Movies / Documentaries Suitable for World History

World History Movies/Documentaries

The movies listed below have some historical value. They are not for extra credit or assignments, but if you are going to to watch a movie in any event, you might as well watch one of these. They are listed somewhat chronologically and alphabetically within time period. For some I have brief descriptions, others were recommended but I haven’t viewed them yet. Not all are great films, but all either cover an event or topic in world history (though some are more European or US history focused than APWH will be) or recreate the era without claiming to be depicting actual events (which sometimes are better than the ones focused on events which often lack historical accuracy or misguide viewers about events). Note that the rating (G, PG, etc.) is not noted on any of these. If it is R, you should get your parents'/guardians' permission.

Most of these movies are available at your local public library or Netflix. Some you would need to find at UMD or other sources.

Foundations

3000 BCE – 600 BCE

• Legacy – Michael Wood’s series on ancient civilizations
• The Mummy (and returns) - ancient Egypt
• Ramayana (many versions) - tells the tale of the epic
• Spotlight on the Ramayana, a video that recaps the stories and show how it is adapted to drama, school pageants, danced rituals.
• The Ten Commandments - ancient Egypt and Hebrews

600 BCE – 600 CE

• Agora - view of the impact of the rise of Christianity on Hypatia of Alexandria and her students
• Asoka - a Bollywood rendition of the epic story of the Indian emperor
• Ben Hur – Ancient Rome, Christianity, Judaism
• Cleopatra – Rome and Ptolemaic Egypt a la Hollywood
• Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - Ancient China
• The Emperor and the Assassin/Jing Ke ci Qin Wang – unification of Qin China
• The Emperor's Shadow/Qin Song - Qin China
• Gladiator – Rome a la Hollywood – mismatches generals and emperors
• Gospel According to St. Matthew – Jesus as revolutionary guerrilla
• Hadrian's Wall - Rome
• Hero - Qin China - and the unification of China
• Jesus of Nazareth - foundations of Christianity
• Julius Caesar - Rome
• The Life of Brian - comic parody of Christianity
• Little Buddha - a nice overview of the story of Siddhartha.
• One Night with the King - story of Esther and King Xerxes.
• The Robe – beginnings of Christianity
• Rome - HBO and BBC telling of Republic to Empire
• Spartacus – slave rebellion in Rome
• Troy - telling of the Trojan War
• Warring States - Two generals' rivalry in China
• 300/The 300 Spartans - ancient Greece vs. Persia

600 CE – 1450 CE

600 CE – 1000 CE

• Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves - Islam/Arab
• Arthur (not the Dudley Moore version!)
• Braveheart - Scotland
• El Cid - cultural encounter and clash between Islam and Christendom
• House of Flying Daggers - Tang China
• Islam: Empire of Faith – PBS series on the beginnings of Islam
• King Arthur-Young Warlord
• Maya: La primera gran historia
• The Message AKA The Messenger of God – beginning of Islam, note portrayal of Muhammad
• Muhammad: The Messenger of God - Iranian film about Muhammad's childhood, filmed without directly showing Muhammad
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (comic parody) - basis for Spamalot - a spoof, but yet with a lot of accuracies
• Rob Roy
• Vikings (800-1100)

1000 – 1450 CE

• The Advocate – legal proceedings in the Middle Ages
• Alexander Nevsky - terrific for medieval Russia and the overall theme of art/media/images as propaganda. Includes early Rus battle the Germanic hoards with a climatic fight on the frozen lake
• Braveheart – William Wallace – Scottish independence leader – a la Hollywood.
• Brother Sun, Sister Moon – St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare
• Ceddo - (dir. Ousmane Sembene, 1977), which presents a critical view of both Islamic and Christian expansion into Senegal
• Central America - Michael Wood’s documentary on the Maya and Aztec.
• Destiny/al Massir – story of Averroes the writer and scientist
• Henry V – including Battle of Agincourt
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (black and white with Anthony Quinn)
• Joan of Arc (made for TV movie with Leelee Sobieski)
• A Lion in Winter - King Henry II of England and his wife and Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine
• The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail - Kurosawa's tale of the Taira and Minamoto battles
• The Messenger – Joan of Arc a la Luc Besson
• Mummies of the Takla Makan and the Altai mountains - PBS “Nova”.
• The Name of the Rose – Europe on the eve of the Renaissance
• Rashomon – Kurosawa classic on feudal Japan
• Robin and Maid Marian (Connery & Hepburn)
• The Silk Road - documentary on the Silk Roads
• The 13th Warrior – Baghdadi diplomat Ahmed ibn Fadlan’s ‘Risala’ or account of his embassy to the Vikings/Varangians and Rus.
• Timeline – archeologists working on a French dig go back in time to 1357 and have to survive
• Musa (The Warrior) – epic about an official envoy from the Koryo kingdom in 1375 after the collapse of the Yuan and the rise of the Ming. The Koryo want to make relations with the Ming, but have to fight off the Yuan and defend a Ming princess and some Ming refugees.

