A.J.P. Taylor: How Wars Begin, and How Wars End
April 25, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Historian A.J.P. Taylor, author of the famous and controversial Origins of the Second World War, gives a series of talks for the BBC on the causes of war, titled How Wars Begin; and for Channel 4 on How Wars End.
How Wars Begin
Syria: Across the Lines | Dispatches | Channel 4
April 19, 2013 § 1 Comment
If the film is blocked in your region try here.
Syria: Across the Line, Channel 4 Dispatches: Olly Lambert has spent weeks living deep inside Syrian territory – with both government and opposition supporters – to explore how the two-year-old conflict is tearing communities apart.
A History of Syria
March 14, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Dan Snow travels to Syria, for the BBC’s This World series, to see how the country’s fascinating and tumultuous history is shaping the current civil war.
Life and Debt
March 9, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Life and Debt is a 2001 American documentary film directed by Stephanie Black. It examines the economic and social situation in Jamaica, and specifically the impact thereon of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank’s globalization policies. Its starting point is the essay A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid.*
Egalite for All: Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution
March 4, 2013 § 1 Comment
“The prospect of a Black Republic is equally disturbing to the Spanish, the English and the Americans. Jefferson has promised that on the instant the French army has arrived [in Haiti] all measures will be taken to starve Toussaint and rid us of these gilded Negroes, and we will have nothing more to wish for.” — Napoleon
How did the Haitian slaves break free from their bondage and create the first Black Republic, while facing some of the largest armies ever assembled by Europe? And what impact did their victories have on ending slavery? These are some of the questions that documentary film Egalite for All: Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution explores, shedding well deserved light on one of the most ignored great events in history, the Haitian slave revolt.
For more on this topic, you can listen to the audio lecture, by Paul Foot, titled The Haitian Slave Revolt or you can purchase a copy of the most famous scholarly work on the topic C.L.R. James’s Black Jacobins (more books on Haiti).
Greece: The Hidden War
March 3, 2013 § 3 Comments
Greece: The Hidden War is a 1986 television documentary series about the background to the Greek Civil War. The series, which explores the contribution of British policy and actions to the civil war, gave rise to the biggest uproar in the history of British television: the series was banned, all but one copy destroyed, and letters were written to major newspapers in defence of Britain for months afterwards. Continue reading on Wikipedia.
The Spanish Earth
September 24, 2012 § 2 Comments
The classic 1937 film, written and narrated by Ernest Hemingway.
This documentary film uses footage of war and glimpses of rural Spanish life in its portrayal of the struggle of the Spanish Republican government against a rebellion by right-wing forces led by General Francisco Franco and backed by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. The film was written by Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos (among others) and was narrated by Hemingway.
Which side are you on?
September 19, 2012 § 2 Comments
Ken Loach’s documentary about the 1984 UK Miners Strike and the Tory government’s vicious campaign of violence which finally subdued it. The film features the miners and their families experiences told through songs, poems and other art.
Gore Vidal’s Gore Vidal – BBC Omnibus 1995
September 10, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Gore Vidal’s Gore Vidal is a BBC Omnibus documentary first screened in 1995. The two part film biography covers Vidal’s life by visiting scenes from his past.
Episode One
White Light / Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
August 5, 2012 § 1 Comment
White Light / Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
“This is the story of the only people to have survived a nuclear attack.”
