On Our Own Land

Wake Island: Alamo of the Pacific

June 2003 •English

This documentary is a captivating account of the defense of Wake Island by a small contingent of United States Marines and civilian contractors. From December 8th until December 23rd, 1941 the defenders thwarted an aerial attack and an attempted amphibious landing from a naval task force before finally being overwhelmed by the third attempt by the Japanese Imperial Navy.

The Resistance Fighter

March 2019 •Polish

Based on the true story of Jan Nowak-Jezioranski, who served as a courier between the commanders of the Polish Home Army and the Polish Government in Exile in London. He must return quickly to Warsaw to transmit orders from the Polish PM to the Home Army's commander-in-chief before the start of the Warsaw uprising.

Persian Lessons

April 2020 •German

Occupied France, 1942. Gilles is arrested by SS soldiers alongside other Jews and sent to a camp in Germany. He narrowly avoids sudden execution by swearing to the guards that he is not Jewish, but Persian. This lie temporarily saves him, but Gilles gets assigned a life-or-death mission: to teach Farsi to Head of Camp Koch, who dreams of opening a restaurant in Iran once the war is over. Through an ingenious trick, Gilles manages to survive by inventing words of "Farsi" every day and teaching them to Koch.

Les Lycéens, le Traître et les Nazis

September 2019 •French

My Best Friend Anne Frank

October 2021 •Dutch

Based on the real-life friendship between Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar, from Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to their harrowing reunion in a concentration camp.

Omaha Beach: Honor and Sacrifice

November 2014 •English

Seven Decades after the bloody battle for Omaha Beach in Normandy, France on D-Day, many veterans are returning to visit one last time. Omaha Beach: Honor And Sacrifice tells the very personal stories of several veterans as they return to Omaha Beach and the celebration that Normandy, France holds in their honor every year.

The Little Flying Fish Gets Sick

September 1982 •Japanese

The peaceful passage of daily life in the Pacific Ocean is upended in a flash on March 1, 1954, with the first American nuclear test at Bikini Atoll. The far-reaching fallout forever changes the lives of the ocean’s cheerful inhabitants.

Zoya

January 2021 •Russian

Fall of 1941. Freshly graduated from school, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya volunteers for a partisan unit. During an assignment, her comrades are ambushed, and she is captured by the Nazis. She endures hours of grueling interrogations and horrendous torture, but defiantly refuses to divulge any information that would compromise other units’ partisan missions. She doesn’t even tell her captors her real name. Zoya’s sacrifice was not in vain; it ignited fire in the hearts of millions of people and became the symbol of selfless heroism during WWII. She is one of the most celebrated heroes of that time.

When Paris was German

November 2020 •French

Discovering Paris under the German occupation through the story of an SS soldier and more generally of Wehrmacht soldiers allows us to follow the daily life on the German side. These soldiers enjoyed privileged status, during their stay, they were led to believe that they belong to a social elite, a status unreachable back in Germany during peacetime. And who better than a German who has led such lifestyle to serve as a common thread and tell this story?

La Nueve

October 2020 •Spanish

A young man accompanies his mother to a nursing home where he meets don Manuel, a World War II veteran.

Cherry Blossoms in the Air - The Suicide Raiders - Oh, Buddies!

May 1970 •Japanese

In 1943 Japan is facing defeat. This makes Shinkichi, a straight, selfless student-patriot, ever more restless. He can no longer stand his soft "behind-the- gun" role of munition factory worker. School-mates one after another are going to the front, where he feels he should be. The last straw is an official report of his father's death in the Battle of Attu in the Aleutian Islands. He rushes to the naval air corps training camp at Tsuchiura along with his close school-mates Naito, Yamada, Saito and Tagawa as Volunteer pilot trainees leaving his mother and sweetheart weeping and helpless.

Mount Liptak

July 2018 •English

In order to provide for his family after his Father was murdered a young boy lies about his age to enlist in the Navy.

A Hidden Life

August 2019 •English

Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II.

Rozhodnutie

August 1976 •Slovak

The film is based on the memoirs of partisan commander Peter Kružliak. Lieutenant Peter Kubiš is ordered to move with his unit to the mountains after the fall of Banská Bystrica, where he is to receive further orders. No one is waiting, on the contrary, civilian refugees from Banská Bystrica are also entrusted to his protection. In addition, the headquarters sends him to "take care" of captured German soldiers. A serious dispute arises over whether to liquidate the prisoners or not. The final decision must be made and enforced by Lieutenant Kubiš - he refuses to carry out the sentence without a decision from a field court. Kubiš sends the captured Germans - hostages to Banská Bystrica to guarantee the safe return of the civilian population to the city.

Outcry

November 1946 •Italian

A neorealist tribute to the Italian resistance fighters of World War II.

Coming Out Under Fire

March 1994 •English

A historical account of military policy regarding homosexuality during World War II. The documentary includes interviews with several homosexual WWII veterans.

The Mighty Navy

November 1941 •English

Popeye joins the US Navy and routs the enemy in a one-man battle, but not before he causes his commanding officer plenty of aggravation.

Run Boy Run

January 2014 •German

Run Boy Run is the true story of Jurek, an eight-year-old boy, who escapes from the Warsaw ghetto, then manages to survive in the woods and working as a farmhand, disguising himself as a Polish orphan. He encounters people who will betray him for a reward, who will beat him up or try to kill him, and he meets those, who will do and risk almost everything to help him. Jurek’s resilience is put to the ultimate test, when an accident cripples him, making it harder to find work. But he struggles on against all odds. Eventually the Russians reach his area and Jurek even finds a family where he could stay. Yet he is betrayed again, and a young man from a Jewish orphanage forcefully tries to bring Jurek back to his people and his faith.

The Bells Go Down

May 1943 •English

Comedian Tommy Trinder plays it straight in this tribute to the wartime AFS (Auxiliary Fire Service). The dedicated band who kept the fires of London under control during the blitz and fire bombings of WWII.

Children, Mother, and the General

March 1955 •German

As Germany's fortunes in the latter part of World War II wane, several young boys, in their enthusiasm to do something "for the fatherland", volunteer to fight with the German army in the East. Horrified at the news that their children left for the Russian front, the boys' mothers begin a desperate effort to get their sons back.