1450-1750

• Aguirre: The Wrath of God – story of colonization of the New World
• Andanggaman - West Africa during the late 17th century, a king leads a war against his neighboring tribes, ordering his soldiers to torch enemy villages, kill the elderly and capture the healthy tribesmen to sell to the European slave traders.
• Black Robe – Jesuits in 17th C Quebec among the First Nations.
• A Bronx Tale - up-to-date- (sort of) version of Machiavelli’s love versus fear debate
• Cabeza de Vaca- the 1528 expedition to Florida
• 'La Controverse de Valladolid' -the debate between Sepulveda and La Casas over whether the Indians of the New World had souls, or were born to be enslaved.
• Cromwell – English revolutionary leader
• The Crucible: The Salem Witch Trials
• Day of the Siege - Ottoman attack on Vienna
• Elizabeth – Hollywood view of Elizabeth I, Queen of England
• Girl with a Pearl Earring - based on the novel about Johannes Vermeer and his servant girl and model
• Jodhaa Akbar - Indian film on Akbar and his wife
• Kagemusha - The classic film about the Samurai of the 16th C by Japanese film master Kurosawa
• Kama Sutra - A Tale of Love – 16th C Indian politics and society
• The Last Valley - set in 17th C Germany. Famine and war.
• La Reine Margot - set around the Bartholomew's Day Massacre in France (adult content)
• Legend of Suiryothai –struggles over the throne in 16th C Thailand
• Luther – Hollywood view of the Reformation
• A Man for All Seasons - Henry VIII and Thomas More.
• Martin Luther – by Louis De Rochemont's 1950
• The Mission - slavery, Christianity and native americans in early colonial Latin America
• Other Conquest - Mexican film about the Spanish conquest
• Peter the Great
• Restoration – Charles II, his doctor and the king’s mistress
• Rikyu - Japanese film about a tea master and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (warlord)
• Royal Hunt for the Sun - Pizarro's conquest of the Inca, not very action packed.
• Shogun – Japan and the West
• Silence - Jesuit missionaries in Japan
• The splendors of the Mogul dynasty
• Süleyman the Magnificent -
• Vatel - Louis XIV is hosted by a prince for 3 days in 1671
• When the World Spoke Arabic - Lorsque le monde parlait arabe - 12-part series from Films for the Humanities
• Wolf Hall - based on novel by Hilary Mantel - focuses on Thomas Cromwell

