History Collection

Egypt's Great Pyramid may be humanity's greatest achievement: a skyscraper of stone built without computers or complex machinery. This super-sized tomb has fascinated historians and archaeologists for centuries, but exactly how the ancient Egyptians finished the monument and fitted its two and a half million blocks in a quarter of a century has long remained an enigma. Today the secrets of the pyramid are finally being revealed thanks to a series of new findings. At the foot of the monument, archaeologists are uncovering the last surviving relic of the pharaoh Khufu, whose tomb it is: a huge ceremonial boat buried in flat-pack form for more than 4500 years. It's a clue that points to the important role that ships and water could have played in the pyramids' construction. This documentary follows investigations that reveal how strong the link between pyramids and boats is. It's a story of more than how Egypt built a pyramid: it's about how the pyramid helped build the modern world.

This Passing Parade entry looks at several historical "truths" that just aren't so: Steve Brodie never jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge; Mrs. O'Leary's cow did not start the great Chicago fire; Nero didn't fiddle while Rome burned; and Lady Godiva never rode naked through the streets of Coventry.

Outside the Sudanese capital Khartoum, the remains of an ancient city stand in the desert. Are you ready to dive beneath the pyramids of Sudan's black pharaohs?

Shout Gladi Gladi is a documentary about hope. It tells the story of one woman's quest to cure fistula and save mother's lives in Africa. Shot in Malawi and Sierra Leone (just prior to the Ebola crisis) this is an intense portrait of the people suffering from fistula and the struggle of those who are not only trying to fix this condition but curtail it through better maternal health care. In addition, it is about women's empowerment, specifically through a radical device from BBOXX, a solar powered generator that provides the women not only with electricity in a region where there is none but also as a means to make money by charging cell phones.

From May 10, 1940, France is living one of the worst tragedies of it history. In a few weeks, the country folds, and then collapsed in facing the attack of the Nazi Germany. On June 1940, each day is a tragedy. For the first time, thanks to historic revelations, and to numerous never seen before images and documents and reenacted situations of the time, this film recounts the incredible stories of those men and women trapped in the torment of this great chaos.

D'Artagnan and his musketeer comrades must thwart the plans of Cardinal Richelieu to usurp King Louis XIII's power.

The story of Myo Myint, a political prisoner, who made the transformation from being a soldier in Burma's junta to a pro-democracy activist.

June, 1944, German-occupied Denmark. It has never been so dangerous to be part of the resistance. In a safe house, five fighters wait for comrades on a sabotage mission. When they do not return, and no news comes, fear begins to take hold.

Hanka Ordonówna is a star of pre-war Polish cabarets. The film begins in 1942 in the Middle East, in a British military camp located near the front line. Hanka runs a shelter for homeless Polish children. In her moments of respite, the singer, who is suffering from tuberculosis, recalls the various stages of her career.

A biopic about the life of Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov - Russian polymath, scientist and writer.

Follows the crew of a Canadian submarine in World War Two and their fight against the Japanese Imperial Navy.

A "What if?" alternative history sees Nazi Germany prevailing in the second World War. First the occupiers establish their power bases, before they find themselves under attack from the underground resistance.

In Germany's Hurtgen Forest, during the final days of World War 2, an exhausted and overwhelmed band of American army paratroopers fight for survival amid a deadly hidden threat, escalating internal conflict and seemingly impossible odds.

Edo, 1863. Aisuke Kajiki, a young blind swordsman, is entrusted the son of his best friend Toramaru Sakakibara, who is about to join the Shogun's Samurai Unit and promises to train him well. However, after Toramaru's death in battle, Eisuke drowns in a river and is transported in time to present-day Tokyo. Eisuke and his descendant, Ryusei, a college student, go to meet Toramaru's descendant, Taiga, a swimmer. The blind samurai's promise to his best friend in Edo is fulfilled 160 years later in present-day Tokyo through para-swimming.

An environmental account of Henry Ford’s Amazon experience decades after its failure. The story addressed by the film begins in 1927, when the Ford Motor Company attempted to establish rubber plantations on the Tapajós River, a primary tributary of the Amazon. This film addresses the recent transition from failed rubber to successful soybean cultivation for export, and its implication for land usage.

In the name of the struggle against terrorism, a special operation - code named CONDOR - was conducted in the 1970s and '80s in South America. Its target were left-wing political dissidents, the organized labor and intellectuals. Condor soon became a network of military dictatorships supported by the U.S. State Department, the CIA, and Interpol.

