More than 4.5 millions spectators watched the Oscars last night. Movies can be extraordinary vehicle to convey values.

Many social issues have been addressed by directors and producers through the years and have been inspiring. Issues such as anti-Semitism, the death penalty, and racism.

Here is my short “Oscar” list:

Gentleman’s Agreement, (1947) by Elia Kazan, with Gregory Peck exposed anti-Semitism in the South in which a reporter, pretends to be Jewish to write a story on anti-Semitism. He discovers, in a very personal way what is means to be discriminated against.

Nous sommes tous des Assassins (1952) (Are we all murderers?) by Andre Cayatte with Mouloudji was a strong condemnation of the death penalty. Many years later Susan Sarandon portrayed a compelling portrait of Sister Prejean in Dead man Walking who became a friend of a death row inmate. The movie explores the morals of Capital Punishment.

In the Heat of the Night (1967) by Norman Jewison with Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger portrayed racism in the South. Mississippi Burning (1988) by Alan Parker with Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe was another portrait of racism and intolerance and the two men who risked their lives for justice.

Apocalypse Now (1979), and Platoon (1986) all influenced the public perception of the Vietnam war. However, the war was over when the movies were released.

In the 80s, French-Polish Director Krysztof Kieslowski released The Decalogue, a series of 10 short movies each based on one of the 10 Commandments.

The movie reflects on the meaning and the value of the Commandments through the lives of fictional characters.  

Robert Redford the first inaugural chairman of the Sundance Film Festival is skeptical about the actual impact of movies on society: "I don't know how much films actually impact social movements. Fashion, perhaps?"

I disagree. Films can have a strong emotional impact and can influence, for good the way we look at life and issues.

Case in point, Rachid Bouchareb’s movie, Days of Glory, which  was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film but did not win the Oscar. The movie narrates the story of a North African contingent of soldiers who fought the Nazis in Word War II and helped liberate France but never received the compensations promised by the French Government. Jacques Chirac, the French President, saw the movie, was scandalized by the injustice and by the fact that the French Government had ignored the plight of these veterans for almost 50 years. He raised the military pensions to the same level of their French comrades. The movie had a direct impact on the lives of more than 80,000 of veterans widow in more than 20 countries.

Maybe the Oscars, the Golden Globes, Cannes or the Sundance Film Festival should add “ethics and social change” in their numerous categories. The contenders could be movies that portrayed dramatic ethical dilemmas and the true heroes that struggle to do “the right thing.”

Why not?