Subgenre Sampler
Rental > Documentary > War: 141 Films to Rent
- Final Account (2020)
- Dir. Luke Holland
- German documentary providing portraits of the last living generation of people to have participated in Hitler's Third Reich.
A valuable project…
- Love it Was Not (2020)
- Dir. Maya Sarfaty
- Superb documentary about the incredible story of an SS officer and a Jewish prisoner who fall in love and have an affair at Auschwitz.
A talented…
- For Sama (2019)
- Dir. Waad Al-Khateab, Edward Watts
- Groundbreaking document of Syrian War, produced, directed and narrated by a journalist and political rebel under the pseudonym Waad Al–Kateab.…
- Soldiers Without Guns (2019)
- Dir. Will Watson
- A quite remarkable tale of a team of coalition soldiers who, in 1997, landed into the heat of a 10–year civil war on the Pacific Island of…
- They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
- Dir. Peter Jackson
- Ground–breaking documentary that employs state–of–the–art technology to transform audio and moving image archive footage to…
- City of Ghosts (2017)
- Dir. Matthew Heineman
- The director of CARTEL LAND lands on Syrian soil for another risk–taking venture that documents the efforts of "Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered…
- Jim: The James Foley Story (2016)
- Dir. Brian Oakes
- A moving look at the life and work of American journalist James Foley, who was kidnapped and publicly executed by ISIS, directed by his childhood…
- Land of the Enlightened, The (2016)
- Dir. Pieter-Jan de Pue
- A creative documentary hybrid, which stages facts and fantasy side by side to reveal an intimate and poetic portrait of Afghanistan. Reminiscent of…
- National Bird: Drone Wars (2016)
- Dir. Sonia Kennebeck
- A chilling expose of America's modern warfare program in which the ethics and possibilities of a deadly new technology are being determined, with…
- 25 April (2015)
- Dir. Leanne Pooley
- An animated take on the tragic 1915 Gallipoli Campaign of WW1 told through the perspective of six New Zealanders who were involved. The voice cast…
- Only the Dead (2015)
- Dir. Bill Guttentag, Michael Ware
- Graphic, but never exploitative account of the invasion of Iraq as captured by the lens of Australian war correspondent Michael Ware.
- Why ANZAC with Sam Neill (Tides of Blood) (2015)
- Feat. Sam Neill
- Sam Neill examines the enduring myths of the Anzac legend, sharing his family's war stories and uncovering forgotten truths. From the Gallipoli…
- Korengal (2014)
- Dir. Sebastian Junger
- Follow–up to RESTREPO picks up where it left off; the same men, the same valley, the same commanders, but a very different look at the…
- Last Days in Vietnam (2014)
- Dir. Rory Kennedy
- An exhaustive, Oscar–nominated documentary directed by the daughter of Robert Kennedy about the final panicked days of the Vietnam War as the…
- Nancy Wake: Gestapo's Most Wanted (2014)
- The heroics of Wellington–born Nancy Wake, aka 'The White Mouse', are given a pulpy treatment in this doco–drama celebrating the famed…
- War That Changed Us, The (2014)
- Commissioned by the ABC to mark the centenary of the First World War, this series draws on the personal testimonies of six Australians – revealed…
- Dirty Wars (2013)
- Dir. Rick Rowley
- Chilling docu–drama follows journalist Jeremy Scahill and the trail of secrets and lies he uncovers while investigation America's covert wars.