1750-1900

• Amazing Grace - William Wilberforce's move to end the British transatlantic slave trade
• Amistad – slave ship rebellion ends up in a US court
• Andersonville - Civil War
• Anna and the King - not a view favored by the Thai, but still has interesting historical nuggets
• Breaker Morant - Boer War
• Burn with Marlon Brando - Shift from slavery to modern imperialism in the Caribbean.
• Charge of the Light Brigade – struggle between Britain and Russia in the Crimea
• The Chess Players – British colonization of India
• Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon – life in Qing China
• Dances with Wolves – Native Americans on the plains
• Desiree – Napoleon and the future king and queen of Sweden
• Disraeli – British prime minister
• Far Pavilions – Sepoy Mutiny from a British POV
• Farewell, My Queen - view of the final days of the French monarchy
• Fiddler on the Roof – Tsarist Russia for Jewish life
• Florence Nightingale – Crimean war and bio
• Flowers of Shanghai – 19th C Chinese courtesans
• The Four Feathers - British struggle with the Mahdist forces in Sudan, especially the Battle of Omdurman
• Germinal - about mid 19th C French coal miners
• Gettysburg – key Civil War battle
• Ghost and the Darkness - about the man-eating lions of Tsavo and railroad building in colonial Africa
• The Good Earth – life in rural China
• Guimba – story of a ruler in Mali gone awry
• Gunga Din – 19th C India, followers of Kali
• Hard Times - miniseries on life of mill workers during Industrial Revolution
• How Green Was My Valley – shift to industrialization
• John Adams - HBO miniseries about John Adams
• Keys to the Kingdom - The endeavors of a priest bringing Christ to China.
• Khartoum – Sudan/Egypt late 19th C
• Killer Angels Great cast, great story, and close to historical fact. It was on TV a few years ago.
• Lagaan – Indian under the English Raj – Bollywood version
• Last of the Mohicans - French and Indian War
• The Leopard – mid 19th C Sicily, about the time of Garibaldi
• Les Misérables - early 19th C France's student uprising - based on the novel by Victor Hugo
• The Liberator - Venezuelan film about Simón Bolívar
• Longitude - story of how a device was created to measure longitude
• Madame Curie
• The Madness of King George - story of the British king (yes the one during the US revolution) and his ailment.
• The Man who would be King – British imperialism, how west views and defines exoticism/ orientalism, fake country.
• Mangal Pandey (The Rising) - On the Indian Mutiny/War of Independence of 1857 from the Indian perspective. The British complained about some of the depictions.
• Manuela Saenz – Latin American independence – Simon Bolivar and the role of his mistress
• Master and Commander - fictional tale about actual battles during the Napoleonic Wars, based on the excellent series by Patrick O'Brian
• Max Havelaar - based on the famous novel about Java in the 1850s.
• Metropolis –vision of future (values and anxieties of Fritz Lang’s own era)
• Midwife’s Tale – PBS
• Molly Maguires – Industrial Revolution
• Moulin Rouge – Toulouse-Lautrec and Paris (not Kidman)
• Mountains of the Moon - tells the story of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton and John Speke.
• Multatulli - Max Havelaar Dutch colonial 19th c. Java.
• Mutiny on the Bounty- 1787 mutiny on a trip to get the breadfruit plant in the South Pacific, life on a ship – different versions show different perspectives
• Napoleon - 4 hours long or PBS series
• A Night to Remember – Europe before WWI
• Nosferatu – examination of early film techniques and early dominance of German film industry
• Oliver Twist - 19th C London for the poor and orphans based on Charles Dickens' book
• The Opium War /Yapian Zhanzheng. events leading up to the Opium War, its battles, and the concluding Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing) in 1842.
• Out of Africa. Based on writer Isak Dinesen’s life in Africa.
• Parnell – Irish Rev leader
• Passage to India - British India, look for misconceptions
• Patriot - US Revolution
• Prisoner of Honor – Dreyfus Affair 19th C Anti-Semitism
• Return of Martin Guerre - true story
• Revolution – US Revolutions
• Rhodes: The Life and Legend of Cecil Rhodes – imperialism in Africa – shows entanglement of missionaries, Rhodes increasing racism and the diamond rush.
• Scarlet Pimpernel (1934 version) - role of British nobles in rescuing the French emigres from the Revolution.
• Shaka Zulu - The life of Zulu nation leader Shaka.
• Suffragette - British suffragettes
• Sweet Liberty – movie about the making of a movie on a book about the American Revolution
• Things Fall Apart
• The Three Musketeers - Chivalry in France French Rev
• The Treasure of Sierra Madre
• Twelve Years a Slave - based on the autobiography by Solomon Northrup
• Valmont: 18th C French aristocrats and their lifestyles
• Veerapandiya Kattabomman – Sivaji Ganesan stars as the ruler of a small kingdomin 18th C Tamil Nadu – revered for his rebellion against the British.
• Viva Zapata – Emiliano Zapata
• Walker – 19th C US adventurer’s coup in Nicaragua
• War and Peace
• Zola – Dreyfus Affair and Emile Zola
• Zorro – Mexico on the brink of the revolution
• Zulu –several British soldiers holding a mission station in South Africa v. native Zulu warriors great view of British/Zulu war in South Africa – 1800s
• Zulu Dawn - about the battle at Ishandlwana the previous day, unmitigated British disaster/Zulu triumph. That movie does go into the political situation in the Natal provinces much more than Zulu does.

