War

Synopsis:
Westerplatte is a small peninsula at the entry to the Gdansk Harbour. Before World War II, it functioned as a Polish ammunition depot in the Free City of Danzig/Gdansk. Its crew consisted of one infantry company and a group of civilians, 182 people in total. It was the only Polish guard-post at the mouth of the Vistula River, with as little as five sentries, one field cannon, two anti-armour guns and four mortars. It was the first obstacle to Hitler’s predatory march across Europe. The first shots of World War II were fired here. This film tells the story of Westerplatte’s courageous defenders.Read More »

Synopsis
As global tensions rise, the unthinkable now seems possible. The threat of nuclear weapons of mass destruction has become frighteningly real. WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN: THE DESTRUCTION OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki, looks at the reality of nuclear warfare with first-hand accounts from those who survived and whose lives were forever changed by the atomic bomb.Read More »

1944. Primo Arcovazzi, a fanatic member of Brigate Nere (fascist organization), is in charge to bring an opponent to the regime, Prof. George Wilson, from Abruzzo to Roma. He accepted the mandate because of his wish to be upgraded to “Federale”. They travel by a sidecar trough the disastrous Italy, near to the final collapse, under bombings and in agony. Nevertheless the bad situation, they manage to build up a kind of friendship. Primo, even if the signals of final destruction are near, doesn’t lose his trust in the regime. The end is near.Read More »

This is a documentary about the Finnish-Soviet Winter War (Talvisota) of 1939-1940. It contains rare and never before seen footage from the official film archives (Sota-arkisto) of the Finnish army.Read More »

The young country of Estonia is dancing to the jazzy tune of the 1920’s when on December 1, 1924, the capital Tallinn is overrun by members of the Comintern in an attempt to stage a Communist coup. The film follows the fates of a young soldier called Tanel and his wife, a telephone operator named Anna, amidst the ensuing chaos which determines whether the country remains independent or becomes a minor province in the Communist Empire.Read More »

Plot:
1938. A small group of Dutch students stop their tennis game momentarily to hear of England’s entry into World War II. Erik and his friends don’t show much concern at first. But when Queen Wilhelmina flees Holland for London and the Germans move in, it becomes necessary to choose sides.

Soldier of Orange, directed by Paul Verhoeven (Turkish Delights) is based on the true life adventures of Erik Hazelhoff who received numerous decorations including Holland’s highest honor — the Militaire Willems-orde. It is interesting to see how Erik’s friends take different courses: a Jew inevitably dies once the German’s arrive; another associate joins the Nazi army; a third becomes active in the Dutch resistance movement; and a fourth betrays everyone in order to save his Jewish girlfriend.Read More »

Children liberated from a Nazi concentration camp have to overcome hunger, thirst and vicious dogs in an abandoned mansion surrounded by the forest.Read More »

As adapted from the roman by Antonia Arslan and co-directed by legendary Italian brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, The Lark Farm marks one of the few international features to tackle the Armenian genocide head-on. The story (with its thematic parallels, in the early scenes, to De Sica’s 1970 Garden of the Finzi-Continis) concerns the Avakian clan. An Armenian family living an affluent lifestyle and periodically shuttling back and forth between their two comfortable homes, the Avakians feel convinced that the rising tide of Turkish hostility on the horizon means little to them and will scarcely affect their day to day. Read More »

Synopsis:
Veronika and Boris come together in Moscow shortly before World War II. Walking along the river, they watch cranes fly overhead, and promise to rendezvous before Boris leaves to fight. Boris misses the meeting and is off to the front lines, while Veronika waits patiently, sending letters faithfully. After her house is bombed, Veronika moves in with Boris’ family, into the company of a cousin with his own intentions.Read More »