If you're looking for something more challenging than the latest action flick, head to the video store and rent one of these recommended movies.

These films offer something beyond special effects and glitzy star power. Each will give you a fresh perspective on important global issues and insight into the lives of some of the world's most vulnerable people.

(Please note that the content of some of these films may be disturbing or offensive to some viewers.)

Amazing Grace
Rating: PG
Amazing Grace tells the story of William Wilberforce, an 18th century British parliamentarian, who sets out to abolish the African slave trade in his own country. This film shows the struggles of the abolitionist movement and the fight to help those suffering under slavery. More than this, the film serves as a rallying call to combat slavery that still exists today.
( Amazing Grace will be available for rent later this summer.)

Blood Diamond
Rating: 14A
If you've never heard of "conflict diamonds," Blood Diamond will be an eye-opener. The movie is the story of an African fishermen who gets caught up in the greed, terror and treachery of Sierra Leone's diamond trade. While the story is fictional, the setting offers a realistic look at the devastating effect the diamond trade had on this developing nation.

Born Into Brothels 
Rating: 14A
This 2006 Academy Award-winning documentary chronicles the transformation of a group of Indian children living in Calcutta's red-light district. Through the gift of a camera and photography lessons, the film reveals how a child's life can change and how hope exists in some of the darkest places.

Osama
Rating: PG
As the first film made in post-Taliban Afghanistan, Osama provides an inside look at the struggles of girls and women living under a fundamentalist regime. Shot in Kabul, Osama tells the story of a 12-year-old girl who disguises herself as a boy to help her family survive in a society where women are forbidden to work or even leave their homes without a male relative.