- Kill Team, The (2013)
- Dir. Dan Krauss
- Difficult but important expose of 21–year–old soldier Adam Winfield's attempts to alert his military superiors to heinous war crimes…
- Unknown Known, The (2013)
- Dir. Errol Morris
- Controversial former United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, discusses his career in Washington D.C. from his days as a congressman in…
- Which Way is the Front Line From Here? (2013)
- Dir. Sebastian Junger
- Sebastian Junger offers a moving tribute to his late co–director on RESTREPO, Tim Hetherington, with added reflection on the state of…
- Gallipoli From Above (2012)
- An Australian–centred 'corrective' history of the Gallipoli landing, which focuses on the scale and achievement of the ANZAC's deployment of…
- Untold History of the United States, The (TV Series) (2012)
- Dir. Oliver Stone
- Oliver Stone is the voice and reasoning behind this fascinating, if contentious revisionist Cold War history through American foreign…
- Hell and Back Again (2011)
- Dir. Danfung Dennis
- Photojournalist Danfung Dennis captures both the intensity of combat and the despair of life back home in this incredible insight into the realities…
- Long March to Freedom, The (2011)
- A brutal chapter towards of end of WWII is given its due in this harrowing documentary on the 'long march' of British, American and Commonwealth POWs…
- A Film Unfinished (2010)
- Dir. Yael Hersonski
- Filmmaker Yael Hersonski interrogates the veracity of the Nazis' unfinished ghetto film project, with the surviving footage of the Warsaw…
- Armadillo (2010)
- Dir. Janus Metz
- Dir. Janus Metz chronicles the changing personalities and life–altering experiences of a platoon of Danish soldiers fighting out of the…
- Home By Christmas (2010)
- Dir. Gaylene Preston
Feat. Tony Barry, Martin Henderson, Chelsie Preston-Crayford
- The director of WAR STORIES returns to the subject for this deeply personal yet affecting docu–drama focusing this time on a single story…
- Restrepo (2010)
- Dir. Tim Hetherington, Sebastian Junger
- A visceral and ground–breaking war documentary that gives us a frontline POV of the stand against the Taliban from a strategically placed…
- Tillman Story, The (2010)
- Dir. Amir Bar-Lev
- Complex portrait of NFL defensive lineman Pat Tillman, who attracted both admiration and controversy by abandoning a professional football career to…
- War You Don't See, The (2010)
- Dir. John Pilger
- Famed journo–activist John Pilger traces the history of ‘embedded’ and independent reporting, from WWI through to Afghanistan and current…
- Apocalypse: The Second World War (2009)
- Brilliantly remastered footage (all in colour, often augmented with sound effects) and an exhaustive chronological of events make this…
- Hitler's Bodyguard (TV Series) (2009)
- 13–part documentary series offering a thorough, at times incredible, examination of the men who protected Adolf Hitler against numerous…
- Simon Schama's Rough Crossings (2009)
- Docu–drama presented by revered historian Simon Schama (A HISTORY OF BRITAIN) which charts the astonishing story of thousands of…
- This is War (Severe Clear) (2009)
- Dir. Kristian Fraga
- Grungy self–portrait of life shot on mini–dv by a marine in Iraq that captures with visceral immediacy life in the front line.
- World War II in Colour (TV Series) (World War 2 in Colour) (2009)
- Featuring rare and previously unseen colourized archive footage, this 13–part series is one of the most comprehensive documentaries ever made…
- Behind Closed Doors: Stalin, The Nazis and The West (2008)
- Six–episode BBC/PBS documentary series on the role of Joseph Stalin and German–Soviet relations before, during, and after World War II…
- Bulletproof Salesman (2008)
- Dir. Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker
- This documentary provides a different slant on the business of war as it introduces us to Fidelis Cloer – a German armoured vehicle salesman…
- Bush's War (2008)
- Dir. Michael Kirk
- Extensive two–part documentary chronicling the Iraq War from the post 9/11 murmurings and "Weapons of Mass Destruction" allegations through to…
- Carrier, The (TV Mini-series) (2008)
- Immersive 10–part miniseries following the deployment of a United States Navy aircraft carrier in 2005, from the USA to the Middle East and…
- Living With the Enemy (2008)
- Thorough and absorbing History Channel series examines the five year period after the end of World War II, accounting for the events and decisions…
- Nazi Number One: Herman Göring (2008)
- Dir. Guido Knopp
- German director Guido Knopp continues his straightforward, biography–centric investigations into all things Nazi with this documentary on…
- Standard Operating Procedure (2008)
- Dir. Errol Morris
- To see or not to see: that is the question posed by acclaimed director Errol Morris as he attempts to understand what took place inside the walls of…
- Waltz With Bashir (Vals Im Bashir) (2008)
- Dir. Ari Folman
- This striking hybrid animation is an audacious attempt to recall, through anecdote, dream, and documentary, the 1982 Israeli–Lebanon war.…
- Winning World War 1 (The Western Front Diaries) (2008)
- Crucial documentary telling the story of the Australian battalion's influence and impact on winning World War 1 on the Western Front, based on the…
- Battle of the Little Bighorn, The (2007)
- Ideal introduction to the famous battle where General Custer made his last stand, featuring expert commentary and skillful re–enactments.
