When the Raja of Jhansi dies, the British place harsh conditions before letting the Raja's son, Gangadhar, take over the throne. Jhansi's Rajguru plans ahead by getting a young girl, Manu, from a neighbouring kingdom to marry Gangadhar, despite their age difference. Manu is anointed the Rani of Jhansi and her name is changed to Laxmibai (Kashish). She soon gets pregnant but the newborn child dies a few months later. Bereft, Gangadhar's health begins to fail. With no hope of a natural heir to the kingdom, Gangadhar and Laxmibai adopt a young boy, Diwakar. When Gangadhar dies, Laxmibai attempts to have Diwakar anointed the Raja. However, the British object and soon declare war on Jhansi. How Laxmibai joins forces with Tatya Tope and fights the British to death iforms the rest of the film.
A documentary essay about the unsung animation visionary, John Halas. An Animated Utopia explores his desire "to save the world using animation" and highlights his prescient and influential work in exploring new technologies. Though he, along with his wife Joy Batchelor, headed the longest-lasting and most successful British animation studio, he remains an enigma - his achievements, his influence, his success still unknown to so many. This is his story.
George Gershwin's musical world becomes clearer and closer thanks to the children's story of the cook's son Izya Shmulevich. And, as the composer said: "Jazz is music, it uses the same notes that Bach used".
This film follows a team of experts as it excavates a famous WW1 battlefield in search of a top secret tunnel and a legendary 60-foot flame-thrower. Built for use during the opening day of the bloodiest clash of WW1, this weapon fired a blast of flaming oil over 100 yards long. Historian Peter Barton hopes to recover the machine and with help from British Royal Engineers, build a working replica.
In 1812, a very young United States had its sights on expansion to the north abd the west. But the British wanted to keep its former colony tightly contained. In the balance were the lands of the Northwest frontier. Some of the most names of the places of the war are brought to life: Tecumseh, William Henry Harrison, Oliver Hazzard Perry, Fort Meigs, Fort Dearborn, Tippecanoe, River Raisin, Fort Mackinac, Fort Detroit and the Battle of Lake Erie.
“The Lion and The Unicorn” is a short film inspired by the heraldic symbols found on the Royal Coat of Arms of The United Kingdom, the lion (representing England) and the unicorn (representing Scotland). The piece uses representations of both alliance and opposition to explore national identity within the context of the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence.
Mad dictators, trigger-happy mobs, archaic blood feuds - this pretty much sums up what Western Europeans know about Albania. But reality in this long forgotten Balkan country is much more complex and multilayered. SHQIPERIA - NOTES FROM ALBANIA offers a flow of stories from and about Albania, displaying the country in its true diversity, unspeculatively illuminating its conflicts and discovering this blank spot on the map of Europe in all its contradictions.
Two Furnaces for Udarnik Josip Trojko follows the disassembling of the famous Siemens-Martin furnace, which once stood at the heart of the huge Yugoslavian iron industry. As we watch the old making way for the new, we hear off-camera archive recordings of political speeches, full of enthusiasm and ideological optimism, from the period when the old furnace was in operation.
A historical saga, based on personal stories and the history of Brda (a region near the border in the west of Slovenia), depicts a bloody history of Europe, full of wars, nationalisms and at the same time cohabitation, which is always personal and common to everyone.
Celebrate the 150th anniversary of the short-lived but far-reaching American Institution The Pony Express by following a historical re-enactment along the original trail from Sacramento California to Saint Joseph Missouri.
Our Emmy award-winning production team takes you on a cinematic adventure into the legendary Battle of Shiloh. Seven characters, based on real-life accounts, weave a narrative thread of their own personal experiences during the Battle of Shiloh s vicious two-day brawl, while our objective narrator unfolds one of the bloodiest fights of the American Civil War. These stories reveal the dramatic and haunting effects of Shiloh, which resulted in almost 24,000 maimed, missing or dead...in just two days. The 1862 Battle of Shiloh marked a turning point in our nation s history, opening our nation s eyes, North and South, to the true cost of Civil War. Shot in breath-taking 1080p High Definition and with immersive animated maps, and dazzling visual effects, this film is unparalleled in the Wide Awake Films collection.
In Soviet Azerbaijan, a divorced Armenian couple fights over the custody of their daughter, Ashen. Stolen from one parent to another, Ashen's guardians are tragically killed in the bloody war surrounding them. Will the arrival of a new savior finally bring Ashen freedom? Official selection of the Global Lens Collection presented by the Global Film Initiative.