On July 1st, 1916, the Newfoundland Regiment took part in a massive First World War offensive on the Somme, led by the British. At Beaumont Hamel the regiment was nearly wiped out, as only 110 of 780 soldiers survived the day. To commemorate its 100th anniversary, Brian McKenna’s documentary film tells the story of this epic tragedy. Using a technique that brings new meaning to reenactment, McKenna recruits descendants of soldiers who fought this battle, offering them a unique opportunity to relive the experience of their ancestors in trenches built specifically for the film.
The city of Lambèse is the scene of torture, both physical and moral, for the resistance fighters of the Algerian War. In the form of a fictional account adapted from the novel "Le camp" by Abdelhamid Benzine, the conditions in the special camps of the colonial army, where we accompany a group of detainees, in their daily life animated by violence are depicted. are former Nazi officers, whose mission is to abandon all resistance, and all ideological faith, through humiliation and drudgery.
A Partisan unit goes into battle with the enemy twice stronger, somehow resists detachment to attack deep into the night, where the fraud are captured combatants from all units and thrown to the terrible torture and eventually murder.
After the fall of Saigon, a stranded group of US soldiers tries to make it through Cambodia to safety in Thailand. While taking refuge in an ancient abandoned temple, the men find a gold statue worth millions of dollars.
A story of the Second Punic Wars, beginning with Scipio's futile pleas to the Roman Senate to build an army to battle Hannibal, that climaxes with the battle of Zama.
For many years, Sasha Lvova has been waiting for the return of her lover, pilot Aleksei Astakhov, refusing to believe in his death at the front. And he really returns to her and his son after captivity, but this is a completely different person, rejected by society, expelled from the profession. It is difficult to say how Aleksei’s fate would have been if it hadn’t for Sasha’s love, her ability to survive in the most difficult circumstances.
It is the year 1936 and the Spanish Civil War is raging. When the German commander of an international brigade is badly wounded he gives his five comrades a message which he divides up and secretes into in five cartridges. All five shells must reach the battalion in order for the message to be relayed. But Frenchman Pierre can’t bear the heat of the Sierra. When he leaves their hide-out to drink from a well he is hit by an enemy bullet.
The Baltic captain Terje Wiggen works as a pilot on the island of Muhu. When the mate of the ship “Carola” calls in sick, he jumps at the chance of reviving his life as a sailor. WWI breaks soon after the departure. By and by the ship’s company gets worn down by dead calm. On account of the plague-ridden captain, Wiggen disposes of the contaminated water reserve. Discontent among the crew rises until they take the sole lifeboat and leave their mate behind. Wiggen unsuccessfully tries to bring the ship under control. At the last minute he is rescued off the Japanese coast. At his return he promises to never leave his wife and child again. But the German Imperial Navy begins to blockade the waterways of the island. Wiggen paddles to Sweden with the intention of smuggling provisions for his family. On his way back he is detained by a German captain. After five years of imprisonment he returns to Muhu once more. Wiggen is hellbent on vengeance. (Deutsche Kinemathek)
Sharpe is tasked to protect the most important spy in Lord Wellington's network, but domestic issues, a traumatized young girl, and possible French spies all threaten his success
December 1941. Leningrad. The story centers on the main character, who, together with other employees, saves zoo animals from shelling. The people themselves are on the brink of life and death, but they do not abandon the hippopotamus named Krasavitsa.
In August 1944, 1104 Japanese prisoners of war at the Australian POW camp at Cowra stage a mass breakout. Four guards are killed in the escape, and 231 prisoners die by wounds sustained or suicide, while 334 prisoners are recaptured over the subsequent nine days.
Beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Lieutenant Adi Sharipov, together with his platoon, cover the retreat of the regimental headquarters and remain surrounded, behind enemy lines. The enemy drives the squad into the swamp. Fear of the unknown, despondency and doubt haunt the fighters until they realize that waiting and inaction will destroy the squad faster than enemy bullets.