Channels
History
2012

Popular History Movies

Save the Titanic With Bob Ballard
Save the Titanic With Bob Ballard
Robert Ballard has been living and breathing the Titanic since he was part of the team that discovered it in 1985. In Save the Titanic With Bob Ballard, he revisits the iconic ship in an entirely different way—from the perspective of those who set sail on it some 100 years ago. Ballard travels to the shipyards of Northern Ireland to retrace the path of the doomed ship from its very incarnation. Throughout his journey, Ballard is driven by one personal question—will the Titanic survive another 100 years? As evidence mounts that the ship is under siege by natural forces, careless visitors, and even rogue salvage operators, the man who found it teams with the families of victims and survivors to protect the legacy of history’s most famous ship.
Save the Titanic With Bob Ballard 2012
The Lion and the Unicorn
The Lion and the Unicorn
“The Lion and The Unicorn” is a short film inspired by the heraldic symbols found on the Royal Coat of Arms of The United Kingdom, the lion (representing England) and the unicorn (representing Scotland). The piece uses representations of both alliance and opposition to explore national identity within the context of the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence.
The Lion and the Unicorn 2012
A Second Knock at the Door
Prime Video
A Second Knock at the Door
In the works for over two years, A Second Knock at the Door offers a rare glimpse into the lives of military families dealing with the loss of loved ones to friendly fire. Through interviews and investigative reports obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, this documentary explores several key incidents in which the families of the fallen were forced to embark on a quest for the truth after the Army attempted to bury the true cause of death within the 'fog of war.'
A Second Knock at the Door 2012
War Horse The Real Story
Prime Video
War Horse The Real Story
The truth about the million British horses that served in World War I is even more epic than Steven Spielberg’s War Horse feature film. This documentary tells their extraordinary, moving story, begining with the mass call-up of horses from every farm and country estate in the land. Racing commentator Brough Scott tells the tale of his aristocratic grandfather General Jack Seely and his beloved horse Warrior, who would become the most famous horse of the war. The British Army hoped its illustrious cavalry regiments would win a swift victory, but it would be years before they enjoyed their moment of glory. Instead, in a new era of mechanised trench warfare, the heavy horses transporting guns, ammunition and food to the front-line troops were most important. A quarter of a million of these horses died from shrapnel wounds and disease. But the deep bond that developed between man and horse helped both survive the hell of the Somme and Passchendaele.
War Horse The Real Story 2012
Taş Mektep
Taş Mektep
Symbolizing the turning point occurred in the Battle of Sakarya in Turkish-Greek War, tells one of the most moving stories.
Taş Mektep 2012
Titanic: The Aftermath
Freevee
Titanic: The Aftermath
Explores what happened after the Titanic sank: the lives the disaster affected and the changes it brought to sea travel.
Titanic: The Aftermath 2012
Bert & Dickie
Bert & Dickie
Thrown together just five weeks before the final of the 1948 London Olympics, Bert Bushnell (Doctor Who's Matt Smith) and Dickie Burnell (Sam Hoare) defied all the odds and made history in the double sculls. This is the story of how they did it - not only by pushing physical and emotional limits, but also by overcoming their vast professional and personal differences.
Bert & Dickie 2012
World Without End
World Without End
The English town of Kingsbridge works to survive as the King leads the nation into the Hundred Years' War with France while Europe deals with the outbreak of the Black Death.
World Without End 2012
Birdsong
Birdsong
As an English soldier fights in the horrific trenches of northern France, he is haunted by the memories of his forbidden love affair with a French woman.
Birdsong 2012
'Walk by Faith, Not by Sight'
'Walk by Faith, Not by Sight'
The Roman army abandons its siege of Jerusalem. Two Christian families face tough choices. Will they obey Jesus and forever walk away from all that is familiar to them? Their decision will mean life or death. This video portrays events described in the Bible that are historically accurate. For accuracy, there are scenes of fighting; however, the violence is not glorified but merely depicts the reality faced by first-century Christians.
