Forrest er ikke den skarpeste kniv i skuffen, men han har i stedet en medmenneskelig umiddelbarhed. Og så kan Forrest løbe. Takket være disse to talenter bliver Forrest liv en fantastisk rejse, hvor Football-stjerne, maratonløber, Vietnam-helt blot er nogle få stationer på vejen. Og imens lærer han ubevidst sin omverden, hvad det vil sige at være menneske.

I en lille fattig by i Alabama i 1930'erne ne bliver den sorte Tom Robinson anklaget for voldtægt. Den hvide og højt respekterede advokat Atticus Finch risikerer sin karriere for at forsvare den anklagede.

På plejehjemmet fortæller den aldrende Ninny sin buttede niece historien om Idgie og Ruth. De to veninder kommer sammen til at drive Whistle Stop Cafe, hvor man altid kan få stegte grønne tomater og stegeben med barbecue-sauce. De to veninder har ufortrødent kæmpet mod de ting, der har gjort livet svært - bl.a. en voldelig ægtemand og ku-klux-klan.

Småfuskeren Vincent La Guardia Gambini har netop - med nød og næppe - bestået eksamen som advokat. Så da hans fætter William og dennes ven Stanley anholdes for mord og røveri nede i Alabama, rejser Vincent ned for at forsvare dem. Men Vincent har ingen erfaring med at føre retssager, og hans mafioso-storbyslang er heller ikke populært på disse kanter.

Melanie Carmichael er en ung, succesrig modedesigner i New York, forlovet med den velhavende playboy Andrew Hennings, søn af ingen ringere end New Yorks borgmester. Hun bliver ovenud lykkelig, da Andrew frier til hende. Hun får dog ikke lige fortalt en vigtig detalje - nemlig at hun faktisk allerede er gift. Den sofistikerede storbypige kommer i virkeligheden fra beskedne kår i sydstaterne. Hendes mand, teenagekæresten Jake Perry, har aldrig ulejliget sig med at få ægteskabet opløst. Så nu må Melanie hjem til lille Pidgeon Creek i Alabama for at give sin forældre, Pearl og Earl, den store nyhed samt få Jake overtalt til at skrive under på skilsmissepapirerne.

In 1900, a clan attempts to strike a deal with a Chicago industrialist to get him to build cotton mills in their Deep South town.

Alabama i USA, 1965. En gruppe sorte aktivister, anført af baptistpræsten Martin Luther King jr., arrangerer en borgerrettighedsmarch i den lille by Selma. Men delstatens racistiske senator, George Wallace, har bestemt ikke tænkt sig at lade de sorte bruge deres stemmeret. Demonstranterne møder kraftig modstand fra de lokale myndigheder, der ikke viger tilbage for at tage voldelige metoder i brug.

Major Hank Marshall (Tommy Lee Jones) arbejder i 1950'ernes koldkrigstid med opbygningen og afprøvningen af det amerikanske atomforsvar. Hans kone, Carly (Jessica Lange), følger ham fra den ene militærbase til den anden, og hun er den stærkt erotiske blonde type, der omgående får de andre soldaterkoner til at låse deres mænd inde. Efter Hanks overordnede, Gen. Johnson (Powers Boothe), har sendt ham til Nevada for at overvåge en prøvesprængning, benytter generalen sig i mellemtiden af situationen til at prøvesprænge lidt med Carly. Da Hank vender hjem med en mistanke om, at nogle mennesker er blevet forgiftet af nedfaldet, får Johnson ham indlagt, så historien ikke slipper ud. Men så træder Carly for alvor i karakter for at redde den mand, hun elsker.

A group of Confederate soldiers hole up on an abandoned plantation after robbing a bank, and find themselves at the mercy of supernatural forces.

Norma Rae is a southern textile worker employed in a factory with intolerable working conditions. This concern about the situation gives her the gumption to be the key associate to a visiting labor union organizer. Together, they undertake the difficult, and possibly dangerous, struggle to unionize her factory.

Martha Beck, an obese nurse who is desperately lonely, joins a "correspondence club" and finds a romantic pen pal in Ray Fernandez. Martha falls hard for Ray, and is intent on sticking with him even when she discovers he's a con man who seduces lonely single women, kills them and then takes their money. She poses as Ray's sister and joins Ray on a wild killing spree, fueled by her lingering concern that Ray will leave her for one of his marks.

After the unexpected death of his survivalist father, an eleven year old boy raised in the Alabama wilderness must learn how to make a home in the modern world.

A crime-busting lawyer and his initially reluctant attorney father take on the forces that run gambling and prostitution in their small Southern town.

Constructed from a wealth of archival footage, the documentary follows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from 1955 to 1968, in his rise from regional activist to world-renowned leader of the Civil Rights movement. Rare footage of King's speeches, protests, and arrests are interspersed with scenes of other high-profile supporters and opponents of the cause, punctuated by heartfelt testimonials by some of Hollywood's biggest stars.

In the Summer of 1963, Flint, Michigan is home to the Watsons, a close knit family. When 15 year-old Byron’s antics go over the top, his parents realize enough is enough and they decide the family needs a dose of Grandma Sands' no nonsense approach in Birmingham, Alabama. So the Watsons load up their 1948 Plymouth Brown Bomber and head South. When they finally make it to Birmingham, they meet Grandma Sands and her friend, Mr. Robert and discover that life is very different there than in Flint. During that historic summer, the Watsons find themselves caught up in something far bigger than Byron’s antics; something that will change their lives and country forever.

Fearing the apocalypse, an insurance salesman sets off into the woods on a solo hunting experiment.

Luke and Jonah, two high school sweethearts, spend their final days together over the course of a long, quiet summer in the rural US South, contemplating their uncertain future and the uncertain future of the United States.

In 1950s Alabama, the owner of the Honeydripper juke joint finds his business dropping off and against his better judgment, hires a young electric guitarist in a last ditch effort to draw crowds during harvest time.

The US military is running a test for a special type of radio transmitter, to be used to communicate with submarines, in a deep system of underground caves in Central America. When the signal from one of the transmitters suddenly disappears, a team of soldiers led by Major Elbert Stevens and cave specialists led by Rupert 'Wolf' Wolfsen including scientist Leslie Peterson are sent in to find out what happened. Exploring deep underground, they stumble upon a tribe of albino cave-dwellers who have apparently been isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years. The cave-dwellers are hurt by radio frequencies and are able to see in infra-red frequencies, tracking the explorers by their body heat.

George Wallace is a 1997 television film starring Gary Sinise as George Wallace, the former Governor of Alabama. It was directed by John Frankenheimer, who won an Emmy award for it; Sinise and Mare Winningham also won Emmies for their performances. The film was based on the 1996 biography Wallace : The Classic Portrait of Alabama Governor George Wallace by Marshall Frady, who also co-wrote the teleplay. Frankenheimer's film was highly praised by critics: in addition to the Emmy awards, it received the Golden Globe for Best Miniseries/Motion Picture made for TV. Angelina Jolie also received a Golden Globe for her performance as Wallace's second wife, Cornelia.