When: Thursday, February 26
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:30 PM
Where: Bard Hall, First UU Church of San Diego
Admission: Open to the public. Bring your perspective and an open mind.​
Free event

​In an era of political noise and global uncertainty, sometimes the most profound insights come from a flickering screen and a man with a toothbrush mustache.

​The Social Justice Film Series is honored to invite you to a special screening and discussion of Charlie Chaplin’s 1940 masterpiece, The Great Dictator. This isn't just a "classic movie night"—it’s a deep dive into the roots of tyranny, the power of resistance, and the enduring hope for human dignity.

The Story: A Tale of Two Identical StrangersThe film follows two parallel lives:

• The Barber: After spending 20 years in a hospital following WWI, a Jewish barber returns to find his shop covered in cobwebs and his community living in the shadow of fear.
• Adenoid Hynkel: The tyrannical dictator of Tomania (a thin veil for Adolf Hitler), who is obsessed with world domination and "purifying" his nation.

As the barber and his spirited neighbor, Hannah, navigate the cruelty of Hynkel’s henchmen, the film builds toward one of the most famous and moving speeches in cinematic history—a plea for humanity that still brings shivers to audiences today.

Why This Film? Why Now?
The Great Dictator was a "visionary satire" in the truest sense. Chaplin began filming before the full horrors of WWII were known, yet he managed to capture the absurdity and the danger of authoritarianism with uncanny precision.

History marked the film, and the film marked history. It serves as a reminder that:

1. Satire is a weapon: Humility and humor can disarm even the most imposing figures.
2. Apathy is the enemy: The barber’s surprise at the graffiti on his window mirrors our own need to stay awake to the changes in our society.
3. Universal Humanity: The struggles faced by the characters in the 1940s echo the social justice battles we continue to fight today.

• "We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness." — The Great Dictator

Join us for the screening followed by an engaging community discussion where we’ll bridge the gap between this 80-year-old satire and our current social landscape.

In 2024 the film No Other Land was awarded the Oscar for best documentary motion picture. Despite the award, it has not been widely seen in the United States because no distributor had the courage to pick it up. (It is now available for individuals to rent via streaming services). In November, the Palestine/Israel Social Justice Team, with the support of SJET, screened the film in the Common Room. 

It was painful to watch. The film shows the forced displacement of the Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta, a group of hamlets with roots in the 19 th century. When Israel decided it would use the area for tank maneuver training, soldiers systematically demolished residents’ homes. They sealed off  Palestinians’ water wells by filling them with cement and bulldozed their children’s playgrounds. Meanwhile Israeli settlers attacked residents, unchecked by nearby Israeli soldiers. During the making of the film two unarmed Palestinians were shot by soldiers, one of whom, Haran, paralyzed from the neck down, dies for lack of medical care.

The suppression of No Other Land is replaying with regard to the new film, The Voice of Hind Rajab. The movie is based on the recordings of a terrified 5-year-old Gazan girl trapped in a car with the dead bodies of her family members speaking with rescue workers. Although an ambulance is eight minutes away two hours pass as rescue workers seek a greenlight for its safe passage, while trying to reassure and calm the
child. In the end the Israelis destroy the ambulance and kill its crew, as well as the girl. In the New York Times M. Gessen noted: “Everywhere in the world this film, shortlisted for the Oscar for best foreign movie, has major distributors – but not in the United States or Israel.”