'Walk by Faith, Not by Sight' 2012
Corta
Corta
An examination of sugar cane workers in the southwest of Colombia.
Corta 2012
London: A Tale of Two Cities
London: A Tale of Two Cities
The 17th century saw London plunge into a series of devastating disasters. The Civil War, a murderous plague, and the destruction of the great fire should have all but destroyed the small medieval city, but somehow it not only survived - it thrived. Dan Cruickshank explores how London survived the travails of the 17th century.
London: A Tale of Two Cities 2012
Shady Lady
Shady Lady
This is the epic story of a B-24 'Liberator' bomber aircraft called 'Shady Lady', that took off from Darwin, Australia, on Friday, 13th August 1943, on what was at that time, the world's longest ever attempted bombing mission. Under the command of 'Doug' Craig, 'Shady Lady' set off with 10 other aircraft to attack the oil refineries at Balikpapan, Borneo. With the target hundreds of miles behind enemy lines, this was an audacious attempt to strike back at the Imperial Japanese Army. 'Shady Lady' survived intense tropical thunderstorms, serious turbulence, heavy enemy antiaircraft fire and was chased by Japanese Zero fighters - but never made it back to base. 'Shady Lady,' after 16 hours and 35 minutes in the air, ran out of fuel and was crash-landed in a salt-pan, in the remotest part of Northern Australia. Local support from the Aborigines and a massive rescue mission amazingly saw 'Shady Lady' - fly again.
Shady Lady 2012
Cesare Mori - Il prefetto di ferro
Cesare Mori - Il prefetto di ferro
Two-part miniseries about the real-life "Iron Governor" who battled the Sicilian Mafia during the early decades of the 20th Century.
Cesare Mori - Il prefetto di ferro 2012
Honor Flight
Honor Flight
Honor Flight chronicles a community coming together to honor World War II veterans. The film follows a team of Midwest volunteers as they race against the clock to send every local WWII veterans to see the memorials built in their honor.
Honor Flight 2012
Insurgents
Insurgents
Through the reconstruction of crucial historical moments in the long struggle of the Bolivian Indians in search of the recovery of lost sovereignty, due to the Spanish colonization and the oppression of their descendants the republican Creoles, is rescued from official oblivion several indigenous heroes who shone with their own light in that extraordinary feat that culminates with the rise of an Indian to the Presidency of Bolivia.
Insurgents 2012
John Wesley: The Man and His Mission
John Wesley: The Man and His Mission
Keith Garner visits historical locations, elegant chapels and bustling city centres as he discovers the impact of the work of cleric and theologist John Wesley, 200 years after his death.
John Wesley: The Man and His Mission 2012
Duch, Master of the Forges of Hell
Duch, Master of the Forges of Hell
Under the Khmer Rouge regime, Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, directed the M13 prison for four years, before becoming the head of S21, the terrifying death machine that eliminated Khmer Rouge opponents. Some 12,280 Cambodians met their deaths here. In July 2010, Duch was the first Khmer leader to appear before an international court, which sentenced him to 35 years in prison. He appealed the sentence. While Duch waited for his new trial, Rithy Panh questioned him in depth.
Duch, Master of the Forges of Hell 2012
Maya Deren, Take Zero
Maya Deren, Take Zero
This documentary interweaves celluloid and voice recordings by Maya Deren, and colleagues who knew her firsthand: Jean Rouch, Jonas Mekas, Alexander Hammid, Cecile Starr etc. Maya Deren (1917-1961) was an experimental filmmaker. In the 1940s and 1950s she made several influential avant-garde films, such as Meshes of the Afternoon (1943). Images from this and her other work are used in this documentary. You can also hear her voice, as well as accounts by contemporaries such as Jean Rouch and Jonas Mekas.
Maya Deren, Take Zero 2012
Himeyuri
Himeyuri
The 30-minute film centers around a group of high school students who became nurses called Himeyuri and served during the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. The Himeyuri Alumnae Incorporated Foundation, which runs the Himeyuri Peace Museum in Okinawa, produced the film with the aim to convey the experiences of those high school students, many of whom lost their lives during the battle, to children.
