What do you want to watch tonight?
Each title says who it's good for, and who it isn't. Tap what you want tonight, or say no to one and why.
Closest to Another Day of Life first
Waltz with Bashir 2008
Documentary
A film director from Israel interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.
The sides of Waltz with Bashir
- An Israeli director who can't remember his war
- Interviews with fellow veterans of Lebanon, 1982
- Animated memories that end on real footage
Good for you if
- you want to know what a war does to the memory of those who fought it.
- you like a director investigating his own past.
- you like dreamlike animated images, like soldiers rising from the sea at night.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather not see a war documentary in animation.
- you won't read subtitles. It's in Hebrew.
- you can't take a film about guilt and the dead of a war, seen through a soldier's nightmares.
About: memory · guilt · war
Apocalypse: The Second World War 2009
Documentary
A six-part French documentary about the Second World War composed exclusively of actual footage of the war as filmed by war correspondents, soldiers, resistance fighters and private citizens. The series is shown in color, with the black and white footage being fully colorized, save for some original color footage. The only exception to the treatment are most Holocaust scenes, which are presented in the original black and white.
The sides of Apocalypse: The Second World War
- Archive footage shot by soldiers and civilians
- Black and white images restored in color
- The whole war in six parts
Good for you if
- you want to see the Second World War through the eyes of those who filmed it.
- you like the whole war told from start to end in six episodes.
- you want to see black and white archive footage restored in colour.
Bad for you if
- you can't face the footage of the Holocaust.
- you can't watch real combat and real bodies.
About: war · memory · the Holocaust
Hearts and Minds 1974
Documentary
Many times during his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson said that ultimate victory in the Vietnam War depended upon the U.S. military winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. Filmmaker Peter Davis uses Johnson's phrase in an ironic context in this anti-war documentary, filmed and released while the Vietnam War was still under way, juxtaposing interviews with military figures like U.S. Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland with shocking scenes of violence and brutality.
The sides of Hearts and Minds
- Interviews with generals and veterans
- Vietnamese villagers after the bombing
- The Vietnam War filmed while it was still going on
Good for you if
- you want to see what the Vietnam War did to the people on both sides.
- you like a film made in the middle of the events it shows.
- you like seeing official speeches set against what happened on the ground.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch real footage of napalm and wounded civilians.
- you find seventies footage dated.
About: war · propaganda · guilt
20 Days in Mariupol 2023
Documentary
As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities.
The sides of 20 Days in Mariupol
- Ukrainian journalists trapped in a besieged city
- Hospitals filling with the wounded
- Getting the footage out
Good for you if
- you want to see what the first weeks of the invasion looked like on the ground.
- you want to understand what a siege does to a city and its people.
Bad for you if
- the grief of parents losing children is too much for you.
- you can't watch real dead and wounded people on screen.
About: war · the truth · grief · journalism
The Vietnam War 2017
Documentary
An immersive 360-degree narrative telling the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film. Featuring testimony from nearly 80 witnesses, including many Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as Vietnamese combatants and civilians from both the winning and losing sides.
The sides of The Vietnam War
- Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's history of the war
- American veterans, protesters and Vietnamese witnesses
- From French Indochina to the fall of Saigon
Good for you if
- you want the whole war, from the French colonial years to 1975.
- you like hearing soldiers from both sides describe the same battles.
- you want witnesses rather than actors.
Bad for you if
- ten long episodes is too much for you.
- you can't stand real footage of combat and the dead.
About: war · lies of power · memory
Apocalypse: World War I 2014
Documentary
Colorized historical footage in ascending order of World War 1. Not only the relatively known Flanders and France battles, but also the generally unknown Italian-Austrian, German-Polish-Russian, Japanese-German, Ottoman Empire- Allied and African German Colonies, and other unknown or forgotten fronts and battles.
The sides of Apocalypse: World War I
- Archive footage of the Great War in color
- Fronts from Flanders to Africa and the Ottoman Empire
- Soldiers and civilians caught in four years of war
Good for you if
- you want the whole of World War I told in order, forgotten fronts included.
- you want to see the trenches as the soldiers lived them.
- you like real faces from 1914 brought closer by color.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch real footage of the wounded and the dead.
- you can't take the scale of real loss in one evening.
About: war · memory · loss
City of Ghosts 2017
Documentary
With unprecedented access, this documentary follows the extraordinary journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”—a group of anonymous citizen journalists who banded together after their homeland was overtaken by ISIS—as they risk their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today.
