During a hot and sultry 1935 summer an embryonic relationship between rich Cambridge graduate Celia (Knightly) and the housekeeper's son Robbie (McEvoy) is left in tatters when Celia's precocious sister falsely accuses James of molesting another young girl. The accusation, based on the misperceptions and childish hurts of a fevered imagination, leads to James's arrest and imprisonment. As the movie progresses, from an English manor house to the war-ravaged wastes of northern France and to bli find out more...

Giuseppe Tornatore directed this grand-scale portrait of life and love over several decades in the small town in Sicily where he was born. We see a number of important historical events through the eyes of young Peppino, watching the fortunes of his town and his family rise and fall. While open to accusations of nostalgia, superficiality and indulgence the film is something of a feast for the senses.
A rambunctious family saga the kind they don't, and probably shouldn't, make any more. find out more...

Set between the two World Wars and based on true historical events, BITTER HARVEST conveys the untold story of the Holodomor, the genocidal famine engineered by the tyrant Joseph Stalin. The film displays a powerful tale of love, honour, rebellion and survival at a time when Ukraine was forced to adjust to the horrifying territorial ambitions of the burgeoning Soviet Union. With an exceptional cast of established and rising stars, the film epically recreates one of the most dramatic and dange find out more...

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'City of Life and Death', like the earlier 'City of War; the John Rabe Story', is an account of the Rape of Nanjing; the terrible crimes committed by the Japanese army during the sacking of the Chinese city and the desperate efforts to protect those, mainly Chinese, sheltering in the protected German zone. This version concentrates less on the atrocities and heroic whites and more on the growing sensitivity and terrible guilt of a Japanese sergeant.
An important and artfully made film. find out more...

'City of War' tells the story of Nazi Party member John Rabe now considered a German war hero for organising the protection zone that almost certainly saved the lives of over 200,000 Chinese whilst the Japanese killed a further 300,000 outside in the infamous Nanjing Massacre of 1937.
This workmanlike film is based on Rabe's diaries, but is somewhat loose with the truth and, it's interesting to note, was produced with the co-operation of the Chinese authorities, won lots of awards in Ger find out more...

British journalist George sneaks into Nanjing during the Japanese atrocities of 1938. Unfortunately, the Japanese catch him and just as they are about to send him to meet his maker fate intervenes in the form of local commie chief Chen, who rescues George and packs him off to an orphanage to assist red US nurse Radha. Fleeing from the nationalists' attempts to conscript orphaned boys into their army, they make a hair-raising three-month journey - the first 900km on foot - across the snow-bound L find out more...

A compelling study of the seductive powers of fascism and violence, directed by Pierre Boutron. The film looks at the deeply disturbing world of the Spanish Civil War and follows a young military cadet who is ordered to join Franco's infamous firing squad. find out more...

Robert Jordan is an idealist and with his skills as a demolition expert he finds himself with the opportunity to marry both by helping the anti-fascists during the Spanish Civil War. Amongst the band of freedom fighters Robert joins is Maria, an innocent but impassioned and beautiful young woman. As the group draw towards their ultimate mission so Robert and Maria's friendship develops into something far deeper, intensified by their uncertain fate. For The Whom the Bell Tolls was showered with O find out more...

Set during the beautiful summer of 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War, budding young actress Anne stumbles across secret recordings of a sinister plot to appease the Nazis. As close friends die in suspicious circumstances, she finds herself swept into a web of dark secrets and in increasing danger from a powerful and menacing enemy that nobody, not even her adoring (and politically influential) family believes exists in anything other than her increasingly fragile mind. A sty find out more...