Himeyuri 2012
The Power of Accumulated Merit
The Power of Accumulated Merit
While on a road trip to the country side, a group of students find themselves at a police station, where they learn valuable lessons about history. This is among nine films commissioned by Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej for the 2012 Terdglao Project.
The Power of Accumulated Merit 2012
Supremo
Supremo
A film about Andres Bonifacio.
Supremo 2012
An Intimate Distance: The Law of the Swindler
An Intimate Distance: The Law of the Swindler
Bernardo lives under the shadow of his mother. Kurt proposes to him to rob Bernardo's bank to buy the Third Reich's currency. On the same day that Bernardo does it, Hitler's regime falls and its currency becomes worthless.
An Intimate Distance: The Law of the Swindler 2012
Top Priority: The Terror Within
Top Priority: The Terror Within
Federal officer with the Department of Homeland Security discovers a national security breach related to the entry of 23 aliens from terrorist countries into the United States. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, former head of the DEA Robert Bonner can't afford any more media scrutiny, since his incompetence was already exposed in the NASA 'Challenger' disaster. To avoid the scandal, the full might of the government is unleashed against Julia Davis, her family and witnesses. This retaliation reaches an unprecedented magnitude, including four unexplained deaths, Hollywood and the Mafia, false imprisonments and the use of Blackhawk helicopters and airplanes for warrantless surveillance. Amidst many shocking revelations, this documentary provides a new insight into the deaths of well-known Hollywood figures unwittingly dragged into this scandal. The truth is no longer a secret.
Top Priority: The Terror Within 2012
Access to the Danger Zone
Prime Video
Access to the Danger Zone
Directed by Peter Casaer and narrated by Daniel Day-Lewis, this documentary provides a harrowing look at the challenges of delivering humanitarian aid in armed conflicts. “Access to the Danger Zone” explores the strategies that Doctors Without Borders has employed to save lives in the world’s worst war zones, including Afghanistan, Somalia, and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo—strategies that are tested each and every day. Interviews with key experts from Doctors Without Borders, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the United Nations are accompanied by dramatic footage shot in these countries in 2011 and 2012.
Access to the Danger Zone 2012
Slavery by Another Name
Prime Video
Slavery by Another Name
A documentary that recounts the many ways in which American slavery persisted as a practice many decades after its supposed abolition.
Slavery by Another Name 2012
Bomber Boys
Prime Video
Bomber Boys
Brothers Colin and Ewan McGregor follow up their documentary The Battle of Britain with a film exploring Bomber Command, a rarely told story from the Second World War. The film focuses primarily on the men who fought and died in the skies above occupied Europe, with numerous examples of individual heroism and extraordinary collective spirit, and Colin learns to fly the key aircraft of the campaign: the Lancaster bomber. But this is also the story of a controversy that has lasted almost 70 years. The program covers six years of wartime operations, and traces the obstacles and challenges that were overcome as the RAF developed and deployed the awesome fighting force that was Bomber Command.
Bomber Boys 2012
The Sino-Japanese War at Sea 1894
Prime Video
The Sino-Japanese War at Sea 1894
The Sino-Japanese War at Sea 1894 is set in the late 19th century and revolves around the events of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), which was fought between the Qing Empire of China and the Empire of Japan.
The Sino-Japanese War at Sea 1894 2012
100 pesos
100 pesos
A collage with the first 100 short films from the "Haikús" series.
100 pesos 2012
The Norse: An Arctic Mystery
Prime Video
The Norse: An Arctic Mystery
The history books say that the first European to make contact with Native Americans was Christopher Columbus. New evidence tells a different story, that another civilization arrived in the New World centuries earlier. They were the Norse, a seafaring people who originated in the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They bore the name Viking, an "Old Norse" term for a pirate raid.
