The War Around Us

A Star-Spangled Story: Battle for America

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is known by all, treasured for its powerful melody and stirring lyrics. And yet, only about 40% of U.S. citizens know all the words. And even fewer know their meaning. Join us as we travel back to 1814, when Washington D.C. was under British attack during the "Second War of Independence," and the very bricks and mortar of American democracy were reduced to smoking rubble. We examine the battle that inspired witness Francis Scott Key to immortalize its final moments, then reveal how his poem transformed into an anthem.

Here and Perhaps Elsewhere

During the Lebanese civil war, thousands of people disappeared. In most cases, the bodies were not found and the circumstances of their disappearance never known. Today, I travel through Beirut, asking the inhabitants I encounter, one same question: Do you know anyone who was kidnapped here during the war? My investigation carries me through the many districts around the "Green line", which used to divide Beirut between East and West, and where militias set up their checkpoints, the scenes of many kidnappings, and crimes. I thereby attempt to trigger the process of memory and to reveal the multiplicity of existing discourses on the war and the immensity of the drama. As I cross town and discover places laden with history, I draw a personal map of this city.

Hidden Colors 5: The Art of Black Warfare

The history of warfare as it relates to global Black society, broken down into 7 chapters that examines the ways the system of racism wages warfare from a historical, psychological, sexual, biological, health, educational, and military perspective.

Fahrenheit 9/11

Michael Moore's view on how the Bush administration allegedly used the tragic events on 9/11 to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Cave

Deep beneath the surface in the Syrian province of Ghouta, a group of female doctors have established an underground field hospital. Under the supervision of paediatrician Dr. Amani and her staff of doctors and nurses, hope is restored for some of the thousands of children and civilian victims of the ruthless Syrian civil war.

Dead Gay Men and Living Lesbians

As a result of the Holocaust and later, AIDS, the male homosexual community has sustained bitter losses and, according to Praunheim, lesbian women have now placed themselves at the head of the so-called queer movement. The female protagonists in the film represent two different generations; they also incorporate the past and present status of homosexuals in society.

Alfonso Sánchez

Famous Spanish film critic Alfonso Sánchez talks about his personal life, his work and Anouk Aimée. A sentimental tribute to one of the most relevant figures on the Spanish film scene.

Conscience and the Constitution

Americans refused to be drafted from the concentration camp at Heart Mountain, Wyoming. Ready to fight, but not before their rights as U.S. citizens were restored and families released.

A War Story

In 1997, Osama bin Laden declared war on the USA and Pulitzer Prize winning CNN correspondent Peter Arnett embarked on a mission to locate and interview him. A War Story follows the dramatic events leading up to the interview and the Kiwi journalist's horror on 9/11, as he recalled bin Laden's veiled threats.

Caudillo

Caudillo is a documentary film by Spanish film director Basilio Martín Patino. It follows the military and political career of Francisco Franco and the most important moments of the Spanish Civil War. It uses footage from both sides of the war, music from the period and voice-over testimonies of various people.

Tsahal

The ideologies underlying the foundation of modern Israel are explored in this documentary, the third of a trilogy (created over a twenty year span) exploring the Jewish experience. The two earlier documentaries, "Porquoi Israel," and "Shoah," have had great effect on the ways documentaries are produced. "Tsahal" zeroes in on the crucial role of the military in Israeli society and politics. The film uses many in-depth interviews to present the many feelings and thoughts about the Israeli military.

The Great Escape

On March 24, 1944, in the heart of Nazi Germany, 76 British, Canadian, Norwegian and French pilots who were held in Stalag Luft III, a prison camp of the Luftwaffe, escaped. Unique testimony from the last survivors, recreations and today’s digital images sheds new light on the audacious escape.

The Russian German War

This is a rare look at one of the worst horror stories in the long infamous history of warfare. This series features captured German and Russian film footage, much of which has never been seen before. For decades the Cold War prevented us from looking closely at what really happened between the Russians and the Germans on the Eastern Front during World War II. More than a struggle between nations, it pitted maniacal tyrant against maniacal tyrant, evil ideology against evil ideology. The lives of tens of millions of human beings were consumed by its raging hatreds and appalling indignities. One in every ten Russians died. One in every four Poles died. Whole divisions of Italians, Romanians, Hungarians disappeared with barely a trace. An average of 17,800 people died on every single day and this, the war on the Russian German Front, lasted for 1,400 days. This series features captured German and Russian film footage, much of which has never been seen before.

Sierra Leone Rising

Having emerged from an 11-year civil war that left more than 50,000 people dead and two million displaced, Sierra Leone strives for a peaceful and democratic future. Since the end of conflict in 2002, the people of Sierra Leone have strived to build a democratic and peaceful society. The path remains difficult, with poverty entrenched, yet signs of progress, too often ignored by the international media, can also be found. Sierra Leone has held two consecutive democratic elections, and women and young people have taken the lead in creating an engaged civil society. This short film documents the progress Sierra Leone has made since the end of its brutal civil war and the hope of a new generation for creating a more just society.

Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, autoportrait de mon père

A witness to the history of the Fifth Republic for more than half a century, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach left his mark on the profession of radio and television journalism. This film tells the story of the man and his career through the voice of his daughter, Emmanuelle Bach, and previously unpublished private interviews recorded shortly before his death in 2023. It offers a portrait of this hyperactive, versatile, demanding, and inventive journalist, and reveals the private man: funny, sensitive, warm, and secretive. Emmanuelle Bach recounts with tenderness and humor her father, absorbed by his consuming passion for journalism, and with whom she struggled to find her place.

I sette contadini

The Fighting Liberator

Here is the hair raising, seat-of-the-pants tale of men who dared to fly their planes, unescorted, to the heart of enemy held Romania to blast the source of German oil. It's also the story of long, low level flights over water, searching for the tell tale sliver of a U-boat periscope. It's a tribute to an underdog that became the most versatile, widely used bomber of World War II. This is THE B-24 LIBERATOR! Aviation A.V. Library brings you this battling classic in a hell-raising video adventure that we call "THE FIGHTING LIBERATOR." From the Bismark Sea to dirt airstrips in China to the exhilaration of the great push on D-Day the Liberator was there, fighting her way over, around and through the Axis ranks.

Tears of the Sexten Dolomites

In 1915, the First World War is in full swing and young men are called to military service in rows - including Franz and Peter. Both are sent to the Dolomite front, in order to fend off a threatened Italian attack. Comradeship and loyalty are needed in the fight, but Franz and Peter are ever enemies. Since Peter's romance with Anna, the competition between the two flares up more. But the circumstances of the war and the harsh weather in the mountains soon end those hostilities.

Extranjeros de sí mismos

Baglar

An underdog basketball team under the helm of an idealist school teacher from hard scrabble Diyarbakir in Southeastern Turkey goes beyond winning games in their mission to rise above prejudice, poverty and political turmoil created by the decades long conflict between the Turkish state and Kurdish rebels who are fighting for local autonomy and cultural rights.