Blood Money: Inside the Soviet Economy

How did the USSR - a country considered a second-rate industrial power, economically inferior to Germany, the USA and the UK - shape its victory over the armies of Hitler's regime, and secure its place among the winners?

2024-06-11 | fr

Nous étions soldats - Les oubliés de la Seconde Guerre mondiale

2024-05-30 | fr

D-Day, 100 jours pour la liberté

Using restored, colorized archives and testimonies from all the players in this conflict, this documentary covers the hundred days of apocalyptic fighting that wrote History. June 1944, the Allies landed in Normandy. This odyssey was meticulously prepared for months. The construction of two artificial ports, the transport of Anglo-American troops, their training cost colossal efforts, and caused many cold sweats: the secret of D-Day almost came to light several times. The documentary reveals the inner workings of Operation Overlord, it also deciphers the military operations, and evokes the choices of the high command. Placed at human level, it retraces the fate of Norman civilians subjected to deadly bombings, the attitude of the Allied soldiers and their German adversaries, as well as the aspirations of the French population, torn between fear and hope.

2024-06-06 | fr

The Unknown Woman

The Unknown Woman is a documentary film scripted and directed by Elina Kivihalme. It depicts the reality of Finnish agriculture and forestry during the war years, when the home front relied entirely upon the work and endurance of the women. All farm work, caring for the children, woodcutting and other forestry operations were undertaken by the civilians, as the men in their prime were on the front.

2011-02-04 | fi

Das Boot

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.

1981-09-17 | de

Out of the Darkness

This Danish movie "Out of The Darkness" ( in Danish 'De Forbandede år 2' ) is a continuation of the popular WW II drama "Into The Darkness" ( in Danish 'De forbandede år' ) and it portraits the Danish Resistance movements fight. This movie takes place after 1943 where the official politic of 'corporation' comes to an end, and the Danish Resistance movement is gaining traction. The movie follows the Skov family from 1943 to the end of WWII. The growing opposition to the occupation and the increased brutality of the Germans have fatal consequences for the family.

2022-04-21 | da

Food from the Empire

Made in 1940 and sponsored by the Ministry of Information this film shows the food contributions supplied to Britain by various colonies and dominions. 'Food from the Empire highlights the severity of the food issue, by discussing food production as a battle (...) and offers insights into British attitudes towards its colonies and dominions. The commentary notes that the ‘free people’ of these countries are ‘anxious to send every ounce they can to the United Kingdom for they know that upon the ability of Great Britain to hold out depends their own freedom’. Britain is depicted as a dominant power, fighting to protect those within the Empire, while the colonies are loyal and ‘anxious’ to help.' - Tom Rice, on the film from colonialfilm.org.

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Sokolovo

The plot begins in the Soviet Union showing first efforts to establish the Czechoslovak legion in 1942. The film also shows the assassination of Heydrich and the subsequent annihilation of Lidice. The main topis of the film is battles with German troops for Sokolovo.

1975-05-09 | cs

The Natural History of Destruction

Is it morally acceptable to use the civilian population as yet another tool for waging war? Is it possible to justify death and destruction for the sake of supposedly lofty ideals? The question remains as pertinent today as it was at the beginning of World War II, and it is becoming increasingly urgent to answer, as countless tragedies have been caused by unethical political decisions.

2022-05-23 | de

Barbarossa: Hitler Turns East

Hitler's invasion of Russia was one of the landmark events of World War II. This documentary reveals the lead-up to the offensive, its impact on the war and the brinksmanship that resulted from the battle for Moscow. Rare footage from both German and Russian archives and detailed maps illustrate the conflict, while award-winning historian and author John Erickson provides insight into the pivotal maneuvers on the eastern front.

2007-08-06 | hu

The Boys

When Continuation War started in Summer 1941, German soldiers arrived to Oulu. With their charm they conquered women and town boys. Finnish boys communicated with them on many levels: had trades, worked as interpreters, rotated business, spied on German love adventures and fought with each other about the favor of soldiers. In autumn 1944, the war was ending. Germans left Oulu by leaving behind fragile relationships, bastard kids and unfinished businesses. The most shocking of all was the faith of young Jake...

1962-11-02 | fi

Death Race

In the North African desert in World War II, a crippled American fighter plane that is unable to take off tries to evade and destroy a pursuing Nazi tank.

1973-11-10 | en

Diplomacy

On the night of August 24, 1944, the fate of Paris rests with General von Choltitz, who plans to destroy the city on Hitler's orders. As the general prepares to detonate explosives throughout the capital, Swedish consul Raoul Nordling uses diplomacy in a desperate bid to convince him to defy the orders and save Paris.

2014-03-05 | fr

The RAF at War: Part One

Three part documentary of the history of the Royal Air Force during World War Two. They combine actual Air Ministry films and period newsreel footage with interviews of surviving members of the air force. The first part covers the period from the 'phoney war', the invasion of Poland and the early bombing raids on enemy shipping, through to the attacks on France. Aircraft featured include the Blenheim and Wellington bombers, the Sunderland flying boat, Spitfires and Hurricanes and the opposing ME109.

2004-01-01 | en

Closely Watched Trains

At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to liberate himself from his virginity. Oblivious to the war and the resistance that surrounds him, this young man embarks on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery, encountering a universe of frustration, eroticism, and adventure within his sleepy backwater depot.

1966-11-18 | cs

Night and Fog

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

1959-04-27 | fr

The Bridge on the River Kwai

The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.

1957-10-11 | en

Enemy at the Gates

A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII.

2001-02-28 | en

Saving Private Ryan

As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.

1998-07-24 | en

The RAF at War: Part Two

Three part documentary of the history of the Royal Air Force during World War Two. They combine actual Air Ministry films and period newsreel footage with interviews of surviving members of the air force. The second part covers the early years of 1939-1940 from the threat of German invasion preceded by Oporation Eagle attacks on airfields and ports, through the Battle of Britain to the commencement of the British bombing of Berlin after attacks on London and wider civilian casualties such as Coventry.

2004-01-02 | en