
Book Hunters
★ 8.7 · 2017 · 52m · Documentary · History
When chaos reigns, while barbaric and fanatical rulers, both ecclesiastical and secular, systematically burn entire libraries, book hunters, secret heroes of history, travel the world saving and copying texts, threatened by the madness of censors, with the noble purpose of preventing the ultimate loss of human knowledge.
More Like This

The Paper Brigade
2018 · ★ 6
Lithuania, 1941, during World War II. Hundreds of thousands of texts on Jewish culture, stolen by the Germans, are gathered in Vilnius to be classified, either to be stored or to be destroyed. A group of Jewish scholars and writers, commissioned by the invaders to carry out the sorting operations, but reluctant to collaborate and determined to save their legacy, hide many books in the ghetto where they are confined. This is the epic story of the Paper Brigade.
More info →
The Cleaners
2018 · ★ 7.2
A deep dive into the hidden industry of digital cleaning, which rids the Internet of unwanted violence, porn and political content.
More info →
Censored: Kuhle Wampe
1975 · ★ 10
A detailed reconstruction of the censorship case against the landmark Weimar-era communist film, Kuhle Wampe, or Who Owns the World? (1932). Directed by Slatan Dudow, the crew and cast included left-wing luminaries, such as playwright Bertolt Brecht, composer Hanns Eisler and balladeer Ernst Busch. The film was the subject of vehement disputes and was banned twice for revolutionary and communist tendencies that were perceived to threaten the state. About 230 meters of the original film fell victim to the censor’s shears. This historic censorship case was argued over the course of three sessions. Censored: Kuhle Wampe re-enacts the censorship hearings, based on original minutes and documents, as well as personal records of the case. In addition to footage from the original film, this docudrama includes original clips of Berlin in the 1920s and '30s and short testimonies, filmed in the 1970s, with some of the actors involved in the original Kuhle Wampe film production.
More info →
Lord of the Ants
2022 · ★ 7.2
Based on true events of the late 60s in Italy, poet, playwright and myrmecologist Aldo Braibanti is prosecuted and sentenced to prison for the love he shares with his barely-of-age pupil and friend, Ettore. Amidst a chorus of voices of accusers, supporters and a largely hypocritical public, a single committed journalist takes on the task of piecing together the truth, between secrecy and desire, facing suspicion and censorship in the process.
More info →
Freedom to Love
1969 · ★ 5.2
A sex education film dedicated to all forms of human sexuality.
More info →
Das Haus der guten Geister
2020
A documentary about the Staatsoper Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Opera) in Germany.
More info →Censored!
1999
A documentary about the cultural effect of film censorship, focusing on the tumultuous times of the teens and early 1920s in America.
More info →
The Sheik and I
2012 · ★ 5.6
When an American filmmaker is commissioned to make a film for a Middle East Biennial on the theme of 'art as a subversive act,' his film is banned for blasphemy, he is asked to destroy every copy, and threatened with arrest.
More info →
Love Stories of the Pale Night
1966 · ★ 9.5
A man living between dream and reality, making the woman he fell in love with as a statue and falling in love with her and then killing her in his dreams.
More info →
Germán Araújo
2025
In Germán Araujo, director Aldo Novick revives the memory of a journalist who defied censorship during one of Uruguay's darkest periods. Through previously unseen archival footage, testimonies, and music, the film honors the courage of those who reported the truth when it was risky. This powerful documentary is shaping up to be one of the most important Uruguayan film releases of the year.
More info →

Forbidden Films
2014 · ★ 6.5
Between 1933 and 1945 roughly 1200 films were made in Germany, of which 300 were banned by the Allied forces. Today, around 40 films, called "Vorbehaltsfilme", are locked away from the public with an uncertain future. Should they be re-released, destroyed, or continue to be neglected? Verbotene Filme takes a closer look at some of these forbidden films.
More info →