The Lafayette Escadrille

All Quiet on the Western Front(en)

When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat(fr)

Likely in June 1897, a group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Les maisons insolites de Paris(fr)

Voyages au centre de la Terre : Dans les pas de Jules Verne(fr)

El Ouafi Boughera, The marathon runner of history(cn)

On August 5, 1928, after 2 hours and 32 minutes of racing, the 71st rooster wearing the bib entered the Olympic stadium in Amsterdam. Ahmed El Ouafi Bouguéra wins the gold medal and becomes the first Olympic champion from the African continent. He achieved his feat under the tricolor flag. The start of his real marathon is underway. The history of sport extends to the history of Algeria and France. This documentary retraces the different stages of the life of this great champion, not only the history of sport but also the great story. Archival photographs and interviews mingle with the painted paintings. The series thus once again gives voice to this forgotten hero, one of the great heroes of immigration who defended France for more than a century.

A Man from Wyoming(en)

A story about a man from Wyoming who enlists in the Army and is sent to the front during World War I. There he saves the life of an American society girl working in the Ambulance Corps. Afterwards at a rest camp, they meet again, fall in love, and are secretly married.

First Ypres 1914 and the Race to the Sea(en)

With the Battle of the Aisne grinding to a halt as trench warfare gradually set in, both the German and Allied commanders realised the dominance of the defensive, established by quick firing artillery and the machinegun, meaning that casualties in frontal attacks on a dug-in enemy were enormously heavy. Consequently, the armies sought to outflank the opposition by heading north in a set of manoeuvres known as the Race to the Sea. During this phase Field Marshal French insisted on redeploying the British Expeditionary Force to the Allied left, nearer the Chanel ports.

The Schlieffen Plan(en)

In 1914 the German Attack on France was based on a later iteration of the plan that Von Schlieffen produced in 1905. The plan was aimed at fighting a war on 2 fronts against Russia and France. Von Molkte changed the plan when he replaced Schlieffen but the essentials were the same. Both plans were based on the following assumptions,Russia would take at least 6 weeks to mobilise,France would be easily defeated in 6 weeks, Belgium would not resist any German attack and Britain would remain neutral.All these assumptions were wrong and the new plan did not work. This film explains in detail why it failed.

Néry and the Retreat from Mons(en)

Following the Battles of Mons and Le Cateau the already near exhausted British Expeditionary Force, who had been marching and fighting for six days without a break , embarked on a nine day epic march across France. They headed back to the safety of the far side River Marne south of Paris rather than to the traditional haven of British Armies – the Channel Ports.The BHTV team of historians and battlefield guides take us to the scene of some sharp rear guard actions fought during the Retreat from Mons including the great cavalry actions at Cerizy and Nery, where the mounted British soldier established domination of his German counterpart. As they travel the highways and byways of France they analyze the decisions made by the commanders in that fog of war that together spelt the end of the Schlieffen Plan and set conditions for the 'miracle of the Marne'.

Battles of the Marne & the Aisne(en)

While the Allies were nearing panic as the Germans approached Paris, Marshal Foch quickly realised the German intent and that the Schlieffen plan was unravelling. In a master piece of military diplomacy he persuaded Filed Marshal French to join the Attack on the exposed flank of the Germans as it wheeled to the east of Paris. The battle was indeed a miracle, with the British playing a key part alongside the French in halting the German advance and driving them back behind the next river – The Aisne, where the Allied attack crossed the river and up onto the open ridges of the Chemin des Dames. The Germans held firm and Field Marshal French ordered the BEF to dig-in as a temporary measure but the line moved but little here in the next four years.With neither army able to make headway against modern small arms, the machine gun and quick firing artillery in a conventional frontal battle, the armies raced to redeploy into the uncontested ground north to the sea.

Gallipoli - The Dardenelles Campaign(en)

An overview of one of the greatest disasters of the first World War WWI - the Dardanelles Campaign at Gallipoli, Turkey.

Mes indésirables(fr)

"Before I left today, I almost forgot to answer a lot of e-mails."

Ultimatum(fr)

About the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the beginning of the First World War. Focuses on the relationship between a Serbian officer and his Austrian-born wife and their involvement in espionage between the countries.

The Red Baron - Manfred von Richthofen(de)

A documentary of early airplane pilot and WW1 fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, famously known as The Red Baron.

The Somme: From Defeat to Victory(en)

Based on diaries, records and eyewitness accounts, this is the story of the two Battles of the Somme from the perspective of British and German soldiers. It shows how the major lessons learned by the British Army leadership after the disastrous first attacks of July 1916 were turned into victory at the second attempt in September 1916, arguably the turning point for the First World War.

Rue Campagne-Première(fr)

Man Ray shoots from a window on 31 bis rue Campagne-Première, in the heart of Montparnasse, where he rented a ground-floor studio.

La Garoupe(fr)

Home movie from Man Ray while on vacation with Pablo Picasso, Paul, Nusch and Cecile Eluard, Emily Davies, Valerie and Roland Penrose. The friends have fun with themselves and performing for the camera.

Ady(fr)

Very brief view of Man Ray and his friend Ady Fidelin while at a seaside resort

Defenders of Riga(lv)

The film dramatizes November 11, 1919- a crucial date in the battle for Latvian independence. A year after the end of the official hostilities of WWI, a renegade German general and troops remain outside the Latvian capital. Latvian riflemen, most of them inexperienced volunteers, somehow managed to defeat a larger, better-armed force of German and Russian mercenaries.

The Calvary of Serbia(sh)

Still regarded as the best Serbian documentary film account of WW1 ever, it gathers all the available footage of Serbia's army, its battles on the home ground, its refuge on the island of Corfu, its victorious offensive on the Thessaloniki Front and the return to the homeland. The original documentary footage from 1915–1918 was somewhat supplemented in a small measure with some staged reenactments of Serbian army retreating over Albania, and later liberation of Belgrade. The first version of this documentary epic was shown in 1930 under the title "For the Honour of Homeland". Andrija Glisic and Zarija Djokic later made a new sound version of the previous silent movie and renamed it "Fire Over the Balkans".