In 54 B.C. Julius Caesar seeks to solidify his position in Rome by putting down a rebellion in Gaul led by a tribal chieftain named Vercingetorix. Vercingetorix has rallied many tribes to his cause, including one led by the beautiful Queen Asterid and others who'd once pledged allegiance to Rome.
Quilombo dos Palmares was a real-life democratic society, created in Brazil in the 17th century. This incredibly elaborate (and surprisingly little-known) film traces the origins of Quilombo, which began as a community of freed slaves. The colony becomes a safe harbor for other outcasts of the world, including Indians and Jews. Ganga Zumba (Toni Tornado) becomes president of Quilombo, the first freely elected leader in the Western Hemisphere. Naturally, the ruling Portuguese want to subjugate Zumba and his followers, but the Quilombians are ready for their would-be oppressors. The end of this Brave New World is not pleasant, but the followers of Zumba and his ideals take to the hills, where they honor his memory to this day. Writer/director Carlos Diegues takes every available opportunity to compare the rise and fall of Quilombo with the state of affairs in modern-day Brazil.
A little known fact is that Chinggis Khaan, better known as Genghis Khan, would collect orphans from his bloody battlefields and have his own mother raise them. These adopted brothers grew up to become his most loyal officials and advisers. Khaan organised his Mongol soldiers into groups according to the decimal system. Soldiers were arranged in units of 10 ("aravt"), 100 ("zuut"), 1,000 ("minghan") and 10,000 ("tumen"). Each unit had an appointed leader reporting to a larger unit. A 10-person "aravt" unit is ordered by Khaan to locate a skilled doctor who lives in a forest. En route, they discover an abandoned baby. He is in fact the child of an enemy warrior who gives pursuit, even though they have saved the child's life. Whilst protecting the child from attacks from enemy soldiers, the members of the "aravt" must also complete their mission. Through their actions, they demonstrate the benevolence and bravery of Mongol warriors as the final battle closes in.
In 1919, the great English military man T. E. Lawrence tries to help Emir Feisal, ruler of Arabia, retain his political power during the Conference of Peace in Paris.
Two families, cotton merchants in England and America, with branches in France and Prussia swear to stand by each other in a belief that a great business firmly established in four countries will be able to withstand even such another calamity as the Napoleonic Wars from which Europe is slowly recovering. Then many years later, along comes World War One and the years that follow, to test the businesses.
A band of fighting Ming Dynasty loyalists branded as enemies of the state are driven underground following the burning of the Shaolin Temple by Qing Dynasty officials. Due to a misunderstanding, Shaolin kung fu prodigy Fong Sai-yuk is duped into helping Qing agents to capture leading Shaolin rebel Hung Hei-gun. Upon discovering his mistake, Sai-yuk teams up with the remaining rebels to free Hei-gun before his planned execution. Plotting to stop them is General Che Kang, a formidable Tibetan kung fu master who commands an army of fighters including four deadly Tibetan llamas.
A cinematic version of the life of famous Indian saint-poet, Annamayya (born May 1408), follows the spiritual awakening of the mystic composer Annamayya, who's first motivated to write a song of praise after visiting a temple. His devotion is put to the test when he vows to fast until he comes face to face with God, an act of faith for which he's rewarded with a blessed meal of prasad. As his fame as a singer spreads, Annamayya eventually becomes a real personification of the holy Nandaka Sword.
The story of Franklin Roosevelt's bout with polio at age 40 in 1921 and how his family (and especially his wife Eleanor) cope with his illness. From being stricken while vacationing at Campobello to his triumphant nominating speech for Al Smith's presidency in 1924, the story follows the various influences on his life and his determination to recover.
In pre-Soviet Russia, Boris Savinkov leads a terrorist faction of Socialist-Revolutionary Party members responsible for the deaths of governors and ministers.
An anti-war black comedy set during the Thirty Years' War. It follows ploughman Petr, recruiter MatÄ›j and country girl Lenka who get caught up in both sides of the war and experience many adventures before they find happiness. The film combines live action with animation to suggest the artistic style of the engraver Matthäus Merian.
When Germany invades Holland in 1940, a British intelligence officer and two Dutch diamond merchants go to Amsterdam to persuade the Dutch diamond merchants to evacuate their diamond supplies to England.
King Louis XIV has without his knowledge a twin brother, Philippe, but when he is told, he immediately locks up his brother in the Bastille. The king wants to increase his popularity and stages an assassination against himself where Philippe is dressed as king Louis. But Philippe manages to escape the assassination and everybody believes him to be the real king...
The tape-recorded words “erase it” take on new weight in the context of history and war. When the state of Israel was established in 1948, war broke out and hundreds of Palestinian villages were depopulated in its aftermath. Israelis know this as the War of Independence. Palestinians call it “Nakba” (the Catastrophe). In the late 1990s, graduate student Teddy Katz conducted research into a large-scale massacre that had allegedly occurred in the village of Tantura in 1948. His work later came under attack and his reputation was ruined, but 140 hours of audio testimonies remain.
Set against Indonesia’s turbulent post-independence years in the 1960s, the story revolves around the domestic life of a woman whose personal life has been completely overturned by the political turmoil.
Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) is an important part of art history and one of the first ever painters of abstract art. However, unlike the work of many of her peers at the time hers was misunderstood and neglected until long after her death. This is a story about Hilma and the circumstances which made her paintings possible. The film picks up during her early life and ends today; when her art connects with people of all religions and cultures. Just as she intended.
When Air Force Space Command receives a signal from an alien satellite in Earth orbit an emergency meeting with the President reveals a government conspiracy.
Ella Fitzgerald was a 15-year-old street kid when she won a talent contest in 1934 at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Within months she was a star. Over the next six decades, her sublime voice would transform the tragedies of her own life and the troubles of her times into joy. JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS retraces this extraordinary journey.