2019 Sleepers
                                                              Part 2

Herewith another batch of 2019 films that didn’t get much notice. It just happens that all of them are based on true stories.
Pavarotti documents the career of Luciano Pavarotti, perhaps the world’s greatest tenor. Even if you don’t like opera much (me neither!) you will love this film. The singing is just super and he was one heck of a guy. Generous almost to a fault, he spread his talent and money freely. And Lord, what a voice! Do NOT confuse him with the disgraced Placido Domingo! 
Harriet is the true story (more or less) of escaped slave Harriet Tubman, so famous she may be put on the $10 bill. Instead of enjoying her freedom after her harrowing escape to the North, she turned her hand to freeing other slaves and transporting them to the free states by means of the underground railroad. There’s enough excitement in this one for two or three movies and Harriet Tubman is well played by Cynthia Erivo in a breakout role.
Official Secrets stars Keira Knightley as a British whistleblower. One day in 2003, in the lead up to the Iraq War, British intelligence specialist Katharine Gun receives a memo from the NSA with a shocking directive: the United States is enlisting Britain's help in collecting compromising information on U.N. Security Council members to blackmail them into voting in favor of an invasion of Iraq. Unable to stand by and watch the world be rushed into war, Gun makes the gut-wrenching decision to defy her government and leak the memo to the press. Her identity uncovered, it looks like a long prison term awaits.
Chiewetel Ejiofor, the British actor best known as recaptured slave Solomon Northrup in 12 Years A Slave, is the director, screemplay writer and major star in the charming The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind. His son, William, is well played by young Maxwell Simba. William’s poor family can’t pay his school fees, but he sneaks into the library to learn electronics and physics. His area of Malawi is unable to grow crops for half the year, but William devises a Rube Goldberg-like windmill to irrigate in the dry season. Yep, this really happened!
Warning and disclaimer: The last film in this article, Knock Down The House, is not going to appeal to readers of the Reddish persuasion. It is the true story of how four young women somehow knocked off Republican congressman in the 2018 election and began to make waves in DC. For those who can get over it, this movie is interesting and educational, as well as fun. 
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. Most are for grown-ups, but kids will enjoy The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind.