THEME EXPLORATION

socioeconomic hardship

36 films · 3 directors

Tracing the thread…

FILMS THAT EXPLORE THIS
Umberto D.
Umberto D.
1952 · Vittorio De Sica
Capernaum
Capernaum
2018 · Nadine Labaki
The Slump Is Over
The Slump Is Over
1934 · Robert Siodmak
To Live
To Live
1994 · Zhang Yimou
Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility
1995 · Ang Lee
Utama
Utama
2022 · Alejandro Loayza Grisi
A Children's Story
A Children's Story
2004 · Andrea Frazzi & Antonio Frazzi
Hi, Tereska
Hi, Tereska
2001 · Robert Gliński
Kes
Kes
1970 · Ken Loach
Restoration
Restoration
2011 · Yossi Madmoni
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
1974 · Martin Scorsese
All the Good Eyes
All the Good Eyes
2026 · Zhi Zheng
Gaayapadda Simham
Gaayapadda Simham
2026 · Kasyap Sreenivas
Monkey Business
Monkey Business
2026 · Daniel Guzmán
Young Mothers
Young Mothers
2026 · Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Yellow Letters
Yellow Letters
2026 · İlker Çatak
A Child’s Faith
A Child’s Faith
1910 · D.W. Griffith
A Great American Tragedy
A Great American Tragedy
1972 · J. Lee Thompson
A Woman’s Story
A Woman’s Story
1963 · Mikio Naruse
Cumbite
Cumbite
1964 · Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Kah-chan
Kah-chan
2001 · Kon Ichikawa
Nacional III
Nacional III
1982 · Luis García Berlanga
Babe: Pig In the City
Babe: Pig In the City
1998 · George Miller
At Full Throttle
At Full Throttle
2021 · Miro Remo
Celebration
Celebration
2024 · Bruno Anković
And Quiet Rolls the Dawn
And Quiet Rolls the Dawn
1979 · Mrinal Sen
Barren Lives
Barren Lives
1963 · Nelson Pereira dos Santos
Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark
2000 · Lars von Trier
Détresse et charité
Détresse et charité
1904 · Georges Méliès
Five Times Favela
Five Times Favela
1962 · Joaquim Pedro de Andrade
Mikes Is Getting Married
Mikes Is Getting Married
1968 · Yannis Dalianidis
Seyyit Han
Seyyit Han
1968 · Yílmaz Güney
Butterflies Have No Memory
Butterflies Have No Memory
2009 · Lav Diaz
Dilberay
Dilberay
2022 · Ketche
Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors
Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors
2015 · Stephen Herek
Elvira Madigan
Elvira Madigan
1967 · Bo Widerberg
DIRECTORS WHO EXPLORE THIS
Ken Loach United Kingdom

His films consistently depict working-class struggles and systemic poverty with unflinching realism and social compassion.

 Hirokazu Koreeda Japan

He explores economic inequality and family survival through intimate character studies that reveal dignity within desperate circumstances.

 Cristian Mungiu Romania

His slow-cinema approach documents the grinding poverty and moral compromises of post-communist Eastern European life with devastating honesty.