Daily Archives: 21 April 2026

Movies I recommend if you want to do international aid work, foreign affairs or journalism abroad.

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Three scenes from the movies listed. The first is a white man of European descent facing several angry Asian uniformed officials, the second is a white man using a phone in the middle of a chaotic African village, next to a wooden sign painted with the words "Public phone international", and the third is a woman in a head scarf and also wearing a vest that says PRESS, with shouting men and a car behind her.

For all of this month, each week, I’m publishing a blog focused on working in international humanitarian affairs and community development. This is part three of that series.

I know that, for many people, their career, or their career dreams, of working internationally in humanitarian development, or even as a journalist, are on hold. In fact, I’ve recommended that people who are pursuing a career in international development to rethink those plans. But the world cannot function without international aid workers and without international journalists. And maybe everyone needs to have a reality check on what the work REALLY looks like.

I’ve been thinking of this for a while: what movies would I recommend to someone who wants to work in international humanitarian development, in foreign affairs, or in journalism abroad, to give them an idea of what conditions and challenges are like? Or what movies do I think represent what it’s like to work “in the field” internationally, as we say?

Below is my list, in the order the movies were released. Most are not uplifting. Most are quite dark and even depressing. None are idealizations of aid workers or journalists: the people featured are flawed and white saviorism is on full display in many of them (and often not in a kind way). But, to me, what they collectively do is let you know that “doing good” and living abroad in country’s in post conflict situations and experiencing instability and poverty is not as easy as you might think, and not everything you see on the TV news is to be believed.

Black Narcissus (1947).

The Third Man (1949).

The Year of Living Dangerously (1982).

The Killing Fields (1984).

Volunteers (1985).

The Mission (1986).

The Constant Gardener (2005).

Shooting Dogs (2005).

The Whistleblower (2010).

A Perfect Day (2015).

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016).

The Night Manager (2016 – mini series).

A good source for more movie ideas are these movie lists from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Which are my absolute favorites? What if I could recommend only two? The Year of Living Dangerously and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

What would be your recommendation for films that are good representations of working abroad in humanitarian affairs or as a journalist – or even if they aren’t accurate, you enjoy them?

All of my blogs with career-related advice are here. What I have written lately may be in conflict with some of the things I’ve advised over the years. But I never saw this coming… Here are some highlights:

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