faced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.
Director: Benh Zeitlin | Stars: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Easterly, Lowell Landes
Votes: 80,653 | Gross: $12.80M
10. Billy Elliot (2000)
R | 110 min | Drama, Music
A talented young boy becomes torn between his unexpected love of dance and the disintegration of his family.
Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Jean Heywood, Jamie Draven
Votes: 126,695 | Gross: $22.00M
11. Virunga (2014)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, War
A team of brave individuals risk their lives to protect the last mountain gorillas.
Director: Orlando von Einsiedel | Stars: André Bauma, Emmanuel de Merode, Mélanie Gouby, Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo
Votes: 10,363
12. Knock Down the House (2019)
PG | 87 min | Documentary
A look at the people involved with various political campaigns during the 2018 U.S. congressional election.
Director: Rachel Lears | Stars: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Joe Crowley, Paula Jean Swearengin
Votes: 11,490
13. Selma (2014)
PG-13 | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.
Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 86,255 | Gross: $52.08M
14. Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
PG | 112 min | Drama, Family
A young girl from South Los Angeles tries to make it to the National Spelling Bee.
Director: Doug Atchison | Stars: Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Keke Palmer, Curtis Armstrong
Votes: 18,502 | Gross: $18.81M
15. After Spring (2016)
TV-14 | 101 min | Documentary
After Spring is a feature documentary that focuses on the Syrian refugee crisis. With the Syrian conflict entering its sixth year, millions of people continue to be displaced. This is the ... See full summary »
Directors: Steph Ching, Ellen Martinez
Votes: 88
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