Despite It All!

Billy Elliot

September 2000 •English

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

Betrayal

November 1993 •Romanian

After the war, in Bucharest, a young Romanian poet arrested for having written an article denouncing Stalinist crimes, will save his life by accepting to become a hostage of the regime.

Morristown: Where America Survived

March 2009 •English

A thirty-minute High Definition documentary which revisits that winter of 1779-80 when Washington’s troops arrived at the densely-wooded area just south of Morristown known as Jockey Hollow, to build a log hut city for their winter camp. The film is an eye-opening look at how the camp saved the army – and the American Revolution – from the brink of disaster. Based on John T. Cunningham’s book The Uncertain Revolution and shot on location at Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown: Where America Survived is narrated by award-winning actor Edward Herrmann, who has voiced many history documentaries over his extensive career. The program was produced by New Jersey Network.

The Pride and the Passion

July 1957 •English

During the Napoleonic Wars, when the French have occupied Spain, some Spanish guerrilla soldiers are going to move a big cannon across Spain in order to help the British defeat the French. A British officer is there to accompany the Spanish and along the way, he falls in love with the leader's girl.

When Father Was Away on Business

January 1985 •

Tito's break-up with Stalin in 1948 marked the beginning of not only confusing, but also very dangerous years for many hard-core Yugoslav communists. A careless remark about the newspaper cartoon is enough for Mesha to join many arrested unfortunates. His family is now forced to cope with the situation and wait for his release from prison.

Ernesto

October 2017 •Japanese

Freddy Maemura Hurtado, a second-generation Japanese-Bolivian, heads to Cuba to study medicine. He meets revolutionist Che Guevara. When civil war breaks out in Bolivia, he decides to join Guevara’s revolutionary army under the name of “Ernesto Medico”.

100 Days Before the Command

February 1991 •Russian

Visually astonishing, erotically charged and emotionally jarring. '100 Days Before the Command' is Hussein Erkenov's courageous and stinging indictment of communism. Five young Red Army recruits struggle for survival against the merciless violence that surrounds them on a daily basis. Their only means of saving their dignity is by preserving the humanity and compassion they share for each other.

Wolz – Life and Transfiguration of a German Anarchist

November 1973 •German

Soldier Ignaz Wolz returns from WWI with an immeasurable hatred of capitalist war profiteers. He decides to start his own revolution, but tries to stay away from the organized class struggle. He steals from the rich men and divides the wealth among the poor. One day, Wolz is arrested and sentenced to life in prison; seven years later he is released due to mass protests. More than ever, it is hard for him to fit in. He severs ties with his former companions, who reject his ideas, and leaves Germany.

A Thousand Desires Like These

December 2003 •Hindi

Set against the backdrop of the Indian Emergency, the movie tells the story of three youngsters in the 70s, when India was undergoing massive social and political changes.

Sakhavu

April 2017 •Malayalam

Comrade Krishna Kumar wants to make it big in politics but lacks the ideals a sakhavu should possess. He is ruthless enough to even get rid of friends who might be possible hurdles on his way up. His paths cross with that of a veteran comrade, sakhavu Krishnan and the film depicts how his life influences Krishna Kumar.

Lost Feelings

October 1957 •Polish

One day in the miserable life of a female factory worker and single mother of four children. One of her sons - ridiculed by his peers - leaves home and gets into trouble.

The Front

September 1976 •English

A cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.

Prêtres interdits

November 1973 •French

Echo Sonata

November 2023 •English

In the 1950s, a communist country. The film follows a retired detective who investigates two enigmatic murders. Both murders are connected to a murder exposing an old secret about a corrupt officer that causes controversy throughout the city and alerts the political security. As he uncovers clues, the detective plunges deeper and deeper into a maelstrom of political and personal intrigue that leads him to a final revelation.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

February 1988 •English

Successful surgeon Tomas leaves Prague for an operation, meets a young photographer named Tereza, and brings her back with him. Tereza is surprised to learn that Tomas is already having an affair with the bohemian Sabina, but when the Soviet invasion occurs, all three flee to Switzerland. Sabina begins an affair, Tom continues womanizing, and Tereza, disgusted, returns to Czechoslovakia. Realizing his mistake, Tomas decides to chase after her.

Never Mind the Wall

June 2001 •German

Germany 1982: The country is divided into two parts. Nele, coming from West-Germany, travels to East-Germany where she meets Captain, singer of a band. They fall in love with each other, but the regime "takes care" of their relationship, meaning: They can not see each other again. Germany 1990: The country is reunited. Nele starts searching their lost love...

November Child

November 2008 •German

Malchow, German Democratic Republic, 1980. 20-year-old Anne is hiding Juri, a deserter of the Red Army. The two fall in love with each other. But their love is threatened: there is an arrest warrant and possibly a death sentence waiting for Juri. The two leave the country and flee to the West, leaving Anne’s six-month-old daughter Inga behind. Inga grows up with her grandparents and thinks that her mother died during a swimming accident. 25 years later she meets the literature professor Robert, who sends her on the trail of her past. He met Inga’s mother Anne during one of his seminars. At first Inga is resistant, but then she asks for Robert’s help. Together they take off on a journey through Germany, in search of Inga’s mother Anne...

Under Fire

October 1983 •English

Three U.S. journalists get too close to one another and their work in 1979 Nicaragua.

Strawberry and Chocolate

December 1993 •Spanish

Set in 1979, following a young Communist man's relationship with a gay Catholic writer, exploring tolerance, inclusion, homophobia and challenging its Cuban audience with great humour. Based on the short story by Cuban writer Senel Paz.

Citizen X

February 1995 •English

Based on the true story of a Russian serial killer who, over many years, claimed victim to over 50 people. His victims were mostly under the age of 17. In what was then a communists state, the police investigations were hampered by bureaucracy, incompetence and those in power. The story is told from the viewpoint of the detective in charge of the case.