1900- Present

1900-1960ish (General)

• Butterfly (La Lengua de las Mariposas) - Spain before and during the Civil War
• Chocolat (1988, not the recent film) colonial racism in Cameroon
• Distant Thunder – British made Bengal Famine of 1943
• Earth – film by Geeta Mehta about Hindu/Muslim conflicts in India at the time of partition.
• Exodus – establishment of Israel
• Fifty-five Days in Peking. The West and Japan deal with the Boxers.
• Gandhi – one perspective on his life. For another see: http://eserver.org/history/ghandi-nobody-knows.txt
• Ghare-Baire /Home and the World - based on a novel by Rabindranath Tagore is good for 1907 India – love and politics
• Good Men Good Women – Japanese colonization of Taiwan
• Le Grand Blanc de Lambarene - Cameroonian filmmaker looks at colonialism.
• The Grapes of Wrath - Depression/Dust Bowl
• Gunga Din – full of stereotypes about 1930s imperialism and popular culture
• Horse Thief - Chinese film on pre-China Tibet
• Indochine - The struggle against French rule, from post-World War I through the Geneva Conference (1954).
• Juarez – Benito Juarez in black and white
• King's Speech - Story of the ascension of George VI's to the throne of England.
• Kranti - Indian independence.
• Kundun – Tibet in 1959 – Chinese take over
• Land and Freedom - Spanish Civil War
• Legend of Bhagat Singh – India before Amritsar until afterGandhi cancels the general strike from an Indian perspective. Takes a critical view of Gandhi.
• March or Die - story of a Foreign Legion major who has to lead an archeology dig in Morocco
• Memorias de un Mexicano (A Mexican’s Memories) – collection of footage from the Mexican Revolution from 1910-1920
• Pancho Villa – Mexican revolution
• Rabbit Proof Fence – Australia’s treatment of aborigines and “half-castes”
• Raise the Red Lantern – 1920s Nationalist China
• Sandpebbles - missionaries and gunboats in China during the1920s
• Seven Years in Tibet – an Austrian’s journey to Tibet at the time of Chinese takeover
• Shadow Magic – Beijing 1902, technology and culture as a British entrepreneur brings the first motion pictures to China
• Sugar Can Alley – race, gender, age, and class in French Caribbean colony of Martinique in 1930
• United Kingdom - true story of the King of Botswana
• The Warlord (Da jun fa) – China in 1900 in Shatung province, a warlord goes too far
• The Wind and the Lion - true story of an American family kidnapped in 1904 Morocco.

WWI

• African Queen (World War I, so a tad late)
• All Quiet on Western Front (32 and 87 versions)
• Behind the Line - story of WWI from an insane asylum in England.
• Black and White in Color - depicts WWI "arriving" (via the news) in a French settlement in West Africa bordering a German settlement.
• The Fall of Eagles - which depicted the causes of WW1, especially the events that led to the break among the Kings and Emperors
• Gallipoli - WWI from an Australian perspective
• The Great War – PBS documentary
• Guns of August - events leading to WWI, documentary style
• Lawrence of Arabia - T. E. Lawrence’s attempts to rally the Arabs against Turkish rule during WWI
• Paths of Glory - story of trial of three French soldiers accused of cowardice on the battlefield

Russia/Soviet Union

• Battleship Potemkin – Russian 1905 Revolution
• Burnt by the Sun - excesses of Stalin and Russian traditional life
• Death of Stalin - humorous yet fairly accurate interpretation of the issues at stake when Stalin died
• Dr. Zhivago – Russian Revolution
• Gorky Park – Brezhnev era Soviet communist decadence
• Gulag – Soviet prison camp
• The Inner Circle - The true story of Ivan Sanchin, the KGB officer who was Stalin's private film projectionist from 1939 until the dictator's death
• Nicholas and Alexandra - Imperial Russian family meets the Bolsheviks
• Rasputin – Russian Revolution

WWII (Includes Nazis and Holocaust)