- Gallipoli: Brothers In Arms (2007)
- Dir. Andrew Denton
- Andrew Denton filmed this as part of his ENOUGH ROPE series to find out what draws so many Australians to the shores of Gallipoli each year, painting…
- I Have Never Forgotten You (The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal) (2007)
- Dir. Richard Trank
- Confronting documentary tracing the life of Jewish man Simon Wiesenthal who embarked on a personal crusade to track down Nazi war criminals and…
- No End in Sight (2007)
- Dir. Charles Ferguson
- Devastating documentary that comprehensively examines the negligence and political mis–steps that led to the Iraq war.
"Traces the…
- NZSAS: First Among Equals (TV Series) (2007)
- Eye–opening insider’s guide to the SAS offers a unique tour of duty in recruitment and training for the elite special forces, through to…
- Suicide Killers (2007)
- Dir. Pierre Rehov
- Based on interviews, this documentary examines the psychopathology of suicide bombers, with particular focus on the Israeli/Palestine conflict. The…
- Time of Our Lives, The (2007)
- Dir. Gaylene Preston
- Kiwi documentarian Gaylene Preston joins 32 war veterans en route to London, selected to inaugurate the erection of a New Zealand War Memorial in…
- War, The (TV Series) (2007)
- Dir. Ken Burns
- Seven–part documentary series, directed by respected filmmaker Ken Burns, addressing the horrors of WW2 from the perspective of American…
- Warlords (TV Series) (Untold Stories of World War II) (2007)
- Well–reviewed UK documentary series analyses WWII's big players from a psychological perspective: Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt and…
- Battle Of Long Tan / He's Coming South (2006)
- Dir. Damien Lay
- Two insightful documentaries that each explore particular episodes in Australasia's war history.
THE BATTLE OF LONG TAN tells the incredible story…
- Battleplan (TV Series) (2006)
- A comprehensive history and analysis of military strategies, combat tactics, and the art of modern warfare.
Across eighteen episodes, historical…
- Crossing the Line (2006)
- Dir. Daniel Gordon
- Documentary on the extraordinary defection of James Dresnok, an American military deserter to North Korea in 1962, who now resides permanently in the…
- Life Under Napoleon (TV Series) (2006)
- Dir. Georg Schiemann
- Broad, challenging historical overview of late 18th/early 19th century Europe, informed by the legacy and reign of French Emperor Napoleon.…
- Unknown Soldier, The (2006)
- Dir. Michael Verhoeven
- A sobering documentary exploration of the reaction to a museum exhibit in Munich detailing the war crimes and atrocities committed by Nazi Germany's…
- War of the World: The New History of the 20th Century (2006)
- Eye–opening historical documentary, presented by acclaimed historian Professor Niall Ferguson, challenging how we view and assess the arch of…
- War Years, The - 1939-1945 (2006)
- Five part documentary series made with unique and previously unseen archive film and photographs, tells the story of World War ll in the European…
- Blood of My Brother (2005)
- Dir. Andrew Berends
- A revealing, often eye–opening Iraqi War perspective, shot through director Berends’ unprecedented access to the Mehdi Army and citizens…
- Churchill's Bodyguard (2005)
- Imposing, unprecedented memoir of the life and times of Winston Churchill, adapted from the diaries of his stoic bodyguard, Walter H.…
- Escape to the Legion (2005)
- Feat. Bear Grylls
- Action man Bear Grylls (MAN VS WILD) tackles the grueling assault courses and brutal training regime of the French Foreign Legion in this rare…
- Gallipoli: The Frontline Experience (2005)
- Dir. Tolga Ornek
- Devastating documentary which revises traditional treatments of the notorious WW1 Gallipoli Campaign, to present the experience from the perspective…
- I Know I'm Not Alone (2005)
- Dir. Michael Franti
Feat. Michael Franti
- Michael Franti, the African–American songwriter of politically–charged American band Spearhead (and formerly the Disposable Heroes of…
- Speer And Hitler: The Devil's Architect (2005)
- Dir. Heinrich Breloer
Feat. Sebastian Koch, Tobias Moretti
- Painstaking docu–drama attempts to reevaluate the war crimes of one Albert Speer, Third Reich celebrity and Hilter’s personal architect…
- Ten Days To Victory (2005)
- Dir. Tim Conrad
- Two–part TV documentary depicting the final days of WWII, from the perspective of ten individual storylines. Combines occasionally violent…
- Why We Fight (2005)
- Dir. Eugene Jarecki
