War

What if the Earth/Mars battle from H.G. Wells' classic novel The War of the Worlds wasn't fiction but actually fact? Like the famous 1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast that caused Americans to believe an actual invasion was in progress, the movie assumes an Earth/Mars War in 1900 actually occurred and is presented as the first hand memoir of journalist Bertie Wells, the last living survivor as he struggles to find his wife amidst the destruction of humankind at the hands of terrifying alien invaders.

As France celebrated its newfound freedom, the countries still under Nazi control continued to face grim circumstances during the fall and winter of 1944 and 1945. This fascinating documentary traces the military actions of that World War II season. Newsreel footage and interviews bring the events to vivid life as Allied invasion forces squeezed the weakening German Reich, closing in from Italy, France, Russia, Belgium and Holland.

Renowned artist Krzysztof Wodiczko creates powerful responses to the inequities and horrors of war. This in-depth investigation into the artist focuses on the recurring themes of war, trauma, and displacement in his work. An instigator for social change, Wodiczko’s powerful art interventions disrupt the valorization of state-sanctioned aggression.

Documentary about one of the most significant migrant battles in the Federal Republic of Germany, a wildcat strike mainly sustained by migrant workers (euphemistically called “guest workers”) at the Ford plant in Cologne-Niehl in August 1973.

Feature version of the 1943 serial "Secret Service in Darkest Africa," this condensed feature version follows the adventures of daring American operative Rex Bennett (Rod Cameron) and fearless reporter Janet Blake (Joan Marsh) as they try to outfox the Nazis in North Africa.

The Handley Page Halifax four-engined heavy bomber was the unsung hero of Bomber Command during the Second World War. It flew over 39,000 sorties over enemy territory, towed gliders, dropped agents, carried cargo, and pioneered electronic warfare. In all 6,178 were built. Today only three remain.

"Searching for Home, Coming Back From War' is an emotional and unflinching look at returning veterans and their search for the 'home' they left behind, physically, mentally and spiritually. From World War II, Korea and Vietnam to the modern day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, 'Searching for Home' is a multi-generational chronicle of the men and women who have left home only to return to new and difficult challenges as profoundly changed people.

In the midst of the Civil War, a wife saves the day by swapping places with her captured and soon-to-be-executed husband.

The Fallen of World War II is an interactive documentary that examines the human cost of the second World War and the decline in battle deaths in the years since the war. The 15-minute data visualization uses cinematic storytelling techniques to provide viewers with a fresh and dramatic perspective of a pivotal moment in history. The film follows a linear narration, but it allows viewers to pause during key moments to interact with the charts and dig deeper into the numbers.

Iconoclastic historian Andrew Bacevich delivers an anti-colonial critique of US foreign policy in the Middle East, informed by his long career in the Army. While other historians analyze changing presidential administrations, Bacevich sees one long Oil War. There are scant differences between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to the sacrifice of soldiers’ lives. His radical analysis has won bipartisan followers and even an invitation to speak with President Obama. Bacevich describes what that meeting reveals about America’s need to break free from its past.

Peter Gabriel is among the rockstars performing the music of Lennon and McCartney against a montage of World War II newsreel footage.

Third film of W-TV (Without Television) shareware series. Director Tsuchiya asks visitors at Yasukuni Shrine about Emperor Hirohito's complicity in the Second World War.

Propaganda documentary explaining the Korean War from the Chinese side.

A documentary about the Cu Chi tunnels in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. The film contains interviews with survivors of the war who inhabited the tunnels, including archival footage, and photographs. The filmmakers visit the tunnels in current day to explore the way so many Viet Cong lived during the war. The documentary features an interview with Robert Biss (American P.O.W. captured in 1966, who was at the "Hanoi Hilton"), and the Viet Cong member who captured him, explaining the events and emotions surrounding the event.

It's hard to imagine Adolf Hitler as a genteel boyfriend escorting his lady love on a romantic walk amidst the picturesque Bavarian Alps. But indeed, he enjoyed many private encounters with his mistress, Eva Braun, at the mountain retreat of Berghof, where the couple escaped the prying eyes of the public and their disapproving families. This documentary sheds light on the relationship and on Braun herself through home movies shot at Berghof.

British historian David Olusoga, along with other historians, narrates the story of millions of Indian, African and Asian troops who fought and died alongside French and British troops to help win the war against Germany, Austro-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.

STRANGE LAND tells the story of the filmmaker's mother's war bride experience. Meeting and marrying a Hawaii-born Filipino American during World War II in the Philippines, Norma Vega reluctantly comes to America, a strangeland. Struggling to adapt and to make a home for herself and her new family, Norma lives with regrets and a bottomless longing for her home across the sea and the family she left there until something changes all that.

In an interview for the FRONTLINE documentary “Putin’s Road to War,” journalist Julia Ioffe discusses Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — and why she believes the Russian leader is now “more dangerous than he’s ever been at any point in the last 22 years.” “What he has opened up with this invasion is unthinkable,” Ioffe tells FRONTLINE. “And because he is losing and because the sanctions and the Ukrainians are humiliating him, because he is backed into a corner, he is the most dangerous he has ever been, because it is now existential for him.” Julia Ioffe is an American journalist who was born in Russia. She is a writer for and founding partner of the media company Puck. She previously reported on politics and world affairs for The Atlantic. This interview was conducted by FRONTLINE’s Mike Wiser on March 3, 2022. It has been edited for clarity and length.

Called “the best American writer of his generation” and “our poet laureate of war,” Tim O’Brien is one of the great voices in modern literature. The Library of Congress recently named his groundbreaking novel-in-stories about the Vietnam War, “The Things They Carried,” one of the 65 most influential books in American history, and O’Brien’s “Going After Cacciato” won the National Book Award in 1979.