Skip to Content
Division of Finance and Support Services (FSS)
Texas State Division of Finance and Support Services (FSS) FSS Diversity Viewing Recommendations

Viewing Recommendations

The FSS Diversity Committee takes great pride in it's charge to expose divisional employees to diversity through film. Below is a list of viewing recommendations that cover topics ranging from criminal justice reform, to living undocumented in the U.S., to struggles for equal rights for women. Remember that exposing yourself to diversity can sometimes be uncomfortable, and that is okay. By continuing to educate and expose ourselves on subjects, themes, and concepts that stray from our comfort zone, it allows us to have a better understanding and respect for those around us who are continually facing struggles that differ from our own.

Expand FAQ List

  • Films

    • An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
      Rating: TV-MA
      Run time: 1 hour 40 minutes
      Available to stream: Netflix
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • An African American police officer from Colorado Springs, CO, successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan branch with the help of a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader. Based on actual events.
      Rating: R
      Run time: 2 hours 15 minutes
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • A chronicle of the Cristeros War (1926-1929); a war by the people of Mexico against the atheistic Mexican government.
      Rating: R
      Run time: 2 hours 25 minutes
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • A look at the events leading up to the Taliban's attack on Pakistani schoolgirl, Malala Yousafzai, for speaking out on girls' education followed by the aftermath, including her speech to the United Nations.
      Rating: PG-13
      Run time: 1 hour 28 minutes
      Available to stream: Netflix
      Click to View Trailer


       

    • World-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson works to free a wrongly condemned death row prisoner.
      Rating: PG-13
      Run time: 2 hours 17 minutes
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • In the 1920s, 9-year-old Chiyo gets sold to a geisha house. There, she is forced into servitude, receiving nothing in return until the house's ruling hierarchy determines if she is of high enough quality to service the clientele -- men who visit and pay for conversation, dance and song. After rigorous years of training, Chiyo becomes Sayuri, a geisha of incredible beauty and influence. Life is good for Sayuri, but World War II is about to disrupt the peace.
      Rating: PG-13
      Run time: 2 hours 25 minutes
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • The true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her struggles for equal rights, and the early cases of a historic career that lead to her nomination and confirmation as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.
      Rating: PG-13
      Run time: 2 hours
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
      Rating: R
      Run time: 2 hours 12 minutes
      Available to stream: Hulu
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • Civil rights activist Ann Atwater faces off against C.P. Ellis, Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan, in 1971 Durham, North Carolina over the issue of school integration.
      Rating: PG-13
      Run time: 2 hours 13 minutes
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressure from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what's right.
      Rating: PG-13
      Run time: 2 hours 13 minutes
      Click to View Trailer

       

  • Series

    • Justin Johnson has made a name for himself as drag artist Alyssa Edwards, rising to fame on "RuPaul's Drag Race." But when he's not on stage performing as Alyssa, he is an accomplished choreographer and dance teacher. This docuseries follows Justin in his hometown of Mesquite, Texas, at his highly competitive Beyond Belief Dance Company. It is there where he prepares young students for an intensely competitive season on the stage. The multihyphenate has a lot has on his plate, as he has to juggle his dance life, drag life, family life and love life.
      Run time: 5 hours 40 minutes, 8 episodes
      Available to stream: Netflix
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • A look at the lives of undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
      Rating: TV-MA
      Run time: 4 hours 14 minutes; 6 episodes
      Available to stream: Netflix
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • Filmed over a 10-year period, Steven Avery, a DNA exoneree who, while in the midst of exposing corruption in local law enforcement, finds himself the prime suspect in a grisly new crime.
      Rating: TV-14
      Run time: 20 hours 41 minutes; 20 episodes
      Available to stream: Netflix
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • Filmmaker Brian Knappenberger investigates the tragic death of an 8-year-old California boy who endured horrific abuse by his mother and her boyfriend, along with the fractured and complex systems that failed to protect him.
      Rating: TV-MA
      Run time: 5 hours 31 minutes; 6 episodes
      Available to stream: Netflix
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • The inspiring story of trailblazing African American entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker who built a haircare empire that made her America's first female self-made millionaire.
      Rating: TV-MA
      Run time: 3 hours 11 minutes; 4 episodes
      Available to stream: Netflix
      Click to View Trailer

       

    • Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park. Based on the true story.
      Rating: TV-MA
      Run time: 4 hours 56 minutes; 4 episodes
      Available to stream: Netflix
      Click to View Trailer

       

Staff is encouraged to submit their own recommendations and suggestions to Anna Edmonds.