War Docos
Innovative German film-maker Leni Riefenstahl's pioneering masterwork epic "Triumph of the Will" (1934) was explicitly propagandistic yet historical in its spectacular yet horrifying documentation of the Nazi Party Congress rally in Nuremberg in 1934. It was a revolutionary film combining superb cinematography and editing of Third Reich propaganda. She also documented the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the stunning film "Olympia" (1938) - with graceful and beautiful images of 'Aryan' athletes in competition. To respond to the Nazi propaganda, Frank Capra was commissioned by the US War Department to direct seven films in a "Why We Fight" (1943) series of narrated WWII newsreel-style films. The first in the series, "Prelude to War," a look at the events from 1931-1939, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1942. These and many other truely great War Documentaries, including the BBC's brilliant "World At War" series, are available by scrolling below.
Right: William Wyler's Academy Award winning "The Memphis Belle"Â
The Architecture of Doom (1991)
Director: Peter Cohen
Starring: Adolf Hitler
Featuring never-before-seen film footage of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi regime, "The Architecture of Doom" captures the inner workings of the Third Rei... Read more
The Battleships (2008)
7.4/10
Before the nuclear bomb, no weapon on Earth had evoked so much fear, veneration and passion as the battleship. In destructive power it had no equal. '... Read more
The Boneyard (2008)
5.4/10
Director: Jeff Watson
The Davis Monthan air force base in Tucson, Arizona is the home of AMARG the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group more commonly known as... Read more
The Cats of Mirikitani (2006)
8.3/10
Director: Linda Hattendorf
Starring: Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani
Eighty-year-old Jimmy Mirikitani survived the trauma of WWII internment camps, Hiroshima, and homelessness by creating art. But when 9/11 threatens hi... Read more
The Cave (2019)
7.5/10
Amidst air strikes and bombings, a group of female doctors in Ghouta, Syria struggle with systemic sexism while trying to care for the injured using l... Read more
The Civil War (1990)
9.1/10
Director: Ken Burns
Starring: Narrated by, David McCullough
Director Ken Burns' ('Jazz', 'Frank Lloyd Wright') most acclaimed documentary series is a comprehensive chronicle of the American Civil War. Over elev... Read more
The Devil Came on Horseback (2007)
7.8/10
Director: Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg
In 2004, former U.S. marine Brian Steidle was assigned to Darfur as an 'unarmed monitor' and became a key witness to the region's unfolding genocide,... Read more
The Falklands Campaign (2001)
In 1982 tensions between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands erupted into open hostilities. Due to the nature of the terrain, the Special... Read more
The Fourth World War (2004)
7.3/10
Starring: Narrated by, Michael Franti, Suheir Hammad
Shot on the frontlines of struggles spanning five continents, this powerful documentary illustrates the often untold human story of men and women who... Read more
The Gestapo: Hitler's Secret Police (2005)
4.6/10
Very few state organisations in history have instilled fear into citizens like the Gestapo, Adolf Hitlers secret police. During the darkest days of th... Read more