The Norse: An Arctic Mystery 2012
The Batman Shootings
The Batman Shootings
The premiere of The Dark Knight Rises was the big event in Aurora, Colorado. So popular with young cinema-goers, the city's theatre complex put on an extra showing. But minutes into the film, lone gunman James Holmes, dressed as the Joker, entered the room and started firing indiscriminately. Twelve people died, many more were injured. This documentary tells the life story of Holmes, of his victims and speaks to survivors.
The Batman Shootings 2012
Baby Peggy: The Elephant in the Room
Baby Peggy: The Elephant in the Room
Documentary about an extraordinary lady, Diana Serra Cary (born Peggy-Jean Montgomery). In the early 1920s she was one of Hollywood's first major child stars, Baby Peggy.
Baby Peggy: The Elephant in the Room 2012
Punk in Africa
Prime Video
Punk in Africa
Three chords, three countries, one revolution...PUNK IN AFRICA is the story of the multiracial punk movement within the recent political and social upheavals experienced in three Southern African countries: South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Punk in Africa 2012
Jaurès
Jaurès
A studio. A man and a woman. Moving images on the screen, which he comments on, spurred on by her questions. All the footage was shot from the window of a flat: views of the street, the metro line running above it, the canal, into the windows of the buildings opposite. The flat belongs to the man’s lover, the man is a guest, spending his nights there but never his days. By the canal, young men from Afghanistan set up makeshift shelters as the man looks on, developing increasing sympathy for them. The seasons change, winter, spring, summer.
Jaurès 2012
Operation Autumn
Operation Autumn
A film about General Humberto Delgado's brutal assassination by the Portuguese fascist police in 1965.
Operation Autumn 2012
The Presumption of Justice
The Presumption of Justice
Through the socio-political overview of the problematic structure of fan clubs and football supporters in Serbia, this movie focuses on a particular case of an incident involving a French citizen - football fan in Belgrade, which led to 12 young people being convicted to 240 years of prison. One of them is Stefan Velickovic. This is the story about the man who became a part of a huge political scandal, and his right to defend himself. As someone who has not even been at the spot of the incident, he has been pronounced guilty of a crime. What are the interests and intentions for making Stefan a scapegoat?
The Presumption of Justice 2012
An Artisan's Legacy: Tsunekazu Nishioka
An Artisan's Legacy: Tsunekazu Nishioka
In-depth look at the twilight years, spent training apprentices, of temple builder Nishioka Tsunekazu, who was called the "devil" as he devoted his life to temple architecture. His insistence on the gargantuan timescale of linking life to the next millennium emerges from people who knew him. Remarkable as well for showing the unknown backstage of temple architecture. Nishioka, known as "the last temple carpenter," handled the major Showa-era repairs of Horyuji temple, and in 1990 was at the scene of the reconstruction work for Yakushi temple.
An Artisan's Legacy: Tsunekazu Nishioka 2012
A Royal Affair
A Royal Affair
A Royal Affair 2012
Defiant Requiem
Prime Video
Defiant Requiem
A memorial concert reawakens the story of an artistic uprising in the Nazi concentration camp, Terezin, where a chorus of 150 inmates confronts the Nazis face-to-face - and sings to them what they dare not say.
Defiant Requiem 2012
Lacan Palestine
Lacan Palestine
Lacan Palestine is a found footage essay about the troubled couple in Palestine. This country without a country has been party to imperial projections for centuries, amply on display here in waves of armed crusaders, legionnaires, Mongols on horseback and biplanes issuing state edicts from the end of a machine gun. There are maps by the galore, drawn and redrawn as occupied territories are bartered in foreign capitals. Contemporary art activists Velcrow Ripper, Elle Flanders, Tamira Sawatzky, Dani Leventhal and others have generously donated their keen lookings and these have been blended with newsreels, desert spectaculars, historical recreations and intimate encounters. Mike Cartmell appears as the ghost of psychoanalysis, offering ruminations on killing the father, John Coltrane and why enjoyment is difficult
Lacan Palestine 2012