...1949. Baulin, a school principal in a small Moldovan town, is summoned at night to the district party committee. He is tasked with leading a group that is carrying out an action in the area to evict so-called fascist collaborators. We will see only a day in the life of the main character. He walks around the huts, sees people included in the “black lists”, understands that they could not possibly be traitors.

The film is dedicated to Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, whose name is associated with the first stage of space exploration.

For 40 years, the community-organizing group ACORN advocated for America’s poorest communities, while its detractors accused it of promoting the worst of liberal policies. Riding high on the momentum of Barack Obama’s presidential victory in 2008, ACORN was at its political zenith when a hidden-camera video sparked a national scandal and brought it crashing down. The story involves voter fraud, a fake prostitute, and the rise of Breitbart.com.

D'Artagnan and his musketeer comrades must thwart the plans of Cardinal Richelieu to usurp King Louis XIII's power.

On February 4, 1936, Wilhelm Gustloff, leader of the NSDAP, was shot dead in Davos. His assassin, 27-year-old David Frankfurter, wanted to use the action to highlight the persecution of the Jews. This docudrama describes with great precision the events leading up to the fateful day and the trial that followed. The film was selected as the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 48th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.

In the late nineteenth century, the mule driver Juan Moreira is a good gaucho and worker who, like many others, is subjected to abuse and humiliation by the powerful, either the police or landowners.

A biopic about Antoni Gaudí, the Catalan architect who transformed Barcelona’s skyline and became one of Spain’s most recognizable cultural figures.

The film loosely retells the legend of the Alvensleben ring through a series of one-take scenes filmed at different locations in Kalbe. Each scene acts like a fragment of memory that moves between centuries. Historical reenactments mix with contemporary elements. Three brothers appear as rulers of modern "kingdoms": the supermarkets of Kalbe. Their conflict eventually leads to their downfall.

Unfolding over the final days of a twenty-year war, Ali, a young Afghan man, fights for his entire family’s life to find safe passage out of Afghanistan, before he is sent to certain death. To reach the border, he must put his trust in Kirk Johnson, an American stranger 7,000 miles away who is desperately trying to put the war behind him.

When the Iron Curtain cuts his tiny German village in half, Peter the bull gets separated from his 36 cows. Based on a true story narrated by Christoph Waltz.

The Venetian performance world is on the alert: an impresario is looking for talent to stage what he defines as the most beautiful opera of his time. Everyone goes there from their pushy little merry-go-round to attract the favors of the character and extricate themselves from misery. But the main interested party hardly seems to be sensitive to these effects.

Set in 18th century, a 10 year old deaf boy has been abandoned by his mother, Comtesse de Solar, and is taken care by Abbé de l'Épée, who teaches him how to comunicate and express.

1770. Young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is hosted in a villa near Bologna, where he has to graduate. There he gets in touch with “normal” boys, falls in love for the first time and tries to escape his destiny of young genius.

Tells the story of five people from the last generation of Soviet children who were brought up behind the Iron Curtain. Just coming of age when the USSR collapsed, they witnessed the world of their childhood crumble and change beyond recognition. Through the lives of these former schoolmates, this intimate film reveals how they have adjusted to their post-Soviet reality in today's Moscow.

Has America entered an Orwellian world of doublespeak where outright lies can pass for truth? The country's leading intellectuals discuss and examine the mix of businesses, politics and ideology that is the mainstream media.

The documentary traced the fast food company's journey from Route 66 diner to planet-conquering giant.

Documentary drama about the revolutionary Olga Benario

Enjoy the epic story of NASA space exploration. This comprehensive edition takes you on an adventure showcasing the most thrilling moments in U.S. Space exploration, while also examining the heartbreaking events when tragedy struck. It’s all here…. From the amazing flight of John Glenn in Friendship 7 to The “Eagle has landed” historic mission to the moon, and Skylab and more. A Brilliant combination of adventure, science, history - perfect for the whole family.

Director Timo Koivusalo point of view about life of classical music composer Jean Sibelius, who is a national composer of Finland.

In 1918, Rockwell Kent leaves New York City with his eight-year-old son and travels to the rugged wilderness of Alaska in search of inspiration. Kent settles on a remote island, isolated and free to do his work. He befriends an old prospector whose stories energize his pursuit. As he struggles with internal turmoil, his son’s innocence and willingness to face failure inspire Kent to dig deep inside himself and begin again. Father and son’s connection blossoms as they embrace the wilderness experience together. Surrounded by the quiet magnificence of Fox Island, Kent creates the drawings and paintings that will catapult his career to national success and turn his dream into reality.

