Documentaries to see
Personal list of to-see documentaries.
List activity
88 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
18 titles
- StarsMark UrbanLaurence DobieszGiles MaythanThe Second World War was the ultimate conflict of the machine age, and the tank was its iconic symbol. The "tankies" who fought inside had experience of much of the conflict from the fall of France, to the deserts of Africa, from the invasion of Italy to D-Day, and on to the final victory in Germany. In this two part series, historian, BBC Diplomatic Editor, and former officer in the Royal Tank Regiment, Mark Urban tells the story of six remarkable men from one armoured unit - The Fifth Royal Tank Regiment, also known as the Filthy Fifth. Using first hand testimony from the last surviving veterans alongside previously unseen letters and diaries, Mark Urban brings the story of an extraordinary "band of brothers" to life, and in visceral detail. At the same time he analyses the evolution of Tank production in Britain and illustrates how we fell far behind our German enemies, in both technology and tactics, relying instead on dogged determination and a relentless drive to victory, whatever the costs. In part one, Mark begins his journey in Northern France introducing our band of brothers in the midst of the Fall of France and the retreat to Dunkirk. Characters such as "rookie" tank driver Gerry Solomon join veterans, themselves still only in their twenties, such as and Jake Wardrop and Harry Finlayson. Mark Urban then follows in the Tankies footsteps across the deserts of North Africa. Here he looks at the game changing tank battles of Sidi Rezegh, Alam Halfa and of course the battle that changed the course of the Second World War, Alamein. He then takes us back to England where the "Tankies" expect a well-earned rest; instead they are confronted with the news that as battle hardened troops they must fight again, this time on the beaches of Normandy. With spectacular archive footage, including rarely seen colour footage, "Tankies" brings to life the Second World War from a unique point of view.
- DirectorKaren McGannStarsMax HastingsClive HarrisJohn HorneMax Hastings, who himself worked on the landmark series The Great War (1964) 50 years before, argues the case that his and many other ancestors did not die in vain in The First World War.
- DirectorChanoch Ze'eviStarsBettina GöringKatrin HimmlerMonika HertwigA look into the lives of the descendants of the top Nazi officials who worked under Hitler's command.
- StarsJoseph BottomsTovah FeldshuhRosemary HarrisThe saga of a Jewish family's struggle to survive the horror of Nazi Germany's systematic marginalization and extermination of their community.
- DirectorStanislaw KarpinskiStarsIbrehim ArifBohdan BrumerskyjAlex CopelandThe First War for Western Civilization, a time when history became legend. The Greco-Persian War has given us some of the most iconic moments in history such as Leonidas and the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, the Marathon Run and a huge legacy today in politics and many other areas. However, other than the 3 days of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, the remainder of the 49 year war between Persia and Greece has been almost completely overlooked, and has never appeared in a documentary. It covers the full story from the Ionian Revolt (497BC) to the Peace of Callias (449BC) also known as the Peace of Kimon, and includes a detailed introduction, the birth of Democracy and the aftermath and the legacy of the period.
- DirectorJános SzászStarsKati SabellaRezsõné BarthaJúlia BudaSteven Spielberg and Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation present interviews with survivors of the Nazi death camps in Hungary. Their tragic testimonies are illustrated through newsreels from the era and archival photos.
- DirectorJames MollStarsBill BaschMartin BaschRandolph BrahamIn late 1944, even as they faced imminent defeat, the Nazis expended enormous resources to kill or deport over 425,000 Jews during the "cleansing" of Hungary. This Oscar-winning documentary, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, focuses on the plight of five Hungarian Jews who survived imprisonment in Auschwitz.
- DirectorElizabeth McIntyreStarsAnthony Hopkins
- DirectorAllan HolzmanStarsSteven SpielbergHenry RosmarinHellmuth SzprycerThis documentary blends personal accounts of what happened before, during and after WWII. One testimony tells of a sister sending tear-stained letters from the prison camp, while another survivor tells the story of how his father traded portions of the family's food that was being saved for the liberation march, a few slices of bread, for a Jewish prayer book in order to perform a Passover sedar and for Sabbath. Woven together with survivor testimonies, archival footage, original music, source music and survivors' personal photographs and artifacts, the documentary will show the richness of life before the war, the rise and fall of Nazi power, the liberation of the camps and life now, 50 years later, all as seen through the eyes of those who survived.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsStephen HawkingIsobel HawkingJanet HumphreyA film about the life and work of the cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, who despite his near total paralysis, was one of the great minds of all time.
- DirectorKen BurnsStarsPaul RoeblingJulie HarrisArthur MillerThis documentary chronicles the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. The difficult construction process is described in interesting detail; later parts of the film interview current notables who describe the effects that the Brooklyn Bridge has had upon New York society and beyond.
- DirectorVanessa LapaStarsTobias MorettiSophie RoisAntonia MorettiA documentary that uses a cache of letters, diaries and documents to reveal the life of SS-leader Heinrich Himmler.
- DirectorNicolas RossierF.W. de Klerk was the last president of apartheid South Africa. He went from Mandela's jailer to his subordinate and together they changed history. Rossier explores the fascinating political journey and legacy of this complicated figure.
- DirectorDavid RidgenNicolas RossierStarsMusa Abu-HashhashNidal BarhamNoam ChomskyAbout the life and work of controversial American Jewish academic Norman Finkelstein.
- DirectorTolga ÖrnekStarsZafer ErginDemetri GoritsasJeremy IronsThe Allied invasion of and campaign in Gallipoli, Turkey, during World War 1.
- DirectorChristian KrönesOlaf S. MüllerRoland SchrotthoferStarsBrunhilde PomselBrunhilde Pomsel describes herself as an "apolitical girl" and a "figure on the margins," but she got closer to one of the worst criminals in world history than anyone else left alive. Today aged 104, Pomsel served as Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels' stenographer. Brunhilde Pomsel's life mirrors all the major breaks and continuities of the 20th century. Many people think that the dangers of war and fascism have been overcome. Brunhilde Pomsel makes it clear that this is not case. "A German Life" makes the viewer automatically ask: How would I have acted? What principles might I have betrayed to advance my career? Her extraordinary biography and personal journey into the past lead to the disturbing but timeless question: How reliable is my own moral compass?
- DirectorAda UshpizStarsHannah ArendtJury AndruchowytschAharon AppelfeldA documentary about the life and work of Hannah Arendt, the prolific and unclassifiable thinker, political theorist, moral philosopher and polemicist, and with her encounter with the trial of Eichmann a high-ranking Nazi.
- StarsKevin ZegersAlessandra MastronardiDerek JacobiThe construction of the R.M.S. Titanic at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast against the background of union riots, political and religious conflicts, and a romance between a young ambitious engineer and an Italian immigrant.