Login

War Docos

Innovative German film-maker Leni Riefenstahl's pioneering masterwork epic "Triumph of the Will" (1934) was explicitly propagandistic yet historical in its spectacular yet horrifying documentation of the Nazi Party Congress rally in Nuremberg in 1934. It was a revolutionary film combining superb cinematography and editing of Third Reich propaganda. She also documented the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the stunning film "Olympia" (1938) - with graceful and beautiful images of 'Aryan' athletes in competition. To respond to the Nazi propaganda, Frank Capra was commissioned by the US War Department to direct seven films in a "Why We Fight" (1943) series of narrated WWII newsreel-style films. The first in the series, "Prelude to War," a look at the events from 1931-1939, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1942. These and many other truely great War Documentaries, including the BBC's brilliant "World At War" series, are available by scrolling below. Right: William Wyler's Academy Award winning "The Memphis Belle" 

Triumph of the Will (1934)

7.5/10
Director: Leni Riefenstahl
Starring: Adolf Hitler

Leni Riefenstahl's breathtaking film record of the 1934 Nazi Nuremberg Rally is universally regarded as one of the most outstanding documentaries ever... Read more

Waltz with Bashir (2008)

8/10
Director: Ari Folman

Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman employs a unique animated style in this innovative documentary that recalls his military service in the early 1980s. When... Read more

The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)

8.3/10
Director: Marcel Ophuls
Starring: Maurice Chevalier, Pierre Mendes-France

A staggering documentary detailing the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. Combining interviews and archival film footage, director Marcel... Read more

Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State (2005)

3.2/10
Director: Dominic Sutherland, Martina Balazova
Starring: Narrated by, Linda Hunt

This 6-part BBC series tells the story of the Auschwitz Death Camp, site of the largest mass murder in history. Writer Laurence Rees and his team inte... Read more

Night and Fog (1955)

8.6/10
Director: Alain Resnais
Starring: Jean Cayrol

One of the most haunting documentaries ever made, director Alain Resnais' ("Hiroshima, Mon Amour") powerful examination of the horrors of the Holocaus... Read more

Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary (2002)

7.2/10
Director: Andre Heller, Othmar Schmiderer

From 1942 to 1945, Traudl Junge served as personal secretary to Adolf Hitler. In her most in-depth and shockingly candid interview ever, the now 81-ye... Read more

It Happened Here (1965)

6.8/10
Director: Andrew Mollo, Kevin Brownlow
Starring: Pauline Murray, Sebastian Shaw

Shot over an eight-year period on a shoestring budget by British film historian Kevin Brownlow and colleague Andrew Mollo, this acclaimed, harrowing s... Read more

The Civil War (1990)

9.1/10
Director: Ken Burns
Starring: Narrated by, David McCullough

Director Ken Burns' ('Jazz', 'Frank Lloyd Wright') most acclaimed documentary series is a comprehensive chronicle of the American Civil War. Over elev... Read more

The Great Indian Wars 1540-1890 (2005)

8.5/10

This five-part documentary series relates the 350-year struggle between the white man and the American Indians, from Coronado's expedition to the Grea... Read more

Restrepo (2010)

7.5/10
Director: Tim Hetherington

Riveting and intimate, this documentary shot in a U.S. outpost in Afghanistan follows-without comment or added perspectives-the activities of a 15-man... Read more