- Matching THE FOG OF WAR in terms of impact and cogency, this Sundance–winning doco investigates the long history of American involvement in…
- Colour of War: The ANZACs (2004)
- Dir. Paul Rudd, Ben Ulm
Feat. Russell Crowe
- Russell Crowe hosts this documentary TV series about the Australian and New Zealand military experience from the 1930s to Vietnam, utilising colour…
- Control Room (2004)
- Dir. Jehane Noujaim
- An important documentary that tunes in to the other side of the Iraq War through the "Control Rooms" of both the leading Arab TV station, 'Al…
- Death in Gaza (2004)
- Dir. James Miller
- A powerful, if not devastating, study of two children and a teenager growing up in the fractious and perilous Gaza Strip, where attacks by Israel and…
- Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
- Dir. Michael Moore
Feat. Michael Moore
- In his gravest comedy yet, the fearless Michael Moore dissects the credibility of the Bush administration since the election controversy of 2000 and…
- Gladiators Of World War Two - The Anzacs (2004)
- A special look at the contributions of the Australian and New Zealand ANZAC troops during WWII, covering the Greek, African, Italian and Pacific…
- Land Mines - A Love Story (2004)
- Dir. Dennis O'Rourke
- Articulate documentary from the director of CUNNAMULLA , presenting the realities of life for Afghani people living with the effects and threat of…
- President Versus David Hicks, The (2004)
- Dir. Curtis Levy
- Timely, if 'difficult' documentary which follows the efforts of the father of 'Australian Taliban' fighter David Hicks, to free his son from US…
- Shake Hands With the Devil (The Journey of Roméo Dallaire) (2004)
- Dir. Peter Raymont
- Arresting account of the deplorable Rwandan genocide, told through the eyes of one of the most controversial figures surrounding the 1994 massacre,…
- Soundtrack to War (2004)
- Dir. George Gittoes
- A decidedly oblique, ground–level view of the war in Iraq (post –9/11) which takes the musical listening habits and creations of US…
- Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War (2004)
- Dir. Robert Greenwald
- Born out of a personal "rage" against the Bush administration's justification for the pre–emptive war in Iraq, film–maker Robert…
- WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception (2004)
- Dir. Danny Schechter
- Media–commentator Schechter presents an angry analysis of the narrative of Western media complicity in the official 'line' on the US invasion…
- Battlefield Britain (TV Series) (2003)
- Dir. Mary Cranitch
- Father–and–son team Peter and Dan Snow explore the history of Britain through a detailed investigation into 8 epoch–making battles…
- Fog of War, The (2003)
- Dir. Errol Morris
- A perfectly–formed, Oscar–winning documentary about the life and career of Robert S McNamara, who served as Secretary of Defense under…
- Holy War, Inc. (2003)
- National Geographic's TV 'special' on Osama Bin Laden and his 'al–Qaeda' organisation, that presents a straight–forward account till…
- In Search of the Afghan Girl (2003)
- Renowned TV documentary follows the attempts to find out what has happened to the Afghani refugee whose startling features graced the cover of…
- Killing Hitler (TV Mini-series) (2003)
- Dir. Jeremy Lovering
Feat. Peter McDonald, Kate Ashfield, Kenneth Cranham…
- Accurate docu–drama merging archival footage with recreations and educated interview to portray and dissect 'Operation Foxley' – a secret…
- Plan Colombia - Cashing-In on the Drug War Failure (2003)
- Dir. Gerard Ungerman, Audrey Brohy
Feat. Noam Chomsky
- A punchy expose of the US Government's 'Plan Colombia', which was purportedly designed to fight drug cartels in the South American country. However,…
- Unlikely Heroes (2003)
- Dir. Richard Trank
- Inspirational documentary tracing the little–known stories of Jewish men and women who displayed acts of extraordinary courage during the…
- Vietnam War with Walter Cronkite (2003)
- Collection of CBS Documentaries narrated by broadcaster Walter Cronkite revealing the graphic inside story of the Vietnam War through the medium of…
- World War 1 In Colour (2003)
- Dir. Jonathan Martin
- Documentary using computer colourised archive footage from worldwide sources including Russia, Germany, France, Italy, the USA and Britain’s own…
- Broken Silence (2002)
- Dir. Andrzej Wajda, Pavel Chukhrai, Luis Puenzo
- Five 55–minute films concerning the Holocaust, and its role in the history of five respective countries.