• A Bridge Too Far - true story on an almost disaster during WWII.
• Amen - man who invented the gas used in the Nazi gas chambers and the Catholic priests who fought it
• Anthropoid - Czech resistance plan to assassinate one of Hitler's men
• Barefoot Gen - Hadashi no Gen or Hadashi no Gen 2 – WWII Japan and post-WWII Japan
• Boat, the (Das Boot) – WWII from the POV of a German submarine crew
• Bridge on the River Kwai – Japanese POW camp WWII
• Camp de Thiaroye - a film about the demobilization of African troops who fought in WWII
• Casablanca – Morocco WWII
• Christabel – British woman in Nazi Germany
• Churchill - 2017 tale of Churchill and the Normandy invasion
• Conspiracy - reenactment of the Wansee Conference - where the "final solution" was decided upon
• The Cranes are Flying - WWII home front in the USSR
• Darkest Hour - another perspective of Churchill
• Desert Fox – Rommel and N. Africa in WWII
• Dunkirk - great telling of the Battle from land, earth and sea perspectives
• Downfall - last days of the Third Reich
• Emitai – As World War II is going on in Europe, a conflict arises between the French and the Diola-speaking tribe of Africa, prompting the village women to organize their men to sit beneath a tree to pray.
• Enigma - code crackers in England
• Dragon Seed - set in China and focusing on the Chinese resistance to Japan
• Empire of the Sun – WWII Japanese prison camp in China
• Enemy at the Gates – WWII Russian and German snipers
• Europa, Europa - Jewish boy trying to pass during the war.
• Facing the Truth - PBS/Bill Moyers the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
• Farewell to Manzanar - TV movie on Japanese internment camp experiences
• Grave of the Fireflies or Tombstone for Fireflies (Hotaru no haka) – WWII Japan
• The Great War - PBS series- third hour "Total War" - colonial POV -India ,West Africa & Australia.
• Harmonists – Germany on eve of WWII
• Hollywood Goes to War - star-studded event about the construction of the war effort, and gender in war, most importantly on the way in which Hollywood stars are used to mediate the total war experience
• Hope and Glory – London during Blitz
• Indigenes (Days of Glory) - story of North African men fighting for the French in WWII.
• In the Name of the Emperor: The Rape of Nanking.
• Judgement at Nuremburg – WWII Nazi trials
• Julia – Lillian Hellman’s tale of her Jewish friend in WWII
• King's Speech - nice movie on the transfer to power to King George VI and entry into WWII
• Kukushka (The Cuckoo) - WWII in Finland, shows 3 perspectives
• Letters from Iwo Jima - Japanese soldiers' perspective on Battle of Iwo Jima
• Life is Beautiful - WWII Italy
• The Longest Day - D-Day
• Nowhere in Africa - German Jewish refugees in WWII British East Africa.
• Paradise Road – WWII Japanese POW camp – British and Dutch women
• The Pianist - WWII Poland
• The Puppetmaster- Japanese colonization of Taiwan
• Saving Private Ryan - WWII starting on invasion of Normandy
• Schindler’s List - Holocaust
• Sisters in Resistance - story of 4 French women in their late teens and early 20s during WWII who joined the resistance, were arrested, and survived concentration camp. War footage and recent interviews.
• Soldier of Orange - Dutch film on the role of Holland in WWII.
• Stalingrad – German version of Battle of Stalingrad
• A Woman in Berlin - experience of German in Berlin under occupation by the Soviet Red Army
• Zookeeper's Wife - WWII from a Polish zoo's perspective

Revolutionary China

• Balzac and the Little Seamstress – two city boys in the country during the Cultural Revolution.
• Bethune (1977) -- Canadian doctor who aided Mao Tse-Tung's army
• Blue Kite - China during the Cultural Revolution
• Family - a great Chinese communist propaganda film
• Farewell, My Concubine – Cultural Revolution 1950s China
• The Last Emperor – last of the Qing dynasty
• Not One Less – contemporary rural China vs. rural life and poverty
• Satan Never Sleeps - Expulsion of missionaries in the wake of Chinese Communist revolution.
• The Road Home - shows how traditional and modern China crash
• The Story of Qiu Ju (1993) -- woman battles frustrating court system in modern China
• To Live –China from the Nationalist years through the Cultural Revolution
• Wild Swans - 3 generations of Chinese women in revolution and war.
• Xiu Xiu: The Send Down Girl – Cultural Revolution

South Africa

• Amandla - the role of music in the South African fight against Apartheid
• Cry Freedom - excellent look at Apartheid. End credits lists of all of those that died in custody and the reasons given.
• Cry the Beloved Country - based on the novel
• A Dry White Season - White South Africans attempt to fight Apartheid.
• Power of One - Apartheid South Africa
• Sarafina - Apartheid from a school girl’s perspective
• A World Apart - South Africa

