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"Â
The War File: The Memoirs Of Women Who Went To War (2004)
John Mills presents this first-hand account of the experiences of some of the women who were assigned to the Civil Defence, Hospital and Fire Auxiliar... Read more
The Cave (2019)
7.5/10
Amidst air strikes and bombings, a group of female doctors in Ghouta, Syria struggle with systemic sexism while trying to care for the injured using l... Read more
The Second World War in Colour (1999)
8.2/10
Director: Anon
Starring: Narrated by, John Thaw
Dramatic colour footage from as early as 1933 shows home movies of Adolf Hitler and his cohorts, the devastation wrought by the Blitz, life on the hom... Read more
Shoah - 1st Era, Part Two (1985)
Director: Claude Lanzmann
Part Two of the First Era of Claude Lanzmann's landmark, monumental epic of the Holocaust. With an assemblage of witnesses, death camp survivors and N... Read more
Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre (1995)
7.5/10
Director: T F Mou
Portrays the ordeals of the members of a poor Chinese family as they try to survive the Japanese occupation of their city. This is an uncompromising p... Read more
General Patton: A Genius for War (1995)
General George S. Patton was a walking, talking, fighting machine whose personality was bigger and noisier than one of his Sherman tanks. He was tough... Read more
25 April (2015)
7.1/10
Director: Leanne Pooley
'25 April' is an innovative feature docudrama created to bring the story of the New Zealand experiences at Gallipoli, Turkey to life for a modern audi... Read more