1917

The Harlem Hellfighters' Great War

December 2017 •English

Nicknamed the "Harlem Hellfighters", these African-Americans wanted to become ordinary citizens like everyone else. They saw fighting heroically in the trenches as their chance to achieve this. In 1918, the 15th New York National Guard Regiment became the most highly decorated unit of the First World War.

Sunset

September 2018 •Hungarian

In 1913, an orphaned young woman arrives in Budapest to take up employment as a milliner at the hat store that belonged to her late parents but becomes mired in a search for a brother she had never known of.

Benediction

December 2021 •English

Poet Siegfried Sassoon survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War and was decorated for his bravery, but became a vocal critic of the government's continuation of the war when he returned from service. Adored by members of the aristocracy as well as stars of London's literary and stage world, he embarked on affairs with several men as he attempted to come to terms with his homosexuality.

Battle of the Bulge: Winter War

November 2020 •English

Lt. Robert Cappa and his platoon of 2nd Infantry Division soldiers must defend a vital supply depot from being captured by attacking German soldiers.

Gateway to Glory

July 1969 •Japanese

A young man leaves his widowed mother on her improverished farm and makes his career in the Japanese navy.

Permission

February 2018 •English

Anna and Will, were each other’s first every-things: first kiss, first love, first and only relationship. Now, 10 years in, at Anna’s 30th birthday party, as Will is about to propose, the couple’s best friend makes a drunken toast, suggesting that they should sleep around before their inevitable marriage. The joke lands like a lead balloon, but the thought lingers until Anna proposes that they try opening their relationship – as a sexual experiment.

Tama Tū

October 2004 •Māori

Six Māori Battalion soldiers camped in Italian ruins wait for night to fall. In the silence, the bros-in-arms distract themselves with jokes. A tohu (sign) brings them back to reality, and they gather to say a karakia before returning to the fray. Director Taika Waititi describes the soldiers as young men with "a special bond, strengthened by their character, their culture and each other.

God Is Busy Somewhere Else

June 2018 •Italian

The story of Michele, a young Italian soldier on the Russian front in WW2.

Colonel Svec

February 1930 •Czech

The Promised Land

October 2023 •Danish

Denmark, 1755. Captain Ludvig Kahlen sets out to conquer a Danish heath reputed to be uncultivable, with an impossible goal: to establish a colony in the name of the king, in exchange for a royal title. A single-minded ambition that the ruthless lord of the region will relentlessly seek to put down. Kahlen's fate hangs in the balance: will his endevours bring him wealth and honour, or cost him his life...?

Winston Churchill: A Giant in the Century

October 2014 •French

A new look at the public and private life of one of the most important statesmen in the history of Europe: Winston Churchill (1874-1965), soldier, politician, writer, painter, leader of his country in the darkest hours, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, a myth, a giant of the 20th century.

Jménem Jeho Veličenstva

May 1929 •Czech

The Virgin Soldier

May 2016 •French

Two soldiers, Daniel and Jerome, flee a war we don’t see and we know nothing about. Jerome is badly injured, he will die, he says it, he knows it, he is afraid. Then Jerome confesses to Daniel his last will: he does not want to die a virgin, he wants to die loved…

Fighting the Red Baron

June 2010 •English

Two modern Red Arrows pilots take on the challenges faced by World War I pilots by performing photo reconnaissance, artillery ranging, and bombing missions in period aircraft - culminating in a classic dogfight.

Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!

April 1942 •English

Jackie Gleason and Jack Durant are teamed for the first and only time as Hank and Jed, a pair of dimwitted barbers who are forced into bankruptcy because all their customers have marched off to war. Figuring that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, Hank and Jed try to join the Army themselves, only to be rejected for a variety of reasons (When asked to read the eye-chart, Hank says he can't-not because he can't see, but because he can't read).

Aurora's Sunrise

April 2023 •Armenian

The story of how Aurora Mardiganian (1901-94), a survivor of the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire (1915-17), became a Hollywood silent film star.

Till I Come Back to You

August 1918 •English

Yvonne von Krutz, a Belgian, lives with her German husband Karl, whom she was forced to marry, and her spirited little brother Jacques in a farmhouse on the Belgian countryside. With the German invasion of Belgium, Karl joins the German forces, and Jacques is taken to a reformatory to be trained as a munitions worker. When Karl is taken prisoner, Capt. Jefferson Strong, an American engineer, assumes the German's identity and discovers an underground supply of explosives near the von Krutz farm. By means of a tunnel, the Americans plan to mine the explosives. To save Jacques and a group of children from the munitions factory, however, Jefferson sends them across the American lines through the tunnel, but they lose their way, and he is forced to disable the mine. Jefferson is court-martialed, but King Albert of Belgium, who has befriended little Jacques, intercedes on his behalf. Learning that Karl has been killed, Jefferson pursues his budding romance with Yvonne.

The Red Baron - Manfred von Richthofen

March 2016 •German

A documentary of early airplane pilot and WW1 fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, famously known as The Red Baron.

Honor First

August 1922 •English

Twin brothers are serving in the French army during the Great War. Jacques, a private, leads his brother's company to attack when Honoré, a lieutenant, panics and flees. Jacques, dressed in Honoré's coat, wins a vital victory, but he is mistaken for Honoré and decorated for gallantry in his brother's name. Jacques assumes Honoré's identity and goes to Paris where he meets Honoré. Honoré, after a serious disagreement, plots to have Jacques murdered but is himself killed by mistake. Jacques finds happiness with Moira, Honoré's wife from a loveless war marriage of convenience. 'Honor First' was the first film Adorée and John Gilbert made together.

The Charge That Saved the Empire: Geluveldt 1914

Invalid date •English

On the 31st Oct 1914 the Germans were on the cusp of victory at Ypres. troops of the German 30th and 54th Divisions had broken the line at Geluveldt to the east of Ypres.The German troops were fired with enthusiasm as the Kaiser was said to be watching their action. If they succeeded the way to Ypres and even the coast was open, the BEF would be destroyed. This is the story of the last British reserve the 2nd Worcesters who were ordered to counter attack and drive the Germans out of Geluveld. Their attack was a success and was described by Field Marshall French as the " The Charge that saved the Empire".