1960ish to Present

• Aakrosh – story of Lahanya who is charged with the murder of his wife and Bhaskar who is his state-appointed defender.
• Alambrista - - Robert Young
• Ararat - Armenian genocide. Article on Bernard Lewis’ trial for denying it is at: http://users.ids.net/~gregan/lemd_eng.html. Reading on conflicting Ottoman and Armenian accounts is at: http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst373/final-project.html
• Baraka – images of cultures and landscapes around the world
• The Battle of Algiers - Algerian uprising against the French.
• Beyond Rangoon – Burma/Myanmar
• Black Hawk Down Somalia
• The Bomb Under the World - India on trade, consumerism, labor and the environment.
• Children of Heaven - poor Iranian family in Tehran
• City of God - present day poor in Rio de Janiero’s slums: very graphic
• City of Joy - India, modern poverty
• The Company - mini-series about the Cold War
• The Cup (Phorba) - exiled Tibetan Buddhist monks in India and the craze that surrounds the world cup.
• Das leben de Anderen (The Lives of Others) - life in Cold War East Germany where people's private lives are often under surveillance.
• Dayereh (The Circle) - life for women in revolutionary Iran
• Dheepan - Sri Lankan refugees in the Paris projects
• Goodbye Lenin – fall of communism in East Germany.
• Himalaya – on semi-nomadic life style and silk road routes
• La Historia Oficial (The Official Story) – Argentina towards the end of military rule; shows Argentine military/police actions of the 1970s and 1980s.
• Hotel Rwanda – Rwandan genocide
• In the Name of God - modern history of tensions in Ayodhya, India
• Innocent Voices - Civil War in El Salvador and its impact on the people
• Itsembatsemba – documentary about the Rwanda genocide
• Kandahar - Afghanistan under the Taliban
• Killing Fields – Cambodia under Pol Pot
• Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of balance
• Last King of Scotland - Hollywood version of the rule of Idi Amin (and focusing on his Scottish doctor)
• Live From Baghdad - beginning of CNN and the first Gulf War.
• Lucía - women in the Cuban revolution
• Lumumba – Congo seeking independence under Lumumba and the aftermath
• Men with Guns - story of an unnamed place in Latin America that reflects the problems of modern Latin America
• Memorias de Subdesarollo or Memories of Underdevelopment/ inconsolable memories the Cuban revolution by Edmundo Desnoes
• Missing by Costa-Gavras – on Chile during the Cold War
• A Mongolian Tale – life in rural Mongolia
• Mr. Johnson – film on Nigeria
• Mr. And Mrs. Iyer – Hindu Muslim tensions on a bus.
• No Man’s Land – Serbia/Bosnia
• Operation Chromite - About the Battle of Incheon during the Korean War
• Osama – life in Afghanistan under the Taliban
• Our Friends at the Bank - negotiations between World Bank and the government of Uganda in the 1990s
• People's Century: 1900-1999 - 2nd episode titled "Killing Fields" shows the impact on ordinary people caught up in the events and technology.
• Promises – documentary that followed a bunch of 10-year olds around Israel and Palestinians within Israel and the occupied territories.
• Prisoner of the Mountain – Chechnya and Russian relations
• Queen of Katwe - Current conditions in Uganda
• Raid on Entebbe - French airliner held hostage by PLO
• Romero – El Salvador during the Cold War and the role of the Catholic Church
• Saaraba – Life in Senegal where traditional ways meet modern ways.
• Sangamam – two dancers fall in love which presents a challenge for their fathers who challenge each others’ art – classical Bharathanatayam dance and a folk form of dance (Sri Lanka).
• Salvador - story of a US journalist's involvement in the Salvadorean Civil War.
• Secret Ballot – Election day in an isolated beach town in Southern Iran
• Shout at the Devil - The film takes place around Zanzibar
• Sin Nombre - depicts journey of two young Hondurans traveling through Mexico to reach the United States
• Sometime in April - Rwandan genocide
• State of Siege - Greece's descent into dictatorship in the 1960s
• Stoning of Soraya M - true story of the stoning of an Iranian woman. Hard to watch and violent scenes.
• Tampopo (by Itami): delightful examination of the cultural significance of noodles and noodle eating in a globalizing Japanese society
• Three Kings – the first Gulf War.
• Unbearable Lightness of Being – 1968 Czechoslovakia - Prague Summer
• Under Fire - Nicaragua
• Waiting – Palestinians try to hold auditions to find actors for an opening play, shows the poignancy of life as Palestianian refugees in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon as well as Palestine.
• Water – American business investing in the Caribbean.
• Welcome to Sarajevo - journalists get involved in 1992 Bosnia
• Whale Rider - New Zealand Maori life, plus the gender and generational issues
• Windhorse – made clandestinely inside Chinese-occupied Tibet, featuring Tibetans and Tibetan-American pop singer.
• Xala (from Senegal) - neo-colonialism in Africa.
• Year of Living Dangerously – Sukarno’s Indonesia
• Z - Greece after the Civil War
• Zoned for Slavery - by the National Labor Committee documentaries on the working conditions of people who make many products sold in the U.S. also Mickey Mouse Goes to Haiti and Something to Hide.

