Part 1 of Wajda's trilogy of wartime films, the hopeful one, is set in Wola, a working-class area of Warsaw in 1942, and deals with the graduation of a bunch of semi-delinquent street kids, through individual acts of defiance and courage, into a youth resistance group. The heroism is not simple, neither loyalties nor self-sacrifice are assured, but united they will be. find out more...

Dennis Potter's play is set in the Forest of Dean on a summer day in 1943. Seven children go out to play. The seven children are all played by adult actors to act as 'A magnifying glass to show what it's like to be a child'. find out more...

Adapted from the classic, absurdist, anti-war novel by Joseph Heller. "Catch-22" is the story of Yossarian, a pilot who trys to opt out of flying bombing missions by being declared insane, the catch being that anyone trying to avoid bombing missions by being insane must be sane. This dark classic catches much of the flavour of the book, the insanity, the corruption and the absurdity of war. Think MASH, but non-linear - flawed but awesome. find out more...

Elem Klimov's powerful, mesmerising and dynamic award winning feature has been deservedly hailed as one of the greatest war films ever produced. find out more...

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Suzu Urano moves to the small town of Kure in Hiroshima, in 1944, to live with her husband's family. As her home town is bombed, rations tighten and devastation hits, Suzu puts on a brave face. A story of perseverance and the indomitable nature of the human spirit, In This Corner of the World is poignant and heart breaking.

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In Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's brilliant and chilling re-write of history, Germany has won World War II and Nazi troops occupy England. Pauline, an apolitical nurse, hopes only that normal life will return to England. It is only after she accepts a nursing job with Nazis that she slowly begins to realize the horrifying reality behind the occupation. It Happened Here is a masterful, terrifying vision of what might have happened if the Allied effort had been in vain. find out more...

Part 2, and surely the greatest, of Wajda's trilogy describes the last days of the failed 1944 Warsaw uprising against the Nazis. The imagery of the sewers, to which the Polish fighters retreat, is superbly used to represent both their desperation and their new Soviet prison. Made in 1956 despite Stalinist censorship. find out more...

San Lorenzo's Night is the night when dreams come true in Italian folklore. It is also a night when an older woman recalls 1944, when she was six-years-old and the stars were shell bursts and a group of peasants fled the Germans and Fascists through the Tuscan countryside to American lines. 'La Notte Di San Lorenzo' is a stunning film, a mesmerising portrayal of love, loss, betrayal and hope. find out more...

Lacombe is a young French peasant who wants to join the resistance but is considered too young, so instead he joins the Gestapo! He enjoys his power but soon falls in love with a Jewish girl. This can be seen as Malle's answer to the question who colloborates? The film maps the mechanics of compromise with precision and without histronics. Another superb film from the great French director. find out more...