'Some Who Lived' (dir. Puenzo)…
- Children of Gallipoli (2002)
- Dir. Anna Cottrell
- Interesting documentary interviews the grandchildren of four combatants in the ANZAC Gallipoli campaign of WWI – involving Turkish and New…
- Daughter from Danang (2002)
- Dir. Gail Dolgin, Vicente Franco
- A moving and troubling documentary about Heidi Bub, the daughter of an American serviceman and a poor Vietnamese woman, born in Danang and raised in…
- Finest Hour (2002)
- Dir. Nick Read
- In–depth and atmospheric study of the ‘Battle of Britain’, the crucial air war of WWII fought over England in 1940.
Gripping…
- Prisoner of Paradise (2002)
- Dir. Malcolm Clarke, Stuart Sender
- Justly acclaimed examination of an unusual chapter in the Holocaust, in which the Dutch–Jewish comic actor Kurt Gerron was forced to make a…
- Tomb of the Unknown Warrior (2002)
- A four–hour special on the opening of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Wellington, New Zealand. This monument was planned to commerate the…
- Vietnam's Unseen War - Pictures from the Other Side (2002)
- National Geographic documentary focuses on the unusual perspective of North Vietnamese photojournalists who covered the Vietnam War from the…
- In Shifting Sands (2001)
- Dir. Scott Ritter
Feat. Scott Ritter
- A pertinent, compelling though rather schizophrenic film–diary directed by the former Chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq.
Exploring the…
- War Photographer (2001)
- Dir. Christian Frei
- A clear–minded documentary on acclaimed war–photographer James Nachtwey, who began his career in 1980s on the battlefields of the Third…
- Fighter (2000)
- Dir. Amir Bar-Lev
Feat. Arnost Lustig, Jan Wiener
- A powerfully affecting documentary that juxtaposes two compelling stories: Jan Wiener’s thrilling escape from Nazi–occupied Czechoslovakia to…
- Into the Arms of Strangers - Stories of the Kindertransport (2000)
- Dir. Mark Jonathan Harris
- Sombre journey into one of the dark corridors of the Holocaust, revealing the stories of Jewish children rescued in the months before WWII from Nazi…
- John Pilger's No Middle Ground in the Middle East (Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq; Palenstine is Still the Issue; Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror) (2000-2003)
- Dir. John Pilger, Alan Lowery
Feat. John Pilger
- Three of journalist John Pilger’s most recent and cogent illustrations of the plight of the Middle East, with Iraq, foreign policy, Israel and…
- Paragraph 175 (2000)
- Dir. Robert Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
- An uneasy delve into past atrocities, this bitter–tasting but necessary document of Nazi war crimes goes beyond the oft–told persecution…
- They Filmed the War in Colour: France is Free! (Ils ont filmé la guerre en couleur) (2000)
- Dir. Rene-Jean Bouyer
- Rewarding TV documentary (made in France) which combines rediscovered colour footage of the German occupation of France during WW2, with interviews…
- World War 2 In Colour (2000)
- Two part series that presents previously unseen global footage, from pre–war Germany to the end of the war in Africa, and the atomic bomb.