The sides of City of Ghosts
- Citizen journalists from Raqqa
- Reporting on ISIS from exile
- Activists living under threat in Turkey and Germany
Good for you if
- you want to meet the people behind Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.
- you like real suspense, with activists checking over their shoulders even in Germany.
- you want to see the Syrian war through the eyes of its citizens.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch real execution and propaganda footage.
- you can't face the grief of families who lost people to ISIS.
About: courage · exile · the truth
Night and Fog 1956
Documentary
Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.
The sides of Night and Fog
- The grass grown back over Auschwitz ten years after
- Archive film and photographs from the camps
- A commentary written by a deported poet
Good for you if
- you want the camps documented a decade after, while the sites were still standing.
- you want the record itself, the archives and the places as they were left.
- you can face what was done there, stated plainly.
Bad for you if
- you can't look at archive images of the dead and the survivors of the camps.
- you need a film to leave you some hope, and this one closes by asking who is still keeping watch.
About: the camps · memory · war

Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution 2005
Documentary
This documentary series tackles one of history's most horrifying subjects: the Holocaust and the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
The sides of Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution
- The history of Auschwitz-Birkenau
- Testimony from survivors and former perpetrators
- Reconstructions of Nazi decisions
Good for you if
- you want to understand how Auschwitz was built and run.
- you need to hear survivors and former guards tell it themselves.
- you want to understand the Second World War beyond the battlefields.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch testimony about mass murder.
- you need some hope from what you watch.
About: memory · genocide · responsibility

Taxi to the Dark Side 2008
Documentary
An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002.
The sides of Taxi to the Dark Side
- An Afghan taxi driver named Dilawar
- Detention at Bagram and Guantanamo
- Soldiers and officials on interrogation orders
Good for you if
- you want the true story of one innocent man who died in US custody.
- you want to see how orders from the top reached a prison cell.
- you want to understand what the war on terror did behind closed doors.
Bad for you if
- you can't take a story of torture and death of an innocent man.
- you can't look at photos of prisoners being abused.
About: torture · responsibility · justice
For Sama 2019
Documentary
A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.
The sides of For Sama
- A young mother filming for her baby daughter
- A hospital in Aleppo under bombing
- The choice to stay or to leave
Good for you if
- you want a war told from inside by the woman living it.
- you like a love letter from a mother to her child.
- you want to understand what years of siege did to Aleppo.
Bad for you if
- you can't bear to see wounded children and grieving families.
About: motherhood · freedom · loss · hope
Virunga 2014
Documentary
Virunga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Africa’s oldest national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, and a contested ground among insurgencies seeking to topple the government that see untold profits in the land. Among this ongoing power struggle, Virunga also happens to be the last natural habitat for the critically endangered mountain gorilla. The only thing standing in the way of the forces closing in around the gorillas: a handful of passionate park rangers and journalists fighting to secure the park’s borders and expose the corruption of its enemies. Filled with shocking footage, and anchored by the surprisingly deep and gentle characters of the gorillas themselves, Virunga is a galvanizing call to action around an ongoing political and environmental crisis in the Congo.
The sides of Virunga
- Rangers guarding Africa's oldest national park
- Orphaned mountain gorillas and their keeper
- Hidden camera footage of an oil company's dealings
Good for you if
- you love the mountain gorillas and the man who raises them.
- you like hidden cameras catching bribes as they happen.
- you want to see rangers risking everything for a park in Congo.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch real gunfire and war footage.
- you roll your eyes at a documentary built as a call to save the park.
About: conservation · courage · greed · war
Shoah 1985
Documentary
Director Claude Lanzmann spent 11 years on this sprawling documentary about the Holocaust, conducting his own interviews and refusing to use a single frame of archival footage. Dividing Holocaust witnesses into three categories – survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators – Lanzmann presents testimonies from survivors of the Chelmno concentration camp, an Auschwitz escapee, and witnesses of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as well as a chilling report of gas chambers from an SS officer at Treblinka.
The sides of Shoah
- Survivors, bystanders and perpetrators interviewed
- The sites of the camps filmed decades later
- No archive footage at all
Good for you if
- you want the Holocaust told by those who were there.
- you can sit with long silences and slow train journeys.
- you can be moved to tears by a barber breaking down as he recalls Treblinka.
Bad for you if
- you can't give more than nine hours to one film.
- you won't read subtitles, and the film moves between many languages.
