Witnesses

Against the Tide

January 2021 •English

A remote and wild island on the west coast of Scotland is home to a small group of people that live in deep connection with the land, the sea and the weather. For different reasons, they left their city life to escape their inner demons and to live as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible.

Decoding Jean: Secrets of WWII

November 2023 •English

In the midst of World War II's turmoil, the quaint British town of Bury St. Edmonds becomes a focal point where lives intersect and secrets unravel. An 18-year-old woman finds herself caught in the throes of a great wartime secret – the breaking of the German Enigma code. Her recruitment into the "Ultra" program brings her to the heart of Bletchley Park's most clandestine operations, where Alan Turing and his team forge the world's first computer in a bid to crack the ever-changing German codes. Every day, she grapples with the weight of the secret, so profound that even her family is oblivious to her covert role. Meanwhile, she captures the heart of an assertive American soldier and their whirlwind wartime romance culminates in a heartwarming union, facing the challenges of the Official Secrets Act. The soldier, persistent and deeply in love, goes to great lengths, in order to secure her release from the program and to solidify their commitment to one another.

Spring by the Sea

October 2019 •English

Alternating Philippines and Saudi Arabia as her home, the filmmaker uses personal home videos and present footage to tell the story of her family.

Coal

March 2025 •Dutch

CHARBON depicts how Europe was built on fossil fuels over the past 100 years. And how it was torn apart by wars that were the result of these same fossil fuels. During 3 trips to Ukraine, Italy and Iraq, filmmaker Manu Riche explains how he and his French-German family are inseparably connected to the fate of the Iraqi filmmaker and refugee Hayder Helo.

Caos do Sodré

July 2022 •Portuguese

Łódź Ghetto

March 1989 •English

The Polish city of Łódź was under Nazi occupation for nearly the entirety of WWII. The segregation of the Jewish population into the ghetto, and the subsequent horrors are vividly chronicled via newsreels and photographs. The narration is taken almost entirely from journals and diaries of those who lived–and died–through the course of the occupation, with the number of different narrators diminishing as the film progresses, symbolic of the death of each narrator.

6th Marine Division on Okinawa

June 1945 •English

A documentary covering the actions of the 6th Marine Division on Okinawa during WWII.

Pope Vs. Hitler

April 2017 •English

In the darkest days of World War II, St. Peter's was shrouded in the shadow of the swastika. But even as the Führer surrounded him, the Pope was plotting a secret counter-offensive. Wartime Pontiff Pius XII has been derided for his public silence about the Holocaust. But evidence suggests his silence may have been subterfuge.

Der dritte Bruder

May 2025 •German

While searching for her grandmother, the director comes across the story of three brothers who are torn between the fronts of political ideologies in the Third Reich and divided Germany: "the third brother" is the filmmaker's grandfather, who, in confronting her father, tries to overcome decades of speechlessness and, in the process, to understand where in the past her father's sense of family fell by the wayside.

A Compassionate Spy

August 2022 •English

Physicist Ted Hall is recruited to join the Manhattan Project as a teenager and goes to Los Alamos with no idea what he'll be working on. When he learns the true nature of the weapon being designed, he fears the post-war risk of a nuclear holocaust and begins to pass significant information to the Soviet Union.

Skip Liberty: Shooting in Vietnam

January 2024 •English

Skip Liberty enlisted in the Army in 1968. During his tour in Vietnam he shot 3,100 feet of Super 8 film, over 3 hours worth. Upon returning to the states the film was placed in storage, Skip had never seen the footage he shot. Until now.

It Conquered Hollywood! The Story of American International Pictures

May 2001 •English

A 60-minute salute to American International Pictures. Entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff founded AIP (then called American Releasing Corporation) on a $3000 loan in 1954 with his partner, James H. Nicholson, a former West Coast exhibitor and distributor. The company made its mark by targeting teenagers with quickly produced films that exploited subjects mainstream films were reluctant to tackle.

33-45: The Channel's Superguns

December 2016 •English

In WWII, the English Channel was a vital passageway. Here, explore the previously untold story of the invaluable superguns that guarded it.

A Return to Memory

October 2024 •English

When Canada entered World War II, the National Film Board suddenly had an urgent new mission—and hundreds of women stepped forward, helping to create Canadian cinema as we now know it.

Raoul Wallenberg: Buried Alive

December 1983 •English

A profile of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, the film covers his role in saving the lives of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust, as well as exploring the evidence that he may still have been alive in a Soviet gulag as late as the early 1980s.

The Great Escape

March 2017 •French

On March 24, 1944, in the heart of Nazi Germany, 76 British, Canadian, Norwegian and French pilots who were held in Stalag Luft III, a prison camp of the Luftwaffe, escaped. Unique testimony from the last survivors, recreations and today’s digital images sheds new light on the audacious escape.

Churchill: Britain's Secret Apartheid

October 2024 •English

When Winston Churchill needed the help of the US Army to defeat Hitler, he made a controversial decision to allow America to bring its segregated Army to the UK. Racial tension between black and white American soldiers spilled out onto the streets of Britain, resulting in shoot-outs, riots and murders. Searching for people alive today directly impacted by the violence, the program examines its lingering impact.

Operation Mincemeat

December 2010 •English

Documentary detailing the successful Operation Mincemeat in 1943, which led to the Allies successfully invading Sicily and the war turning in their favour.

The Children Who Cheated the Nazis

September 2000 •English

A documentary about the decisions parents made in evacuating their children out of harm's way (the Nazis), and being forced to stay behind, the parents realize that this may possibly be the last time they will see their loved ones.

Limbo

July 2022 •Portuguese

Documentary explores the life stages of different people.