Since its inception 35 years ago, Sony Pictures Classics — under the uncommonly consistent stewardship of co-chiefs Michael Barker and Tom Bernard — has been a bastion of socially minded cinema on the global stage. The studio’s trademarks include international cinema that interrogates state power (“Persepolis,” “I’m Still Here”); character-driven dramas centered on identity (“All About My Mother,” “Call Me By Your Name”); documentaries about corruption and human rights (“The Fog of War,” “Inside Job”); and prestige releases that explore structural inequality (“Indochine,” “Incendies”), urgent social matters (“The Father,” “Foxcatcher”) and iconoclasts who defied societal norms (“Badasssss!,” “Searching for Sugar...