Besa: The Promise

Jul 19, 2012

1h 26m

★ 10.0

Overview

A documentary exploring how Albanians, including many Muslims, helped and sheltered Jewish refugees during WWII at their own risk, and trying to help the son of an Albanian baker that housed a Jewish family for a year return some Hebrew books that the family had to leave behind.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

JWM Productions

Besa: The Promise Trailers

Cast

himself

Norman H. Gershman

himself

Rexhep Hoxha

For twelve years he stood as America's 32nd President, a man who overcame the ravages of polio to pull America through the Great Depression and WWII. From his legendary Fireside Chats to his sweeping New Deal, Franklin Delano Roosevelt revolutionized the American way of life. FDR: A Presidency Revealed examines one of history's most compelling figures. Inspired by his cousin Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt rose to the nation's highest office during the depths of one of its darkest periods. A man of few words, he brought a nation together through his revolutionary Fireside Chats. He introduced vast reforms like Social Security and work relief for the unemployed. At the same time, his administration hid a dark underbelly teeming with covert maneuvers, spy rings, and powerful enemies.

7.5

Fascism in Colour

Jan 1, 2006

After the World War I, Mussolini's perspective on life is severely altered; once a willful socialist reformer, now obsessed with the idea of power, he founds the National Fascist Party in 1921 and assumes political power in 1922, becoming the Duce, dictator of Italy. His success encourages Hitler to take power in Germany in 1933, opening the dark road to World War II. (Originally released as a two-part miniseries. Includes colorized archival footage.)

6.6

2 or 3 Things I Know About Him

Apr 7, 2005

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)

7.6

Manouchian et ceux de l'Affiche rouge

Feb 20, 2024

No overview available.

6.0

Attack! The Battle for New Britain

Jun 20, 1944

Actual footage by the United States Signal Corps of the landing and attack on Arawe Beach, Cape Glouster, New Britain island in 1943 in the South Pacific theatre of World War Two, and the handicaps of the wild jungle in addition to the Japanese snipers and pill-box emplacements.

0.0

The Russia We Lost

Aug 9, 1992

The sequel of feature-publicistic film «You Can’t Live Like That». Showing the countrymen charmless and sometimes scaring life picture of once great power with pain and anger, the author tries to uncover the reason of the country’s and nation’s tragedy.

7.4

The Rape of Europa

Mar 17, 2007

World War II was not just the most destructive conflict in humanity, it was also the greatest theft in history: lives, families, communities, property, culture and heritage were all stolen. The story of Nazi Germany's plundering of Europe's great works of art during World War II and Allied efforts to minimize the damage.

5.4

Combat America

Jan 1, 1943

Produced in 1943 under the guidance of Army Air Force Lieutenant Clark Gable, this film follows a single 8th Air Force B-17 crew from training through a series of missions over Europe.

7.5

Nazi Death Camp: The Great Escape

May 12, 2014

The secret Nazi death camp at Sobibor was created solely for the mass extermination of Jews. But on the 14th October 1943, in one of the biggest and most successful prison revolts of WWII, the inmates fought back.

6.4

Why We Fight: Prelude to War

May 27, 1942

Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Pentagon and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II. This film examines the differences between democratic and fascist states.

5.9

Report from the Aleutians

Jul 30, 1943

A documentary propaganda film produced by the U.S. Army Signal Corps about the Aleutian Islands Campaign during World War II. The film opens with a map showing the strategic importance of the island, and the thrust of the 1942 Japanese offensive into Midway and Dutch Harbor. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

4.2

Naked Rose

Apr 24, 2013

Among the millions of victims of the Nazi madness during the Second World War, Pierre Seel was charged with homosexuality and imprisoned in the Schirmeck concentration camp. He survived this terrifying experience of torture and humiliation, and after the war he married, had three children, and tried to live a normal life. In 1982, however, he came to terms with his past and his true nature and decided to publicly reveal what he and thousands of other homosexuals branded with the Pink Triangle had undergone during the Nazi regime. Il Rosa Nudo (Naked Rose), inspired by the true story of Pierre Seel, depicts in a theatrical and evocative way the Homocaust, focusing on the scientific theories of SS Physician Carl Peter Værnet for the treatment of homosexuality, which paved the way for the Nazi persecution of gay men.

0.0

Gestalt

Mar 23, 2024

Inspired by the complexity of the entire film-footage captured by Eva Braun, while in the inner most circle of Adolf Hitler and his private world, these observations challenge the viewer's perception of what is fact and to a greater extent what is unperceived. History teaches us the horrors of manipulation, unaccountability and ignorance. Historical moments that mirror all aspects of today’s society and humanity.

0.0

The Two Deaths of Adolf Hitler

Apr 30, 1975

No overview available.

8.0

Congrès de Tours 1920: The Birth of the French Communist Party

Dec 12, 2020

No overview available.

6.8

Warsaw: A City Divided

May 11, 2019

The history of the Warsaw Ghetto (1940-43) as seen from both sides of the wall, its legacy and its memory: new light on a tragic era of division, destruction and mass murder thanks to the testimony of survivors and the discovery of a ten-minute film shot by Polish amateur filmmaker Alfons Ziółkowski in 1941.

0.0

Yesterday Is Over Your Shoulder

May 5, 1940

A wartime short encouraging workers to join free, government-organised engineering training schemes.

No Image Available

2.0

Westward Ho!

May 5, 1940

Wartime short promoting the evacuation if urban children to rural areas.

6.9

Stalin and the Katyn Massacre

Feb 18, 2020

The Katyn massacre, carried out by the Soviet NKVD in 1940, was only one of many unspeakable crimes committed by Stalin's ruthless executioners over three decades. The mass murder of thousands of Polish officers was part of a relentless purge, the secrets and details of which have only recently been partially revealed.

6.3

Afghan Star

Dec 3, 2008

This documentary on the effect the talent competition "Afghan Star" has on the incredibly diverse inhabitants of Afghanistan affords a glimpse into a country rarely seen. Contestants risk their lives to appear on the television show that is a raging success with the public and also monitored closely by the government.

Besa: The Promise

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Besa: The Promise Trailers