At Smiley News, our readers will know how we feel about the medium of film. Through the years that we have been running the Smiley Charity Film Awards, celebrating films created by charities, we have seen firsthand the impact such films can have on their audience.
However, cause-based films aren’t the only films that have had an incredible impact on our society. In fact, films of all genres and forms have over and over again demonstrated just how this particular art form can create a ripple effect of positive change.
To that, here are four films that have had an incredible positive impact on our world.
This documentary film by Errol Morris covered the trial and subsequent conviction of Randall Dale Adams for the 1976 shooting of Dallas police officer Robert W. Wood.
Adams was originally sentenced to death - however, over the course of Morris’ documentary, it becomes exceedingly clear that he was not the one responsible. Morris was even able to record an admission of Adams’s innocence from the original suspect in the murder.
Thanks to this film and the public outcry that came from it, Adams was eventually released from prison, making The Thin Blue Line one of the few films that actually freed a man.
Also released in 1988, A Short FIlm about Killing, directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, was a drama which followed the story of fictional character Jacek Łazar, culminating in his execution for murder. The film draws parallels between murder committed by an individual and murder committed by the state - asking the question, is capital punishment really just?
According to Kieślowski, the film wasn’t necessarily intended to make a political statement, but to demonstrate one clear thought - that killing, no matter who is doing it, is wrong.
This film was instrumental in Kieślowski’s native Poland abolishing the death penalty, going on to save countless lives, and ultimately impact the political and social landscape of an entire country.
Yes, that’s right, Bambi deserves to be on this list. Arguably one of Walt Disney’s cutest, and emotionally destructive, classics, Bambi had a somewhat unanticipated effect on the world.
Everyone knows that Bambi’s mother dies in the film, as a result of being shot by a human hunter (if it didn’t upset you, you’re lying). What you may not know is that this had a very interesting affect on how animals and hunting were seen by viewers.
Since Bambi’s release, this has been known as the ‘Bambi effect’ and has caused an increased interest in the fate of animals and the way the presence of humans has potentially them.
One such example is that, in 2007, unprecedented snowfall led to food scarcity for animals such as deer. The Colorado Wildlife Department was inundated with phone calls from concerned citizens wanting to help feed the animals.
This documentary, directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, follows a 19-year-old girl who survives an honour killing performed by her father and uncle. Her family members’ justification for the honour killing is that the girl married the ‘wrong person’ and, as in the majority of honour killings, it was intended to protect the family from shame.
The film was first screened at the Pakistani Prime Minister's Secretariat in Islamabad, and contributed to the discussions on honour killings, and the legal loopholes that allow perpetrators to go free.
Thanks to this film, the Prime Minister agreed to review the laws on honour killings, contributing to the introduction of the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act in 2016.
At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.
The Fawcett Society. This is the UK's leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women's rights. Support them here.
RSPCA. This is the leading animal welfare charity in the UK, and they specialise in animal rescue & furthering the welfare cause for all animals. Find out more here.
