Beside Heroes

Enemy at the Gates

February 2001 •English

A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII.

Operation T4: A Doctor Among the Nazis

February 2016 •French

A reckoning of Nazi Germany’s planned execution of its own citizens with physical and mental disabilities whom they deemed useless to their society.

The Great Military March Forward: Liberate the Northwest

January 1996 •Chinese

300

March 2007 •English

Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, "300" is very loosely based the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae, where the King of Sparta led his army against the advancing Persians; the battle is said to have inspired all of Greece to band together against the Persians, and helped usher in the world's first democracy.

Full Metal Jacket

June 1987 •English

A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.

Braveheart

May 1995 •English

Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.

The Jihadist

June 2021 •English

Over most of two decades, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani’s life has been a roadmap of Islamist militancy in Iraq and Syria. Designated a terrorist by the United States, the powerful Syrian militant now seeks a new relationship with the West.

Is Paris Burning?

October 1966 •French

Near the end of World War II, Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he cannot maintain control of the city. After much contemplation Choltitz decides to ignore his orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, along with Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, helps a resistance leader organize his forces.

Refugee Poetry

April 2016 •Kurdish

The Kurdish Iraqi poet and actor Zeravan Khalil travels with his dog through an Alpine gorge after fleeing from IS war and genocide. As he remembers the abomination, he writes a poem with the title “You drive me mad” in Kurmanji Kurdish. In his home country, Yazidic Kurds are forbidden to work in his profession. Then he eats his apple and wanders through Europe’s middle with more hope.

Hot House

May 2006 •Hebrew

In a candid and unflinching portrait of Palestinian prisoners, Shimon Dotan takes viewers inside the highest security prisons in Israel where thousands of Palestinians fill these detention facilities.

The Monument

December 1977 •Albanian

An old gardener tends for the flowers during the war. Nazis ask him for flowers for their dead.

The Illegals

April 1976 •Albanian

During World War II, an Italian agent tries to infiltrate the Albanian guerrilla units under the identity of 'engineer Tosti'.

Dalya's Other Country

June 2017 •English

In 2012 Dalya and her mother Rudayna fled Aleppo for Los Angeles as war took over. Months before, Rudayna learns a secret that destroys her marriage, leaving her single at midlife. Arriving in LA, Dalya enrolls as the only Muslim at Holy Family Catholic High School. Can mother and daughter remake themselves while holding on to their Islamic traditions?

Bloody Land

February 1976 •Albanian

Film set in three different times. In the beginning, Miti is killed while defending his land. Then, the film focuses on his son Gjergji who fights against the Italian forces. In the end, the land is redistributed by the agrarian reform.

Cloaks over Barbed Wire

November 1977 •Albanian

A film about the Italian troops leaving Vlora and Albanian partisans finally entering the enemy camp.

Echo on the Seashore

November 1966 •Albanian

World War II. Patriot Jonuz Bruga has troubles with his young son, Selim, who leads an immoral lifestyle and does not support the anti-fascist war, while his brothers fight in the city's guerrilla units.

The Ambush

December 1968 •Albanian

A film set during World War II - a small partisan unit must ambush a German convoy.

The Girls with the Red Ribbons

March 1978 •Albanian

Jeta is a student who is a member of the illegals and tries to create a group of antifascist girls in her school.

Fear and Desire

March 1953 •English

After their airplane crashes behind enemy lines, four soldiers must survive and try to find a way back to their battalion. However, when they come across a local peasant girl the horrors of war quickly become apparent.

detours while speaking of monsters

February 2024 •Turkish

Here, where even monsters are political, the topography has its own memory. It has the mythological blues. Meanwhile, old gods are upset with us, and I am upset with my father.