- Last Days, The (1999)
- Dir. James Moll
- Accompanied by return visits to their homeland and the Nazi death camps, five Hungarian survivors of the Holocaust recount their remarkable stories…
- New Zealand Wars, The (1999)
- Dir. James Belich
Feat. James Belich
- Praised, yet inevitably controversial documentary series on New Zealand's 19th century history, in particular the various land–wars between…
- Second World War in Colour, The (TV Mini Series) (1999)
- The first of the various TV specials which replayed the events of WW2 utilising newly discovered colour film footage, lending an added new dimension…
- Regret to Inform (1998)
- Dir. Barbara Sonneborn
- A moving and haunting doco which analyzes the Vietnam War from the point of view of the American and Vietnamese women who lost the men they loved to…
- Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)
- Dir. Werner Herzog
- Another quirky yet significant doco from Werner Herzog, whose remarkable subject here is expatriot German Dieter Dengler, who returns to the Vietnam…
- Russia's War - Blood Upon The Snow (1997)
- Exhaustive 10–part series that traces Stalin's rise to power, his association with Hitler and Soviet involvement in the Second World War,…
- Vietnam War - Unknown Images (1997)
- Dir. Isabelle Clarke
- Recently declassified military footage gives a harrowing new look into the years of the Vietnam War. Three episodes – 'Secrets of War',…
- Betrayal, The (1996)
- Dir. John Anderson
Feat. Allen O'Leary
- A dynamic mix of documentary, rare achive footage, and vivid dramatic recreations tells the extraordinary adventures of Kiwi Ron Jeffrey in wartime…
- War Stories (War Stories our Mothers never told us) (1995)
- Dir. Gaylene Preston
- Remarkable documentary manages to compel almost exclusively via the spoken word as seven elderly women offer candid yet articulate and boldy frank…
- George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin (1994)
- Dir. George Stevens
- Short but powerful documentary, chiefly distinguished by its colour footage – shot by Hollywood film director George Stevens in the months…
- Dambusters - The True Story (1993)
- An interesting overview of the legendary dambusting raids by British Lancaster bombers during WWII, which utilised the 'bouncing bombs' of Barnes…
- Lessons of Darkness / Fata Morgana (1992/1969)
- Dir. Werner Herzog
- Two of dir. Herzog’s impressionistic documentaries on a double DVD.
LESSONS OF DARKNESS investigates the aftermath of the Gulf War, with…
- Architecture of Doom (1991)
- Dir. Peter Cohen
- Uniquely, this study of the Nazi era concentrates on the vast creations of Adolf Hitler’s Masterplan – choreographed rallies, architecture,…
- Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1988)
- Dir. Bill Couturie
- Intensely moving docudrama of the Vietnam experience in which some of Hollywoods most famed actors read soldier's letters sent home to their…
- John Pilger's Return Ticket (South Africa: Apartheid Did Not Die; Frontline: In Search Of Truth In Wartime; Vietnam: The Last Battle) (1988-1995)
- Dir. Alan Lowery, David Munro
Feat. John Pilger
- John Pilger revisits the remnants of war, stained politics, and social injustice in this fifth volume of his hard–hitting documentary…
- Going Hollywood - The War Years (1987)
- Dir. Julian Schlossberg
Feat. Vivian Blaine, Dane Clark, Jackie Cooper…
- A glance back at Hollywood attitudes, movies and stars during the WW2 years 1941–1945.
