Brestskaya krepost (2010) Director: Aleksandr Kott Actors: Aleksey Kopashov, Andrey Merzlikin, Pavel Derevyanko Runtime: 132 min In spite of accelerated militarization and the growing awareness that the war between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany is inevitable, in the days immediately preceding the beginning of the war, Stalin refused to accept the credibility of the …
La battaglia di Algeri (1966) Director: Gillo Pontecorvo Actors: Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi Runtime: 121 min The Algerian revolution was an anti-colonial conflict between France and the Algerian liberation movements from 1954 to 1962, when Algeria gained its independence. The movie covers a period of intense urban-guerrilla activity in the capital Algiers from …
Nuit et brouillard (1955) Director: Alain Resnais Runtime: 30 min Short and analytical documentary about Nazi concentration camps, primarily Auschwitz. It covers many aspects: the construction and setting up of the camps, hierarchy and the role of Kapos (inmates who become supervisors of other inmates), the exploitation of slave labor and prostitution, starvation, torture and …
Die bleierne Zeit (1981) Director: Margarethe von Trotta Actors: Jutta Lampe, Barbara Sukowa Runtime: 106 min The film’s title “The Leaden Times” (Die bleierne Zeit) refers to the feelings of disappointment and defeat within the German Left in the 1970s, which followed the failures of 1960s social movements. A deep hatred of the political system …
Racism: A History (TV mini-series 2007) Director: Paul Tickell Runtime: 3 x 59 min An excellent overview of the history of racism from its origins to the present day, through the development of colonialism, the abolition of slavery, imperialism, various racial theories, eugenics, monstrous exploitation and genocide around the world. Solid and informative.
It Happened Here (1965) Directors: Kevin Brownlow, Andrew Mollo Actors: Pauline Murray Runtime: 93 min An alternative history in which the Nazis succeeded in landing and occupying England. The film does not focus on the German occupation forces but rather on English collaborators and the mechanisms which people use to rationalize their acceptance of fascism. In this …
