Esther Johnson’s film uses local archive footage to convey the story of Sunderland's involvement in the First World War, from the men who fought in the fields to those who stayed behind to work in the region’s shipyards and munitions factories.
Lenin and the Other Story of the Russian Revolution (2018)
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, is remembered as the instigator of the October Revolution of 1917 and, therefore, as one of the men who changed the shape of the world at that time and forever, but perhaps the actual events happened in a way different from that narrated in the history books…
Gallipoli (2005)
The Gallipoli campaign of World War I was so controversial & devastating, it changed the face of battle forever. Using diaries, letters, photographs and memoirs, acclaimed director, Tolga Ornek, traces the personal journeys of Australian, New Zealand, British and Turkish soldiers, from innocence and patriotism to hardship and heartbreak.
For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots (2010)
This High Definition, PBS miniseries uses letters, diaries, speeches, journalistic accounts, historical text and military records to document and acknowledge the sacrifices and accomplishments of African-American service men and women since the earliest days of the republic.
Fighting Fred Funston (2017)
On April 18th, 1906, San Francisco witnessed its most devastating natural disaster – an earthquake that initiated a city-wide fire. The commanding officer of the U.S. Army base at the Presidio, Fred Funston, gathered citizens to fight the fire, patrol the streets, and rebuild the city – all without authorization.
Paris 1919: Un traité pour la paix (2009)
The last shots had been fired in the First World War — but peace had yet to be made. Inspired by Margaret MacMillan’s acclaimed work of popular history, Paris 1919 takes us inside the most ambitious peace talks in history, revisiting the event with a vivid sense of narrative. Evoking a pivotal moment when peace seemed possible, director Paul Cowan reflects upon the hard-learned lessons of history.
The Diary of an Unknown Soldier (1959)
A short story narrated by an unknown British soldier who reveals his hopes, fears, and disillusionment while heading into battle against the German army.
Nurse Helen Fairchild: Killed in Action? (2018)
Bravery, compassion and the will to save lives motivated the young Nurse Helen Fairchild to leave home in Pennsylvania and embark on a journey to Europe, where she served as a surgical nurse during World War I before dying on the front lines.
Monash: The Forgotten Anzac (2008)
The story of how Australia's 'ANZAC myth' was born and the role of General John Monash in this process as soldier and statesman both during and after WW1.
These were the reasons (2011)
This film takes us into the harsh realm of BC's early coal mines, canneries, and lumber camps; where primitve conditions and speed-ups often cost lives. Then, the film moves through the unemployed' struggles of the '30s, post WWII equity campaigns, and into more recent public sector strikes over union rights.
Verdun - They will not pass! (2016)
A century ago, from February to December 1916, the French and Germans provided a superhuman effort to control a few hills in eastern France, located in front of Verdun . A frontal confrontation, conducted without the help of their allies, army against army, nation against nation. Today, this battle seems absurd to us. Because it has caused almost as many casualties in each camp and its strategic utility has never really been demonstrated. But in 1916, soldiers on both sides did not consider it absurd: they agreed to fight. Why ? By reliving the rare Herculean confrontation of our ancestors, using reconstructions made in the 1920s, using a large number of animated computer-generated images that recreate the topography of the battlefield, this documentary returns, with the help of the historical adviser Paul Jankowski , on the last great victory won alone by France against Germany.
The Eagle and the Lion: Hitler vs Churchill (2017)
Winston Churchill, one of the most revered men of the twentieth century. Adolf Hitler, one of the most hated leaders in contemporary history. Between 1940 and 1945, these two enormously contradictory personalities faced each other in both politics and war. A clash of giants whose story begins in the trenches of the World War I and ends with the debacle of the World War II.
Mata Hari: The Naked Spy (2017)
100 years ago Mata Hari faced the firing squad as a convicted Dutch spy. It was at this moment that the legend of Mata Hari, the seductive spy, was born. Newly-discovered documents cast doubt on her guilt and reveal startling truths about her life. Mata Hari was a self-made woman whose boldness and sexuality threatened the male establishment. Most of what we've known about her until now has largely been myth. Mata Hari's challenges as an abused wife, single mother and a creative independent woman are familiar to women around the world. At the turn of the century, her struggles to attain sexual freedom, artistic expression, and liberation from the constraints of conventional society are the same ones women face today. She graced the cover of Vogue, performed all over Europe and left a coterie of smitten admirers in her wake.
Kommando Selbstzerstörung - Der Untergang der Kaiserlichen Flotte (2020)
The sinking of the German fleet interned at Scapa-Flow (Orkney Islands), June 21, 1919. We know that one of the stipulations of the armistice signed with Germany on November 11, 1918 was that that power's surface warships were to be "immediately decommissioned and interned in neutral or Allied ports, and remain there under the supervision of the Allies and the United States, guard detachments only being maintained on board". In fact, all the ships designated by the Allies - 11 battleships, 5 battlecruisers, 7 light cruisers and 50 destroyers - had, a few days after the armistice, been assembled in Scapa-Flow Bay, in the center of the Orkney archipelago, i.e. north of Scotland, and had remained there ever since, under the supervision of the English naval authorities, but under the effective authority of German Admiral von Reuter.
The War to End all Wars... and its American Veterans (2020)
Relying on newly discovered archival footage, memoirs from the fallen, and expert commentary from scholars, this documentary tells the story of World War I from the American perspective: Its ace pilots, mine-laying Sailors, heroic doughboys, Harlem Hell Fighters, and courageous nurses.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge (1999)
A two-hour documentary which recreates for the viewer one of the greatest battles in Canadian military history. The film was made to show that Canadian character at its best, forging an identity for a country that before the First World War had been seen only as a British colony - an identity and a character that became recognized and respected throughout Europe.
The Schlieffen Plan (2015)
In 1914 the German Attack on France was based on a later iteration of the plan that Von Schlieffen produced in 1905. The plan was aimed at fighting a war on 2 fronts against Russia and France. Von Molkte changed the plan when he replaced Schlieffen but the essentials were the same. Both plans were based on the following assumptions,Russia would take at least 6 weeks to mobilise,France would be easily defeated in 6 weeks, Belgium would not resist any German attack and Britain would remain neutral.All these assumptions were wrong and the new plan did not work. This film explains in detail why it failed.
Aurora's Sunrise (2023)
The story of how Aurora Mardiganian (1901-94), a survivor of the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire (1915-17), became a Hollywood silent film star.
Set In Stone (2017)
The race to save the world's only dedicated Māori World War One Memorial from collapse reveals an unknown soldier's heroic story to the community he was once part of.
The Tree in a Test Tube (1942)
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are stopped by narrator Pete Smith for the purpose of showing the audience how much wood and wood by-products the average person carries.
Sam's Army (1999)
Canada was led to war by a bigoted, ignorant, self-obsessed Minister of Militia, who may well have been clinically insane, but the importance of Canada's contribution in that war owes a great deal to him. The man of course, was Colonel - later made Lieutenant General by his own hand - Sam Hughes. Sam's Army is a compelling portrait of a complex man and the formidable military he built. Sam Hughes was not your standard-issue military leader. Canada's World War I Minister of Militia and Defence concentrated power in his own hands, insisted that the Canadian military use the ill-conceived Ross rifle and liberally promoted his cronies. But there was no denying Hughes was a visionary. He assembled the world's largest-ever volunteer army and bucked superiors to keep his ferocious fighting force together in one Canadian Corps.