It's officially election season in the US, as the presidential election is in full swing from now until Tuesday, November 5 (Election Day). Turner Classic Movies is taking part with a new, nine-week limited series, "Making Change," which will showcase some of the most entertaining and significant political movies ever made. The weekly programming kicks off on Friday, September 6, and continues each week ahead of Election Day.
"I learned at an early age that, whether we like it or not, politics intersect with our culture every day," says TCM host Ben Mankiewicz. "And the movies, since before the arrival of sound, have long served as a barometer of our political climate. This series brings an eclectic mix of filmmakers, actors, political figures and journalists to TCM to discuss a varied selection of brilliant movies. Along the way, we'll discuss how great films have managed to predict political culture, to reflect it and to challenge it."
Mankiewicz will host the series and introduce the movies, all selected from The New Republic’s 100 most significant political films of all time list. He'll also be joined by figures from both politics and film to discuss the movies, including former Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Stacey Abrams, Melissa Etheridge, Sally Field, Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg and John Turturro.
If you want to watch any of these movies on TCM, you need to have access to the classic movie cable channel. In addition to being available through traditional pay-TV providers, the channel is on live TV streaming services like DirecTV Stream, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. If you've cut the cord or aren't able to watch TCM live on TV, the streaming service Max has a dedicated hub for Turner Classic Movies and likely has many of the movies that are being shown this month available to stream.
Making Change kicks off every Friday at 8 pm ET/PT from September 6 to November 1. Here is the full schedule of movies set to air as part of the series:
Friday, September 6
- 8 pm: The Battle of Algiers (1966) (with Michael Tomasky)
- 10:15 pm: All the King's Men (1949) (with Steven Spielberg)
- 12:15 am: The Great Dictator (1940) (with John Turturro)
- 2:30 am: Fail Safe (1964)
- 4:30 am: i (1958)
- 6 am: Salt of the Earth (1954)
Friday, September 13
- 8 pm: Reds (1981) (with Bill Maher)
- 11:30 pm: The Parallax View (1974) (with Kyle Smith)
- 1:30 am: Germany, Year Zero (1948) (with Alexander Payne)
- 3 am: Gabriel Over the White House (1933)
- 4:30 am: The Battleship Potemkin (1925)
- 6 am: The Fog of War (2003)
Friday, September 20
- 8 pm: Dr. Strangelove (1964) (with Spike Lee)
- 9:45 pm: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (with Stacey Abrams)
- 12:15 am: Hearts and Minds (1974) (with Phil Mattingly)
- 2:15 am: The Lives of Others (2006)
- 4:45 am: Born in Flames (1983)
- 6:15 am: Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Friday, September 27
- 8 pm: Three Days of the Condor (1975) (with Maureen Dowd)
- 10:15 pm: I Am Not Your Negro (2016) (with Sara Sidner)
- Midnight: The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) (with Melissa Etheridge)
- 1:30 am: The Last Hurrah (1958)
- 3:45 am: Night of the Living Dead (1968)
- 5:15 am: The Tin Drum (1979)
Friday, October 4
- 8 pm: The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) (with Sally Field)
- 10 pm: The Best Man (1964) (with Josh Mankiewicz)
- Midnight: I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) (with Sec. Lonnie Bunch III)
- 1:45 am: City Hall (1996)
- 3:45 am: Strike (1924)
- 5:15 am: High and Low (1963)
Friday, October 11
- 8 pm: A Face in the Crowd (1957) (with Barry Levinson)
- 10:15 pm: Wag the Dog (1997) (with Diane Lane)
- Midnight: The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971) (with Abby Phillip)
- 1:45 am: JFK (1991)
- 5 am: Z (1969)
- 7:15 am: Night and Fog (1956)
Friday, October 18
- 8 pm: The Birth of a Nation (1915) (with Jamelle Bouie)
- 11:30 pm: Lincoln (2012) (with Hon. Robert M. Gates)
- 2:15 am: Malcolm X (1992)
- 6 am: Primary (1960)
Friday, October 25
- 8 pm: All the President's Men (1976) (with Steven Spielberg)
- 10:30 pm: Citizen Kane (1941) (with Frank Luntz)
- 12:45 am: Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) (with Lizzie Borden)
- 4:15 am: Olympia Part One: Festival of Nations (1938)
- 6:15 am: Olympia Part Two: Beauty of the Festival (1938)
Friday, November 1
- 8 pm: Being There (1979) (with Andy Garcia)
- 10:30 pm: The Candidate (1972) (with Kaitlan Collins)
- 12:30 am: Harlan County USA (1976) (with Lee Grant)
- 2:15 am: The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
- 4 am: Weekend (1967)
