The First 54 Years: An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation

Mission to Mir

1997 · ★ 7.2

This film shows how far we have come since the cold-war days of the 50s and 60s. Back then the Russians were our "enemies". And to them the Americans were their "enemies" who couldn't be trusted. Somewhere in all this a young girl in Oklahoma named Shannon set her sights on becoming one of those space explorers, even though she was told "girls can't do that." But she did.

Innocence

2022 · ★ 7.5

Innocence tells the story of children who resisted to be enlisted but capitulated. Their stories were never told as they died during their service. Through a narration based on their haunting diaries, the film depicts their inner turmoil. It interweaves first-hand military images, key moments from childhood until enlistment and home videos of the deceased soldiers whose stories are silenced and seen as a national threat.

The Battle of Algiers

1966 · ★ 7.9

Paratrooper commander Colonel Mathieu, a former French Resistance fighter during World War II, is sent to Algeria to reinforce efforts to squelch the uprisings of the Algerian War. There he faces Ali la Pointe, a former petty criminal who, as the leader of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale, directs terror strategies against the colonial French government occupation. As each side resorts to ever-increasing brutality, no violent act is too unthinkable.

Koudelka Shooting Holy Land

2017 · ★ 6.4

Czech Photographer Josef Koudelka grew up behind the Iron Curtain and always wanted to know "what was on the other side". Forty years after capturing the iconic images of the Soviet invasion of Prague in 1968, the legendary Magnum photographer arrives in Israel and Palestine. On first seeing the nine-meter-high wall built by Israel in the West Bank, Koudelka is deeply shaken and embarks on a four-year project in the region which will confront him once again with the harsh reality of violence and conflict. Director Gilad Baram, Koudelka's assistant at the time, follows him on his journey through the Holy Land from one enigmatic and visually spectacular location to another.

The Human Factor

2021 · ★ 6.8

How US politicians and diplomats, over the past 25 years, have come close to achieving something almost impossible: securing peace between the State of Israel and its Arab and like-minded neighbors, mired in a struggle both dialectical and violent since the early 20th century, due to historical and religious reasons, entrenched offenses and prejudices, and the invisible and tyrannical hand of third countries' geopolitical interests in the area.

The Demise of ETA

2017 · ★ 5.9

The chronicle of the process, ten long years, that led to the end of ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna), a Basque terrorist gang that perpetrated robberies, kidnappings and murders in Spain and the French Basque Country for more than fifty years. Almost 1,000 people died, but others are still alive to tell the story of how the nightmare finally ended.

Year. Kharkiv Region.

2023 · ★ 10

Dmytro Komarov's documentary project The Year. Kharkiv Region. Dmytro Komarov will show Kharkiv in the first months of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops. Viewers will hear the stories of people who found themselves in the epicentre of the brutal attacks: at the air defence base destroyed by a Russian missile, in the residential area of the city - Northern Saltivka - which was ravaged by shelling. The journalist will talk to those who played a key role in the liberation of the Kharkiv region. One of these people is Roman Hryshchuk, the commander of the 127th separate territorial defence brigade of Ukraine. He told us how the military practice of the past - using decoys in the form of dummies - helped to identify and destroy the occupiers. How did the full-scale war begin for Kharkiv? What plans did the enemy have for Kharkiv? What united people and gave them hope in the most difficult times? Find out in the documentary project "Year. Kharkiv Region".

Zulu Dawn

1979 · ★ 6.1

In 1879, the British suffer a great loss at the Battle of Isandlwana due to incompetent leadership.

Fertile Memory

1981 · ★ 7

A portrait of two Palestinian women whose individual struggles both define and transcend the politics that have torn apart their homes and their lives. Farah Hatoum, a widow living with her children and grandchildren, and Sahar Khalifeh, a novelist from the West Bank.

Algeria in Flames

1958 · ★ 8.5

These are the first images shot in the ALN maquis, camera in hand, at the end of 1956 and in 1957. These war images taken in the Aurès-Nementchas are intended to be the basis of a dialogue between French and Algerians for peace in Algeria, by demonstrating the existence of an armed organization close to the people. Three versions of Algeria in Flames are produced: French, German and Arabic. From the end of the editing, the film circulates without any cuts throughout the world, except in France where the first screening takes place in the occupied Sorbonne in 1968. Certain images of the film have circulated and are found in films, in particular Algerian films. Because of the excitement caused by this film, he was forced to go into hiding for 25 months. After the declaration of independence, he founded the first Algerian Audiovisual Center.

Billion Dollar Spy

Set against the high-stakes backdrop of the late Cold War, Adolf Tolkachev, an ordinary man who risks everything to pass thousands of pages of top-secret Soviet intelligence to the U.S. Despite repeated rejections by a wary CIA, Tolkachev persisted, embodying the courage to stand against a regime that betrayed its own people. Finally, finding an ally in CIA agent Tom Lenihan, Tolkachev was able to fundamentally shift the balance of power, proving that true patriotism lies not in blind allegiance but in the willingness to challenge a government when it strays from its ideals.

1970

2021 · ★ 7.7

Poland, 1970. When popular protests erupt in the streets due to rising prices, the communist government organizes a crisis team. Soon after, the police use their truncheons and then their firearms. The story of a rebellion from the point of view of the oppressors.