In 1950, long after the world has finished fighting World War II, a fight continues behind the newly drawn Iron Curtain: as the Ukrainians keep fighting both Nazi and Soviet abuses, General Roman Shukhevych (Hryhoriy Hladiy) is forced by brutal circumstances and his own sense of honor and duty to lead this effort as an underground war. As portrayed by the film, Shukhevych is a genteel family man who is also a complex character (revolted by ethnic discrimination, a music lover and a military genius) that with his charisma fuels his countrymen with desire for freedom. In the end, Shukhevych's efforts are unable to defeat the Soviets despite paying for his resistance with his life, but they re-enforce Ukrainian patriotism as an underground force until Ukraine finally recovers its freedom from Soviet tyranny.
Dealing with the subject of rumor mongering, clips from Nazi films are employed to show how the ruthless invasions of neutral countries were planned in advance.
By mid-1945, Hitler is dead and the war has ended in Europe. Halfway around the world, however, the fighting is still going strong on a small island in the Pacific. Okinawa was the site of the last battle of the last great war of the 20th century, with a casualty rate in the tens of thousands. Through it all, military cameramen risked their lives to film the conflict, from brutal land combat to fierce kamikaze attacks at sea. See the footage they captured and experience this intense battle the way the soldiers saw it -- in color.
A meditation on youth, war and stunning bravery, featuring footage, taken from the National Archives, from the documentary filmed in 1943 by legendary Hollywood director William Wyler about the famous Memphis Belle flying fortress and the gripping narration from some of the last surviving B-17 pilots.
In late 1943, an American squad engages in a skirmish with German soldiers along the Winter Line in central Italy. As artillery shells rain down, the Americans must honor the rules of war and protect their wounded prisoners. Huddled together in a cave and made to see the enemy as human, the soldiers wrestle with unimaginable moral questions outside the boundaries of nationality and allegiance.
Na Wewe is a 2010 Belgian short film directed by Ivan Goldschmidt, set in Burundi in 1994 or thereabouts. There is a civil war on, a genocidal conflict opposing Hutus and Tutsis. The film follows an attack by rebels of a minibus transporting ordinary passengers -- but who is a Hutu and who is a Tutsi? The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.
In 1942, more than 8,000 Jews were arrested on 16 and 17 July and sent to the Vélodrome d'Hiver sports center in the 15th district, a stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower, before being deported. The expression "Vel d'Hiv round-up" has become part of our collective memory, to the point of becoming the main memorial reference point for France during the dark years. Based on research carried out in unpublished or rarely explored archives, this film retraces the history of this roundup as experienced by hunted Jews and police trackers, from its planning in the Vichy offices to its hour-by-hour unfolding in the streets of Paris.
When the country of Akkadia is overrun by its militant neighbor Turania, war runs rampant and Marie, a young Akkadian governess, and Carl, an officer of the Turanian army, fall in love in spite of loyalty to their respective countries.
China 1839. Because the British imports of opium into Southern China are creating such widespread medical and economic problems, the weak Manchu emperor Tao Kuang is forced to take action that precipitates the 'Opium War'.
Falling Star is based on three stories by the contemporary Russian writer Viktor Astafyev and centers on a young soldier on the front lines who is wounded and taken to the hospital. Once there, he muses about his childhood and a little girl he had loved - someone who could easily have grown up to be the nurse that is attending to him now. As he recuperates, he and the nurse fall in love and he very much wants to marry her. At this point, the nurse's mother comes for a visit and advises him against such an action because if they were to marry and he were subsequently killed or maimed in action - the fighting is still close to the hospital - the nurse would suffer much more than if he just left her alone. Now it is up to the soldier to make a decision one way or the other.
The old comrades are called up for three weeks of autumn maneuvers. They are usually more interested in beer, girls, and cheerful music, but Sergeant Vældegaard is determined to scrape the civilian rust off the "boys." Their old friends from their days as recruits have remained in the system as platoon leaders and sergeants, respectively, but that does not dampen the fun. In the heat of battle, the schoolteacher finds time to flirt with his Lotte Corps colleague Birthe.
In the midst of an international crisis, President Bennett has less than 10 minutes to authorize a nuclear strike. But with incomplete intelligence and opposing views from his advisors, he must make a choice that will shape the world forever.