World Histories (so covering more than one period, including documentaries)

• Africa: The Story of a Continent. Davidson, Basil. 6 programs. See especially Program 3, "Caravans of Gold," which explores sub-Saharan Africa’s trade with the outside world both the Trans Saharan from Timbuktu and the Indian Ocean with the Swahili traders, and Program 5, "The Bible and the Gun," which examines the impact of Christianity in Africa.
• "The Africans: A Triple Heritage" series, Part 4 Ali Mazrui's "Tools of Exploitation,"
• Africans in America
• America 1900- mostly on the US, but some good segments on Boxer Rebellion and American Missionaries in China.
• America Before Columbus - National Geographic 2010 looking at life before and after the arrival of Columbus
• Americas, (PBS 1993). Especially pt. 4, Mirrors of the Heart. This documentary depicts cultural construction of racial identity in Bolivia and the Dominican Republic; what makes a person "Indian" or "black" or "white"?
• Becoming Human, (Nova 2011) - looks at the evolution of early humans
• Biography of the Millennium- famous people of the last 1000 years.
• Byzantium: the Lost Empire – TLC documentary on the empire
• Catastrophe – PBS
• China's Age of Invention - looks at the many inventions during the Song
• China: A Century of Revolution – China in the 20th C from the beginning of the republic to the end of Mao.
• Columbus and the Age of Discovery – spice trade, colonization of New Spain
• Conquistadors - PBS telling of Spanish conquistadors
• The Day the Universe Changed James Burke's series. Especially "The Factory and Marketplace Revolution" from 1750-1914 - ties the European Industrial Revolution to Imperialism.
• Electronic Tribe – documentary on Japan
• Frontline World: Stories from a Small Planet
• The Genius That Was China - series on various Chinese contributions and points in history
• A History of God -
• History of India - BBC examination of India
• The History of the World - Monty Python,
• Incredible Human Journey (BBC, 2009) - migration of humans to all the continents.
• Islam: Empire of Faith – story of the religion from the beginning through the Ottomans.
• Jerusalem: City of Heaven -
• Journey to Mecca - Story of Ibn Battuta and his extensive travels
• King Leopold's Ghost - based on Adam Hochschild's bestselling book on Congo
• The Long Search (PBS series on Religion) - Especially the volumes on E Orthodox Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam, but most of the others are pretty good as well.
• Lost Civilizations Time Life series - In particular "Africa: A History Denied" useful for generating discussion of what constitutes history and how it is used.
• Millennium (CNN) - can find it on YouTube, decent examination of 1000-2000 in century episodes
• Ottomans: Europe's Muslim Emperors - BBC documentary on rise and fall of the empire
• The Pacific Century - PBS series
• Religions of the World videos on Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Each is approximately 20 minutes in length
• Roots
• Russia: Land of the Tsars - documentary
• Russian Ark – art house movie, shot in one take, a history of Russia through a walk through the Hermitage and time, in Russian with subtitles.
• Samurai Warrior - National Geographic examination of a mass grave of samurai
• Secrets of Lost Empires - PBS documentary on empires that collapsed
• Secrets of the Dead- CSI approach to history, “Day of the Zulu” looks at Battle of Isandlwana
• Silk Road (six tapes, each is 55 minutes),
• The Slave Kingdoms - Atlantic slavery
• Sophie's World. – philosophy
• The Spirit of Crazy Horse - brilliant on American Indian history from Wounded Knee 1890s, through AIM and the 1960s and beyond
• Tank Man - PBS episode on Tiananamen Square protest
• The Tiger of Chin [Qin], brings China up to the 16th century
• Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey - PBS documentary
• World: A Television History – a series of 26 minute films from social studies school services.

Other suggestions for movies:

Paul Halsall's Ancient Movies List

Paul Halsall's Medieval Movie List

Paul Halsall's Modern Movie List

Patrick L. Cooney's Movie List

Internet Movie Database's List of Top History Movies

Mr. McGowan's List of History Movies

APWH Teachers list of APWH Movies organized by Region