"The story of SS officer Otto Rahn and his search for the holy grail"
A British-produced documentary about the bizarre life of Nazi SS officer Otto Rahn, focused on his search for the mystical Holy Grail of Christ.
Social & External
The people behind it
Hans-Jürgen Lange
Himself
Otto Rahn
Himself (archive footage)
In 1983, the director’s 24-year-old sister developed symptoms of schizophrenia. Her parents couldn’t accept it—refusing to seek treatment for their sick child, they confined her to their house, to the point of even fixing a padlock on the front door to lock her in. Her younger brother, suspicious of his parents’ actions, began filming the family in an effort to openly question them. A family conflict that lasted over twenty years.
This chilling, vitally important documentary was produced to mark the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The film contains unedited, previously unavailable film footage of Auschwitz shot by the Soviet military forces between January 27 and February 28, 1945 and includes an interview with Alexander Voronsov, the cameraman who shot the footage. The horrifying images include: survivors; camp visit by Soviet investigation commission; criminal experiments; forced laborers; evacuation of ill and weak prisoners with the aid of Russian and Polish volunteers; aerial photos of the IG Farben Works in Monowitz; and pictures of local people cleaning up the camp under Soviet supervision. - Written by National Center for Jewish Film
For more than a decade, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, Adolf Hitler's right-hand man during the infamous Third Reich, assembled a collection of thousands of works of art that were meticulously catalogued.
During World War II, many Japanese immigrants in Santos, Brazil, were forced to move to another place. Matsubayashi draws attention to the fact that 60% of the immigrants were from Okinawa. Based on testimonies from interviewees, this film reveals the hidden historical relationship between Okinawa and Brazil.
Part two of Leni Riefenstahl's monumental examination of the 1938 Olympic Games, the cameras leave the main stadium and venture into the many halls and fields deployed for such sports as fencing, polo, cycling, and the modern pentathlon, which was won by American Glenn Morris.
Starting with a long and lyrical overture, evoking the origins of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, Riefenstahl covers twenty-one athletic events in the first half of this two-part love letter to the human body and spirit, culminating with the marathon, where Jesse Owens became the first track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympics.
What would your family reminiscences about dad sound like if he had been an early supporter of Hitler’s, a leader of the notorious SA and the Third Reich’s minister in charge of Slovakia, including its Final Solution? Executed as a war criminal in 1947, Hanns Ludin left behind a grieving widow and six young children, the youngest of whom became a filmmaker. It's a fascinating, maddening, sometimes even humorous look at what the director calls "a typical German story." (Film Forum)
Stories of 12 gay and lesbian survivors of Nazism and the Holocaust.
A wartime documentary following Canadian convoy operations and naval escort duties in the North Atlantic during the early years of World War II.
Documents the major trial of the Nazi war criminals and the violent acts that they were accused of.
A television documentary directed by Marcel Ophüls examining the Munich Conference of September 28, 1938, when European leaders met to avert the outbreak of war. Through archival documents and interviews, the film reconstructs the political atmosphere surrounding negotiations between Britain and France on one side and Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on the other, situating the agreement within the broader context of European appeasement in the face of fascism.
When World War II broke out, John Ford, in his forties, commissioned in the Naval Reserve, was put in charge of the Field Photographic Unit by Bill Donavan, director of the soon-to-be-OSS. During the war, Field Photo made at least 87 documentaries, many with Ford's signature attention to heroism and loss, and many from the point of view of the fighting soldier and sailor. Talking heads discuss Ford's life and personality, the ways that the war gave him fulfillment, and the ways that his war films embodied the same values and conflicts that his Hollywood films did. Among the films profiled are "Battle of Midway," "Torpedo Squadron," "Sexual Hygiene," and "December 7."
The lives of the people of Malta and their endurance under the trials of the Second World War are displayed in this documentary short film.
A WWII film about children evacuated from Britain and sent to Canada for their safety. The film begins in England with children seeking shelter as anti-aircraft guns roar outside. On their arrival in Canada, they are thrilled by the brightly lit cities, powerful Canadian trains, hot dogs and ice cream. They find, too, that instead of becoming Mounties or cowboys, they have to go to school. The closing sequence shows them learning to ski and skate and preparing for Christmas in their new homes.
A dramatised account of Norwegian fishermen outwitting occupational forces during World War II, directed by Jiří Weiss and written by acclaimed author Laurie Lee.
A documentary edited by Jiří Weiss on the role of Soviet women in the Second World War
Freemasonry is one of the most secretive organizations in the world, and for the first time, this documentary reveals long-hidden truths.
Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.
A woman’s Holocaust memoir takes the world by storm, but a fallout with her publisher-turned-detective reveals her story as an audacious deception created to hide a darker truth.
In 2019, Nepalese mountain climber Nirmal “Nims” Purja set out to do the unthinkable by climbing the world’s fourteen highest summits in less than seven months. (The previous record was eight years). He called the effort “Project Possible 14/7” and saw it as a way to inspire others to strive for greater heights in any pursuit. The film follows his team as they seek to defy naysayers and push the limits of human endurance.
A documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham.
The life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr.
In Angola's mist-shrouded highlands, three KhoiSan master trackers embark on a spiritual quest to rediscover the legendary "ghost elephants" of Lisima, creatures presumed lost but remembered in ancestral trance, ritual, and memory.
The film profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.
With unprecedented access to the official archives and intimate recollections from the band, both current and past, Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition invites fans to experience one of the most iconic journeys in music history. Spanning five decades, this electrifying documentary charts the band’s rise from the pubs of East London to the world’s biggest stadiums. Featuring exclusive interviews with band members and contributors such as Javier Bardem, Lars Ulrich and Chuck D, as well as all-new animated sequences of the band's legendary mascot, Eddie, the film offers a rare and intimate look at Iron Maiden’s uncompromising vision and unwavering connection with their truly global army of fans.
Told through performances, TV interviews, home movies, family photographs, private letters and unpublished memoirs, the film reveals the essence of an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings in New York City to become a glamorous international superstar and one of the greatest artists of all time.
A documentary examining possible historical and modern conspiracies surrounding Christianity, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the Federal Reserve bank.
A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
The definitive film on the climb that captured headlines and ignited imaginations worldwide. Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson ascend the hardest big wall of all time: a 19 day ascent of The Dawn Wall, on the 3,000 foot vertical face of El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park. The film travels deeper than the climb, digging into the history of the climbers and painting an intimate portrait of Caldwell's harrowing life experiences that culminated in a single-minded drive to complete this impossible climb. The Dawn Wall is a heart-warming and inspiring movie that celebrates perseverance, camaraderie, and the universal spirit of dreaming big, and never giving up.
An in-depth investigation into the private world of the American writer J. D. Salinger (1919-2010), who lived most of his life behind the impenetrable wall of a self-imposed seclusion: how his dramatic experiences during World War II influenced his life and work, his relationships with very young women, his obsessive writing methods, his many literary secrets.
Follow the production of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” as the cast and crew take on the incredible challenge of remembering T’Challa with a chapter befitting the late king. Through intimate behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, watch Shuri take on the mantel of Wakanda’s hero and face a new foe from the ocean’s depths in Namor.
This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they create new heroes and villains that live alongside new incarnations of beloved Star Wars characters, and an epic story that dramatically bridges the saga films.
As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
Stars of "The Walking Dead," Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, walk down memory lane and visit iconic locations where pivotal moments between their characters, Rick and Michonne, were filmed.
A detailed account of the life and artistic career of legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, from his early days as a video club manager to the scandalous fall in disgrace of producer Harvey Weinstein. A story about how to shoot eight great movies and become an icon of modern pop culture.
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.