We are Soldiers

Long Echo

April 2020 •German

Dobropillia is a town located in Eastern Ukraine: 70 km from the border where conflicts with the breakaway republics are raging on and people feel always like being on the verge of total war. The sheer uncertainty about the future pushes folks to cling on to their daily habits while trying to get along with the ever-shifting political landscape. A wide array of wildly diversified characters try to cope as good as they can with the hardships in their town. A death metal band keeps rehearsing daily. A teacher guides visitors through the story of the city. The wonders of a vibrating armchair are tested as a tool against stress and anxiety. An elderly lady who has lost her son tries to talk some sense into her fellow citizens urging them to accept peace.

De Bevrijding van Den Haag

January 2010 •Dutch

The Wars of the Roses: A Bloody Crown

January 2002 •English

Using historically-accurate, battle-filled re-enactments and interviews with expert historians and noted authors, this two-part documentary series brings to vivid life the captivating true stories behind Britain's bloody civil wars.

Maginot vs Siegfried : la guerre des lignes

May 2019 •French

Safeguarding Military Information

January 1942 •English

World War II propaganda short which focuses on the dangers of inadvertent dispersal of military information.

Gary Lineker: My Grandad's War

November 2019 •English

Presenter and former England football captain Gary Lineker follows in the footsteps of his grandfather, Stanley Abbs, to explore a brutal but often overlooked chapter of World War Two.

Shameless Propaganda

July 2013 •English

This feature documentary examines its own genre, which has often been called Canada's national art form. Released in the year of the NFB's 75th birthday, Shameless Propaganda is filmmaker Robert Lower's take on the boldest and most compelling propaganda effort in our history (1939-1945), in which founding NFB Commissioner John Grierson saw the documentary as a "hammer to shape society". All 500 of the films produced by the NFB until 1945 are distilled here for the essence of their message to Canadians. Using only these films and still photos from that era, Lower recreates the picture of Canada they gave us and looks in it for the Canada we know today. What he finds is by turns enlightening, entertaining, and unexpectedly disturbing.

Teaching War

October 2016 •Czech

This episode from the Czech Journal series examines how a military spirit is slowly returning to our society. Attempts to renew military training or compulsory military service and in general to prepare the nation for the next big war go hand in hand with society’s fear of the Russians, the Muslims, or whatever other “enemies”. This observational flight over the machine gun nest of Czech militarism becomes a grotesque, unsettling military parade. It can be considered not only to be a message about how easily people allow themselves to be manipulated into a state of paranoia by the media, but also a warning against the possibility that extremism will become a part of the regular school curriculum.

1982 Malvinas, La guerra desde el aire

June 2009 •Spanish

Tsahal

November 1994 •English

The ideologies underlying the foundation of modern Israel are explored in this documentary, the third of a trilogy (created over a twenty year span) exploring the Jewish experience. The two earlier documentaries, "Porquoi Israel," and "Shoah," have had great effect on the ways documentaries are produced. "Tsahal" zeroes in on the crucial role of the military in Israeli society and politics. The film uses many in-depth interviews to present the many feelings and thoughts about the Israeli military.

We Are Many

June 2014 •English

The story of the biggest demonstration in human history, which took place on 15th February 2003, against the impending war on Iraq.

Battle of Midway: The True Story

November 2019 •English

It's June 1942 and the world's fate is about to be decided by a handful of pilots and their untested aircraft. Experience an inside look at the Battle of Midway, captured through rarely seen battle footage and firsthand accounts from its hero dive-bombing pilot, "Dusty" Kleiss. This is an hour-by-hour recount of one of the most pivotal conflicts of the 20th century. Take a closer look at how this desperately needed victory came about through the design of U.S. airplanes, the skill of the pilots, the element of surprise, and a stroke of luck.

Brutto Nostra

October 2019 •Russian

Accidental Anarchist

July 2017 •English

Carne Ross was a government highflyer. A career diplomat who believed Western Democracy could save us all. But working inside the system he came to see its failures, deceits and ulterior motives. He felt at first hand the corruption of power. After the Iraq war Carne became disillusioned, quit his job and started searching for answers.

The Fog of War

October 2003 •English

Using archival footage, cabinet conversation recordings, and an interview of the 85-year-old Robert McNamara, The Fog of War depicts his life, from working as a WWII whiz-kid military officer, to being the Ford Motor Company's president, to managing the Vietnam War as defense secretary for presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

Silvered Water

December 2014 •French

Shot by a reported “1,001 Syrians” according to the filmmakers, SILVERED WATER, SYRIA SELF-PORTRAIT impressionistically documents the destruction and atrocities of the civil war through a combination of eye-witness accounts shot on mobile phones and posted to the internet, and footage shot by Bedirxan during the siege of Homs. Bedirxan, an elementary school teacher in Homs, had contacted Mohammed online to ask him what he would film, if he was there. Mohammed, working in forced exile in Paris, is tormented by feelings of cowardice as he witnesses the horrors from afar, and the self-reflexive film also chronicles how he is haunted in his dreams by a Syrian boy once shot to death for snatching his camera on the street.

The Nightingale Sings

November 2019 •Ukrainian

The movie explores the origin of the Ukrainian language and persecution of those who defended its authenticity. Using examples of other countries, creators of the film prove that a nation cannot exist without a language.

Zona di guerra - Professione Contractor

September 2018 •Italian

I Was Only 14

November 2016 •Dutch

Filmmaker Froukje van Wengerden’s 86-year-old grandmother shares a powerful memory from 1944, when she was just 14. As her story unfolds, we see a group of contemporary 14-year-old girls. Their procession of portraits permits the spectator to see simultaneously forward and back, into the future and towards the past. A miraculous testimonial that uses eye contact to focus the viewer inward and evoke unexpected emotions.

Maidan

July 2014 •Ukrainian

A chronicle of the civil uprising against the regime of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych that took place in Kyiv in the winter of 2013/14. The film follows the progress of the revolution: from peaceful rallies, half a million strong in the Maidan square, to the bloody street battles between protesters and riot police.