U-96, The True Story of 'Das Boot' (2023)

2023-08-241h 10m

The international success of the film Das Boot by Wolfgang Petersen made U-96 one of the most famous submarines in cinematic history. But the true story of one of Hitler's most fearsome U-boats and its crew goes far beyond fiction. For the first time, this documentary sheds light on the reality behind the fiction through exclusive interviews with the makers and actors of Das Boot, as well as the last survivors of the time. In doing so, this documentary explores how Hitler's propaganda images may have influenced the visual and narrative force of Das Boot.

Related Movies

545027-thumbnail

Akira Kurosawa: The Epic and the Intimate (2010)

Akira Kurosawa: The Epic and the Intimate is a French documentary film that consists primarily of interviews with Kurosawa’s European collaborators from the time of the making of Ran, with footage from the film interspersed between the talking heads.

252511-thumbnail

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (2013)

Follows the behind-the-scenes work of Studio Ghibli, focusing on the notable figures Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki.

236426-thumbnail

Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2020)

The documentary that tells us the full story from where it all started through to the future of the "Ghostbusters" franchise.

16914-thumbnail

The Cruel Sea (1953)

At the start of World War II, Cmdr. Ericson is assigned to convoy escort HMS Compass Rose with inexperienced officers and men just out of training. The winter seas make life miserable enough, but the men must also harden themselves to rescuing survivors of U-Boat attacks, while seldom able to strike back. Traumatic events afloat and ashore create a warm bond between the skipper and his first officer

833898-thumbnail

The Blade Runner Phenomenon (2021)

Ridley Scott's cult film Blade Runner, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick and released in 1982, is one of the most influential science fiction films ever made. Its depiction of Los Angeles in the year 2019 is oppressively prophetic: climate catastrophe, increasing public surveillance, powerful monopolistic corporations, highly evolved artificial intelligence; a fantastic vision of the future world that has become a frightening reality.

1148488-thumbnail

Engi – Sound Designer Ivo Špalj (2023)

A look at the legendary Czech sound designer and his profession. Editor and documentary filmmaker Adéla Špaljová has her father Ivo Špalj talk about his life, career, and working methods. Over the course of his long life, sound designer Ivo Špalj (*1940) has collaborated on hundreds of films and become a mentor for at least one generation of men and women behind the mixing board. This gentle documentary also shows “Engi” (as he is known to his colleagues) again working with Jan Švankmajer, whose films he has lent their typical, dense, and sophisticated sound mix.

391405-thumbnail

30 Years of National Geographic Specials (1995)

Celebrates 30 years of televised specials by The National Geographic Society.

16070-thumbnail

This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain studios get preferential treatment and exposes the discrepancies in how the MPAA views sex and violence.

538913-thumbnail

El Cepa Returns (2019)

Forty years later, Guillermo Montesinos, the actor who played José María el Cepa in The Cuenca Crime (1980), directed by Pilar Miró, returns to the various locations where the shooting of the mythical film, narrating the infamous Grimaldos case (1910), took place.

1437631-thumbnail

Alien: Terror in Space (2025)

A retrospective look at the global impact of Alien, the science fiction and horror masterpiece directed by British filmmaker Ridley Scott in 1979, exploring the origins of its unique aesthetic and the audacity of its screenplay.

1145895-thumbnail

New Horizon (NaN)

A wine documentary exploring the most suitable types of wine in extreme environments for the future of tourism. Episode 1 follows sommelier Bojan Radulovic and the deepest professional wine tasting ever attempted at -300m in a submersible.

1286121-thumbnail

Planet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction (2024)

Since its release in 1968, Planet of the Apes, the masterful film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston, and its subsequent sequels have asked its viewers challenging questions about contemporary society under the guise of a bold science fiction saga: a fascinating look at a hugely successful pop culture phenomenon.

821433-thumbnail

We Were Once Kids (2021)

In the early nineties, before the massive gentrification of many of New York's then slums, several young people from very disparate backgrounds left their broken homes and ventured onto the brutal streets of the city. United by their love of skateboarding, they formed a family and built a unique lifestyle that eventually inspired Kids, a groundbreaking and outrageous film directed by photographer Larry Clark and released in 1995.

8665-thumbnail

K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

When Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.

526145-thumbnail

Expedition China (2017)

Expedition China invites you on location in some of the world's most intense, hard-to-reach environments with the filmmakers of Disneynature's big-screen adventure Born in China.

8435-thumbnail

A Cock and Bull Story (2005)

Steve Coogan, an arrogant actor with low self-esteem and a complicated love life, is playing the eponymous role in an adaptation of "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" being filmed at a stately home. He constantly spars with actor Rob Brydon, who is playing Uncle Toby and believes his role to be of equal importance to Coogan's.

379110-thumbnail

This Is Comedy (2014)

A documentary about the comedy director and producer Judd Apatow.

387-thumbnail

Das Boot (1981)

A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.

1851-thumbnail

The Amazing Captain Nemo (1978)

Captain Nemo is found in suspended animation under the sea and revived by modern-day Navy men in order to battle a fiendish mad scientist.

668809-thumbnail

Silent Victory Submarine Warfare in WWII (2010)

This World War II documentary rests on an unusual thesis: it argues that, in the wake of Pearl Harbor, the actions precipitated by the U.S.A.F. that truly helped turn the tide were perpetrated not by the widely-ballyhooed U.S.N. aviators or aircraft carriers, but by the American submarines - silent warriors beneath the deceptively placid ocean surface. The subs, after all, were responsible for gravely wounding Japan's industry, all but destroying the Japanese merchant fleet, and therefore preventing reinforcement of Japanese military garrisons. In relaying this story, the program draws on a series of interviews with military veterans, and endless archival footage of naval battles that chronologically tells the gripping story of the Pacific Front of the war.