A visually stunning and thought-provoking biopic documenting the life and career of renowned photographer Linda Troeller. Her work explores the spiritual properties of water and the intricate aspects of female sexuality. The film presents a mesmerizing narrative that gracefully blends elements of personal discovery, artistry, and feminism.

Story of the first Komsomol secretary of Turkestan Abdullah Nabiyev.

At the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries Boleslav's kingdom fell apart in the fratricidal war between the Přemyslovci and the other clans the main profiteer of this being the German emperor. At that time it seemed as if the Czech state and the lineage of its princes was awaiting its end..." It is with these words that the tale of this film begins, whose narrative is based upon the the play by František Hrubín of the same name.

A hauntingly beautiful and unusual coming-of-age tale. Set in 1890, Iris's artist mother leaves Stockholm for the summer and sends her 9-year old daughter to stay with an uncle in the Finnish archipelago. The girl learns to play with other children and discovers the joys of friendship in the remote Åland Islands.

After more than 200 years of Isolation, Japan is ready for a modern samurai who isn't afraid to use guns and embrace the outside world.

The love of King Edward VIII for American divorcée Wallis Warfield Simpson eventually leads to his abdication.

50 years on, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy is the oldest continuing protest occupation site in the world. Taking a fresh lens this is a bold dive into a year of protest and revolutionary change for First Nations people.

John F. Kennedy's PT boat comes under attack by a Japanese warship in World War II.

The charming Indian girl Madeline is the wife of the gold digger Charlie, called the King. While they were in the wilderness, his wife was very suitable for him. But now he is selling the land and wants to run a big house. So he needs a woman to represent him. His favorite becomes Freda, a girl from the local dance hall. Madeline is taken in by the Malemute Kid, Jack Harrington and Stanley Perry, who give her lessons in singing, dancing and social behavior. Madeline soon surpasses "her rivals" with her natural intelligence and charm...

Cicero, the future Consul of Rome, is just starting out as a trial lawyer in crime-ridden Rome where assassinations for political advantage and for estate grabbing had become de rigueur. The matriarch of a prominent family hires him to defend a relative on a charge of patricide. He faces one of the shrewdest criminal trial prosecutors in the Republic who is backed by powerful political forces with motives to see that his client is convicted and executed in one of the most horrible manners possible.

Bad harvests and starvation makes northern Swedish farmers consider emigrating to the USA.

Filmmaker Cheryl Foggo re-examines the story of John Ware, the Black cowboy who settled in Alberta, Canada, prior to the turn of the 20th century.

The Mona Lisa by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci is the most famous painting in the world. What is the secret behind the "real" Mona Lisa? It draws legions of visitors to the Louvre in Paris to contemplate her enigmatic expression. In this "detective story," historians tell us how Leonardo developed the painting and uncover the long-hidden identity of the smiling woman.

The film is based on historical events that took place in the 6th century at the junction of three great powers: The Turkish Khagan, The Byzantine Empire and The Sasanian Empire.

Just days after the Civil War ended, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre. As a fractured nation mourned, a manhunt closed in on his assassin, the twenty-six-year-old actor, John Wilkes Booth. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln tracks the converging paths of the president and his killer, then tracks and draws connections between their last journeys, in the forms of Lincoln's funeral train route and Booth's desperate efforts to escape.

When a cruel middle-aged baron and a beautiful wealthy orphan are to be wed at the abbey, it comes as no surprise when the sadistic nobleman is found strangled to death.

Born to Bhimamba and Marayya, Srinatha earns the title Kavi Sarvabhowma. He dedicates many of his works to kings in exchange for gifts and leads a luxurious life as a courtier.

A captain in the Czar's army encounters danger and romance while carrying a secret message across 19th-century Russia.

"My Nappy Roots" explores the politics, culture and history of African American hair. Is there such a thing as "Good and Bad" hair? How has the Eurocentric ideal of beauty influenced black hair through modern history? "My Nappy Roots" will vibrantly depict some of the complex social, political and cultural influences that have dominated the dialogue surrounding African and African American hairstyles from styling patterns and cultural trends to the business of black hair care products, services and advertising. The film will use the evolution of black hairstyles as a touchstone to address the broader struggle of African American people in their search for social control, identity and economic independence.