- you can't hear first-hand accounts of mass murder.
About: memory · testimony · genocide
Schindler's List 1993
Film
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
The sides of Schindler's List
- A businessman who saves his workers
- Black and white, and a red coat
- A list that means life
Good for you if
- you like striking black and white images, and a little girl in a red coat you won't forget.
- you like a villain who's frighteningly human.
- you want to understand a true story from the inside.
Bad for you if
- the Holocaust on screen is too much for you tonight.
- over three hours is too long for one evening.
- black and white puts you off.
About: humanity · courage · evil
Grave of the Fireflies 1988
Anime
In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.
The sides of Grave of the Fireflies
- Two orphaned children in wartime Japan
- An abandoned bomb shelter as a home
- A tin of fruit drops
Good for you if
- you want a film that leaves you crying.
- you want to see the war from the side of Japanese civilians.
- you like a brother trying to keep his little sister alive.
Bad for you if
- you need some hope by the end.
- you can't bear to watch children go hungry.
- you don't watch anime.
About: war · childhood · pride · hunger
The Salt of the Earth 2014
Documentary
During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.
The sides of The Salt of the Earth
- Forty years of photographs by one man
- A gold mine crowded with thousands of workers
- A dead family farm replanted into a forest
Good for you if
- you can look at black and white photographs for nearly two hours.
- you want the man who took the pictures to tell you where he was standing.
- you like whales, glaciers and a forest growing back.
Bad for you if
- you can't look at photographs of famine and massacre.
- you won't read subtitles while the photographer speaks his own language.
About: humanity · despair · renewal
Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror 2021
Documentary
Modern history can be divided into two time frames: before 9/11 and after 9/11. This five-part docuseries is a cohesive chronicle of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., offering illuminating perspectives and personal stories of how the catastrophic events of that day changed the course of the nation.
The sides of Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror
- The September 11 attacks
- Twenty years of war in Afghanistan
- Survivors, soldiers and officials remembering
Good for you if
- you want the personal stories of people who lived through that day.
- you like seeing how one day reshaped the following twenty years.
- you want to understand the choices made in Washington after the attacks.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch footage of the attacks and accounts of torture.
- you want something light for your evening.
About: terrorism · grief · security and freedom
Armadillo 2010
Documentary
Danish soldiers are sent to Afghanistan in 2009 for 6 months, to help stabilize the country against the Taliban. They're stationed on Armadillo military base in Helman province. Unlike other war movies, this is the real deal – no actors.
The sides of Armadillo
- Danish soldiers in Helmand in 2009
- A camp called Armadillo
- Real firefights filmed from inside
Good for you if
- you want to see what six months in Afghanistan does to young soldiers.
- you want a war film with no actors and no script.
- you like patrols where anything can happen.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch real combat and real bodies.
- you won't read subtitles for a Danish film.
About: war · comradeship · moral doubt
Five Broken Cameras 2011
Documentary
Five broken cameras – and each one has a powerful tale to tell. Embedded in the bullet-ridden remains of digital technology is the story of Emad Burnat, a farmer from the Palestinian village of Bil’in, which famously chose nonviolent resistance when the Israeli army encroached upon its land to make room for Jewish colonists. Emad buys his first camera in 2005 to document the birth of his fourth son, Gibreel. Over the course of the film, he becomes the peaceful archivist of an escalating struggle as olive trees are bulldozed, lives are lost, and a wall is built to segregate burgeoning Israeli settlements.
The sides of Five Broken Cameras
- A Palestinian farmer filming his village
- Weekly protests against a separation wall
- A son growing up in front of the camera
Good for you if
- you want to see Bil'in through the eyes of a man who lives there.
- you like a father filming his youngest son as he grows up.
- you like a story told by one man and his cameras, year after year.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch real people being hurt and killed on camera.
- you need some hope by the end of a film.
About: resistance · land · fatherhood · loss
No Other Land 2024
Documentary
This film made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective shows the destruction of the occupied West Bank's Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers and the alliance which develops between the Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval.
The sides of No Other Land
- Villages of Masafer Yatta in the West Bank
- Homes and a school torn down
- A Palestinian activist and an Israeli journalist
Good for you if
- you want to see events filmed by the people living them.
- you like a bond between Basel and Yuval across a divide.
- you want to see who holds power over a home.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch families losing their homes, filmed as it happens.
- you won't read subtitles.
About: home · occupation · friendship · resistance