1. El Norte (El Norte)
Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with the Getty Foundation in 2017.
It has an average vote of 7.2 on TMDB.
2. Big Night
Primo and Secondo, two immigrant brothers, pin their hopes on a banquet honoring Louis Prima to save their struggling restaurant.
It has an average vote of 6.903 on TMDB.
3. Swept from the Sea
The film tells the story of Russian emigree and the only survivor from ship crash Yanko Goorall and servant Amy Foster in the end of 19th century. When Yanko enters a farm sick and hungry after the shipwreck, everyone is afraid of him, except for Amy, who is very kind and helps him. Soon he becomes like a son for Dr. James Kennedy and romance between Yanko and Amy follows.
It has an average vote of 6.47 on TMDB.
4. Live and Become (Va, vis et deviens)
In 1980 the black Falashas in Ethiopia are recognised as genuine Jews and are secretly carried to Israel. The day before the transport the son of a Jewish mother dies. In his place and with his name she takes a Christian 9-year-old boy.
It has an average vote of 7.48 on TMDB.
5. Goodbye Bafana
The true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner's name was Nelson Mandela.
It has an average vote of 6.796 on TMDB.
6. Games of Love and Chance (L'Esquive)
A group of teenagers living in a housing project in the outskirts of Paris rehearse a scene from Marivaux's play of the same name. Krimo is determined not to take part, but after developing feelings for Lydia, he quickly assumes the main role and love interest in the play.
It has an average vote of 6.672 on TMDB.
7. Birdsong
Amidst moving homes, a superstitious Indian American girl struggles to bury her pet bird in fear of it haunting her.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
8. Jungle Fever
A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.
It has an average vote of 6.396 on TMDB.
9. West Side Story
In the slums of the upper West Side of Manhattan, New York, a gang of Polish-American teenagers called the Jets compete with a rival gang of recently immigrated Puerto Ricans, the Sharks, to "own" the neighborhood streets. Tensions are high between the gangs but two romantics, one from each gang, fall in love leading to tragedy.
It has an average vote of 7.256 on TMDB.
10. City of Hope
This gritty inner-city film follows various people living in a troubled New Jersey setting, most notably Nick Rinaldi, a disillusioned contractor who has been helped along his whole life by his wealthy father. Other characters in this ensemble drama about urban conflict and corruption include Asteroid , an unstable homeless person, and Wynn, an idealistic young politician.
It has an average vote of 6.719 on TMDB.
11. Ofrandā
Ina, an introverted 11-year-old immigrant, finds herself captivated by Petra, a new classmate coming from the same country as her. Faced with the newcomer’s indifference towards her, Ina embarks on a desperate quest for connection in a world oscillating between dream and reality.
12. Sweet Amerika
The story of Balbir Singh Gill aka Bobby, a Sikh grocery store owner who is kidnapped and tortured by four Americans who mistake him for a Muslim because he wears a turban.
13. Neger, Neger, Schornsteinfeger (Neger, Neger, Schornsteinfeger)
This drama is based on the childhood memories of Hans Jürgen Massaquoi, who was one of the few black native Germans in Nazi Germany. In 1935 at the age of nine, he lives with his German mother in a small flat in Hamburg's working class district Barmbek, while his father and grandfather had left the country. Although the boy is not persecuted by the Nazis and dreams of joining the Hitler Youth, his skin color makes him a target for racist abuse...
It has an average vote of 6.8 on TMDB.
14. Breathe (Respire)
Fouad, a 15-year-old Moroccan immigrant, and Max, a 27-year-old "old stock" Quebecer, both live frustrating lives. Their respective destinies lead them face to face, in a situation from which neither will emerge unscathed.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
15. S.W.A.T.
Hondo Harrelson recruits Jim Street to join an elite unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. Together they seek out more members, including tough Deke Kay and single mom Chris Sanchez. The team's first big assignment is to escort crime boss Alex Montel to prison. It seems routine, but when Montel offers a huge reward to anyone who can break him free, criminals of various stripes step up for the prize.
It has an average vote of 6.156 on TMDB.
16. Katzelmacher (Katzelmacher)
A group of young slackers spend most of their time hanging out in front of a Munich apartment building. When a Greek immigrant named Jorgos moves in, however, their aimless lives are shaken up. Soon new tensions arise both within the group and with Jorgos.
It has an average vote of 6.457 on TMDB.
17. The Secret of the Grain (La Graine et le Mulet)
In southern France, a Franco-Arabic shipyard worker along with his partner's daughter pursues his dream of opening a restaurant.
It has an average vote of 7.01 on TMDB.
18. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
A young Greek woman falls in love with a non-Greek and struggles to get her family to accept him while she comes to terms with her heritage and cultural identity.
It has an average vote of 6.498 on TMDB.
19. Asphalt Tango (Asfalt Tango)
A desperate husband chases a bus full of beautiful women headed for Paris, France.
It has an average vote of 7.1 on TMDB.
20. The Class (Entre les murs)
Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.
It has an average vote of 6.986 on TMDB.
