Can a language save your life? Yes it can, even an ancient one from the 15th century. Saved by Language tells the story of Moris Albahari, a Sephardic Jew from Sarajevo (born 1930), who spoke Ladino/Judeo-Spanish, his mother tongue, to survive the Holocaust. Moris used Ladino to communicate with an Italian Colonel who helped him escape to a Partizan refuge after he ran away from the train taking Yugoslavian Jews to Nazi death camps. By speaking in Ladino to a Spanish-speaking US pilot in 1944 he was able to survive and lead the pilot, along with his American and British colleagues, to a safe Partizan airport.
A personal journey about the search for identity and memory among Sephardic Jews with roots in Cuba.
"Life has passed and we have achieved nothing" Thats's what Ester the youngest says. The eldest, Karola, keeps quite. Fruma, who is my mother, tries to write what she remembers. Three sisters in thier 70's, Holocaust survivors. More then 50 years have passed and still they can't talk of thier memories. This is a film about the trauma...
Three months after the Dayton Agreement (1996), which was supposed to secure peace in Bosnia, the filmmaker visited the country and the capital Sarajevo. In the spring of 2003, he repeated his trip, visiting the familiar places and talking to the same people as seven years ago.
Using restored, colorized archives and testimonies from all the players in this conflict, this documentary covers the hundred days of apocalyptic fighting that wrote History. June 1944, the Allies landed in Normandy. This odyssey was meticulously prepared for months. The construction of two artificial ports, the transport of Anglo-American troops, their training cost colossal efforts, and caused many cold sweats: the secret of D-Day almost came to light several times. The documentary reveals the inner workings of Operation Overlord, it also deciphers the military operations, and evokes the choices of the high command. Placed at human level, it retraces the fate of Norman civilians subjected to deadly bombings, the attitude of the Allied soldiers and their German adversaries, as well as the aspirations of the French population, torn between fear and hope.
This FitzPatrick Miniature visits the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the largest geographically unbroken political unit in the world, covering one-sixth of the world's land mass.
Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.
Is it morally acceptable to use the civilian population as yet another tool for waging war? Is it possible to justify death and destruction for the sake of supposedly lofty ideals? The question remains as pertinent today as it was at the beginning of World War II, and it is becoming increasingly urgent to answer, as countless tragedies have been caused by unethical political decisions.
Three part documentary of the history of the Royal Air Force during World War Two. They combine actual Air Ministry films and period newsreel footage with interviews of surviving members of the air force. The first part covers the period from the 'phoney war', the invasion of Poland and the early bombing raids on enemy shipping, through to the attacks on France. Aircraft featured include the Blenheim and Wellington bombers, the Sunderland flying boat, Spitfires and Hurricanes and the opposing ME109.
Three part documentary of the history of the Royal Air Force during World War Two. They combine actual Air Ministry films and period newsreel footage with interviews of surviving members of the air force. The second part covers the early years of 1939-1940 from the threat of German invasion preceded by Oporation Eagle attacks on airfields and ports, through the Battle of Britain to the commencement of the British bombing of Berlin after attacks on London and wider civilian casualties such as Coventry.
Three part documentary of the history of the Royal Air Force during World War Two. They combine actual Air Ministry films and period newsreel footage with interviews of surviving members of the air force. This final part covers the the years 1941-1945 from the campaigns to attack German military targets to mass night bombing, primarily from the viewpont of Bomber Command, and associated Air-Sea rescue. It ends with the food aid flights to the Netherlands immediatly prior to Victory in Europe. Featured aircraft include the Bristol Blenheim, the Vickers Wellington, and the heavy bombers Short Stirling, Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster.
Made in 1940 and sponsored by the Ministry of Information this film shows the food contributions supplied to Britain by various colonies and dominions. 'Food from the Empire highlights the severity of the food issue, by discussing food production as a battle (...) and offers insights into British attitudes towards its colonies and dominions. The commentary notes that the ‘free people’ of these countries are ‘anxious to send every ounce they can to the United Kingdom for they know that upon the ability of Great Britain to hold out depends their own freedom’. Britain is depicted as a dominant power, fighting to protect those within the Empire, while the colonies are loyal and ‘anxious’ to help.' - Tom Rice, on the film from colonialfilm.org.
As World War II looms, Pope Pius XI calls on a humble American priest to help him challenge the evils of Nazism and anti-Semitism. But death intervenes, and Pope Pius XII now carries out a very different response to Hitler and the Holocaust.
Hitler's invasion of Russia was one of the landmark events of World War II. This documentary reveals the lead-up to the offensive, its impact on the war and the brinksmanship that resulted from the battle for Moscow. Rare footage from both German and Russian archives and detailed maps illustrate the conflict, while award-winning historian and author John Erickson provides insight into the pivotal maneuvers on the eastern front.
In June 1940 nothing was written. The appeal of June 18 by General de Gaulle was a hope but also a start. The start for an essential page of the History of France, written by De Gaulle and his followers, without whom nothing would have existed in the Resistance to the German tyranny and this film wishes to honor their memory.
The Unknown Woman is a documentary film scripted and directed by Elina Kivihalme. It depicts the reality of Finnish agriculture and forestry during the war years, when the home front relied entirely upon the work and endurance of the women. All farm work, caring for the children, woodcutting and other forestry operations were undertaken by the civilians, as the men in their prime were on the front.
Henry Ford, the legendary automobile manufacturer, James D. Mooney, the GM manager and Tom Watson, the IBM boss, were all awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the Nazis' highest distinction for foreigners, by Hitler for their services to the Third Reich. At this time, in 1937 and 1938, Hitler's armaments industry was running at full speed. The German subsidiaries of these American companies - Opel, the Ford Werke AG and Dehomag - had willingly allowed themselves to be integrated into the "Führer's" war preparations. The film concentrates on the companies which were indispensable for Hitler to wage war. The documentary is supported by new archive material, as well as interviews with contemporary witnesses and experts.
The story of the iconic WW2 bomber told through the words of the last surviving crew members, re-mastered archive material and extraordinary aerial footage of the RAF’s last airworthy Lancaster.
Lieutenant Colonel John Stevens served in both World War II and the Korean War. During the Korean War, he received a Bronze Star for leading his company in one of that war's harshest battles.
A movie follows a regular working day of a woman who works in a factory. She wakes up at 3am and goes to sleep at 10pm.