Compromising movie clips, newsreel footage and…
- Shoah (1985)
- Dir. Claude Lanzmann
- Claude Lanzmann's epic documentary on the Holocaust – 10 years in the making – is everything Resnais' 'Night and Fog' isn't; rough,…
- Atomic Cafe, The (1982)
- Dir. Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader, Pierce Rafferty
- An insight into the American phenomenon of A–Bomb culture, which compiles cheesy propaganda flicks and newsreels with hilariously naive…
- Genocide (1981)
- Dir. Arnold Schwartzman
- A harrowing recount of the atrocities enacted by Hitler's regime during WW2 as told by the survivors of his infamous death camps. Narrated by…
- Unknown War, The (1978)
- Burt Lancaster narrates this enormous 20–part documentary series on the conflict between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
- Overlord (1975)
- Dir. Stuart Cooper
Feat. Brian Stirner
- Remarkable one–off that seamlessly interweaves archival war footage and a fictional narrative, this accounts a twenty–year–old’s…
- Hearts and Minds (1974)
- Dir. Peter Davis
- The most famous Vietnam War documentary, this ambitious project took a year to film at the cost of a million dollars, representing the catastrophe…
- Swastika (1973)
- Dir. Lutz Becker, Phillipe Mora
- Consisting solely of startling archival footage, this documentary portrait of the era of Adolf Hitler's domination of Nazi Germany, eschews narration…
- World At War, The (1973)
- Epic – both in length and scope – series that comprehensively examines the second World War. Assembling a vast array of rare footage and…
- Winter Soldier (1972)
- Dir. Winterfilm Collective
- An astonishing and rare document of the Vietnam War, which records how over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in…
- John Pilger's Documentaries That Changed the World (The Quiet Mutiny; Do You Remember Vietnam?; Year Zero; Death of a Nation) (1970-1994)
- Dir. David Munro, John Pilger
Feat. John Pilger
- Four of journalist John Pilger's most important documentaries, that exemplify his fiercely humanist perspective which makes few concessions to…
- Sorrow and the Pity, The (1969)
- Dir. Marcel Ophuls
- A Classic. Investigating life and death in the Occupied France city of Clermont–Ferrand during WWII, chiefly through interviews, this provides…
- Far from Vietnam (1967)
- Dir. Agnes Varda, Joris Ivens, William Klein
Feat. Anne Bellec, Karen Blanguernon, Bernard Fresson…
- A documentary essay film with seven segments each directed by seven French New Wave directors, who express their opposition to the Vietnam War and…
- Culloden (1964)
- Dir. Peter Watkins
- A groundbreaking documentary depicting the famous battle in 1746 between the English loyalists and Scottish Jacobites.
Re–enacting this…
- Guns of August, The (1964)
- Dir. Nathan Kroll
- A World War I documentary based on the writings of Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Barbara Tuchman that traces the origins and actions of the…
- It Happened Here (1963)
- Dir. Kevin Brownlow, Andrew Mollo
- A genuine filmic curiousity, this meticulous historical fantasy proposes that Nazi Germany invaded Britain in 1940 – leading to a lengthy…
- Mein Kampf (1961)
- Dir. Erwin Leiser
- Based on the infamous diary of Adolf Hitler, this is an impressive, prudent chronicle of his life, from his formative years through the horrors of…
- Nuit et Broulliard (Night and Fog) (1955)
- Dir. Alain Resnais
- Haunting, influential doco on the Nazi concentration camps investigates the ways in which images of past events cause guilt for those in the present,…
- Trial at Nuremberg (1947)
- Dir. Jack Kaufman
- Actual footage of the historic war crime hearings in which Goering, Hess and 19 other SS Nazi leaders would be brought to trial over 217 days at the…
- Why We Fight (Prelude to War, Tunisian Victory, Know Your Enemy: Japan, War Comes to America, Battle of China, Battle of Britain, Divide and Conquer) (1943-1945)
- Dir. Frank Capra
- Old boy Frank Capra directed seven raging propaganda films between ARSENIC AND OLD LACE and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE for the rhetorically–dubbed…
- WWII - The John Huston Documents (Let There Be Light; The Battle of San Pietro) (1943-1947)
- Dir. John Huston
- Two legendary war documentaries from John Huston (THE MALTESE FALCON) who participated in WWII as a combat filmmaker yet whose films are the…
- War Years (1939-1945)
- An excellent representative selection of wartime footage shot by the National Film Unit during WW2. Originally distributed as newsreels, this…
- Great War, The
- Nine million died over the four years of World War 1. This chronicles events with exclusive use of achival footage.