Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress

Jul 14, 2019

1h 39m

★ 7.7

Overview

An account of the last two centuries of the Anthropocene, the Age of Man. How human beings have progressed so much in such a short time through war and the selfish interests of a few, belligerent politicians and captains of industry, damaging the welfare of the majority of mankind, impoverishing the weakest, greedily devouring the limited resources of the Earth.

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

ARTE

Cinéphage Productions

Les Films du Tambour de soie

Stenola Productions

Mucem

RTBF

CNRS Images

RTS

Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self - Narrator (voice)

Jacques Bonnaffé

Self (archive footage)

John D. Rockefeller

Self (archive footage)

Woodrow Wilson

Self (archive footage)

Adolf Hitler

Self (archive footage)

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Self (archive footage)

Van Heflin

Self (archive footage)

Lewis Strauss

Self (archive footage)

Mária Telkes

Self (archive footage)

Ronald Reagan

Self (archive footage)

Jane Wyman

Self (archive footage)

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Self (archive footage)

Lino Ventura

In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military tribunal to answer charges of crimes against humanity. Chief Justice Haywood hears evidence and testimony not only from lead defendant Ernst Janning and his defense attorney Hans Rolfe, but also from the widow of a Nazi general, an idealistic U.S. Army captain and reluctant witness Irene Wallner.

7.0

The First Look

Apr 7, 2024

In Spain, a poor country ruined by the recent Civil War (1936-39), and in the midst of Franco's dictatorship, a film school was created in Madrid in 1947, which became, almost unintentionally, a space of freedom and pure experimentation until its closure in 1976.

7.4

Enemy at the Gates

Feb 28, 2001

A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII.

7.4

Black Hawk Down

Dec 28, 2001

When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.

8.2

Saving Private Ryan

Jul 24, 1998

As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.

8.0

Lawrence of Arabia

Dec 11, 1962

During World War I, English officer Thomas Edward 'T.E.' Lawrence sets out to unite and lead the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes to fight the Turks.

6.1

The Spy

Oct 18, 2019

Sonja Wigert, Scandinavia's most acclaimed female movie star, enlists as a spy for Swedish intelligence but ends up becoming entangled with the German Reichskommissar Terboven.

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0.0

The Wheat Industry

Invalid Date

Tells the life story of a grain of wheat In Casselton, North Dakota.

7.8

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Oct 11, 1957

The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.

7.2

Seven Years in Tibet

Sep 12, 1997

Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces' hands as a prisoner of war. He escapes with a fellow detainee and makes his way to Lhasa, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.

7.2

Explorer: Lake of Fire

Oct 26, 2023

In 2001, satellite imagery captured a mysterious “thermal anomaly” on an unexplored volcano at the ends of the Earth. What lies inside could provide new clues to help predict volcanic eruptions around the globe. But the island is so remote with conditions that are so extreme. No one has ever been able to reach the top to investigate what lies inside.. until now.

7.9

Grand Illusion

Jun 4, 1937

A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.

7.6

Gandhi

Dec 1, 1982

In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.

10.0

False Integration: The Myth of Equality

Jul 9, 2025

Francesco Croquete Margharette leads a journey through the thoughts of Florestan Fernandes and his work The Integration of Black People in Class Society.

0.0

Yellowcard: The Making of Lights and Sounds

Jan 24, 2006

A documentary of the making of Yellowcard's fifth studio album "Lights and Sounds".

7.5

Ivohiboro, The Lost Forest

Oct 7, 2024

The film follows an expedition into Ivohiboro — a small, previously unexplored tropical forest in Southeast Madagascar rich with biodiversity.

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0.0

L'Inverno

Invalid Date

A tale of torn loyalty and love between SS officer Nikolaus Fuhrich and his first love, Jewish violinist Elisabeth Soloviechik. From two befriended Austrian families, one Jewish, one "Germanic," the fates of these two young characters intersect and intertwine prior to the First and after the Second World War.

7.4

Adolescents

Sep 9, 2020

Emma and Anaïs are best friends and yet everything in their life seems to set them apart, their social backgrounds but also their personalities. From the age of thirteen to eighteen, Adolescentes follows the two teenagers during these years where radical transformations and first times punctuate daily life. Through their personal stories, the film offers a rare portrait of France and its recent history.

8.0

The Nansen Passport

Jun 21, 2016

On July 5th, 1922, Norwegian explorer, scientist and diplomat Fridtjof Nansen creates a passport with which, between 1922 and 1945, he managed to protect the fundamental human rights as citizens of the world of thousands of people, famous and anonymous, who became stateless due to the tragic events that devastated Europe in the first quarter of the 20th century.