Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £6.99 a month

Kanal
Andrzej Wadja’s clammy and nightmarishly claustrophobic depiction of the 1944 Warsaw uprising.
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Overview
Wajda's first international hit was this unforgettably vivid depiction of the last days of the 1944 Warsaw uprising against the Nazis, with the surviving partisans taking to the sewers to avoid capture, knowing that instant death may well greet their emergence.
It's a clammy, nightmarishly claustrophobic experience in an environment that Dante would certainly recognise, made all the more compelling by their fatalistic celebrations prior to their descent.
Related

Kajaki: The True Story Kajaki: The True Story
War 2014 108 mins Director: Paul Katis
A unit of British paratroopers in Afghanistan become caught in a minefield, unable to move or help their injured colleagues, in this unbearably tense thriller.

Das Boot Das Boot
War 1981 149 mins Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Devastatingly powerful, tense and claustrophobic war drama about the final mission of a German U-boat, from heroic start to tragic end.

Ashes and Diamonds Ashes and Diamonds
War 1958 99 mins Director: Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda’s best-known, visually remarkable film starring Zbigniew Cybulski.

A Generation A Generation
War 1955 85 mins Director: Andrzej Wajda
With gripping set-pieces, Andrzej Wajda’s debut depicts the establishment of a teenage anti-German resistance group.

Eastern Condors Eastern Condors
Crime 1987 98 mins Director: Sammo Hung Kam-bo
A high-kicking tribute to The Dirty Dozen, which sees ten convicts offered amnesty if they undertake a deadly mission behind enemy lines.

The Last Metro The Last Metro
Romance 1979 132 mins Director: François Truffaut
Catherine Deneuve shines as the director and lead actor of a Parisian theatre struggling to survive under the Nazi occupation in Truffaut's wartime drama.

Who We Love Who We Love
Drama 2021 94 mins Director: Graham Cantwell
Bullied for her sexuality, Dublin schoolgirl Lily turns to her gay best friend for support in this vibrant coming-out, coming-of-age drama.

Layla Layla
Drama 2024 100 mins Director: Amrou Al-Kadhi
A British-Palestinian drag performer catches the eye of a strait-laced white man in Amrou Al-Kadhi’s stunning, semi-autobiographical debut.

Loving Couples Loving Couples
Drama 1964 118 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
Three expectant mothers on a maternity ward recall their personal and sexual experiences in Mai Zetterling’s bold, subversive debut.

Night Games Night Games
Drama 1966 105 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
In Mai Zetterling’s scathing rebuke of European entitlement, a man returns to his childhood home and confronts his repressed memories and desire.

The Girls The Girls
Drama 1968 100 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
Three stage actresses starring in Aristophanes’ classic play Lysistrata start to draw parallels with their own lives in Mai Zetterling’s feminist comedy.

Sebastian Sebastian
Drama 2024 110 mins Director: Mikko Mäkelä
A young London-based writer begins a double life as a sex worker to research his debut novel, in this gripping psychological drama.

A Generation A Generation
War 1955 85 mins Director: Andrzej Wajda
With gripping set-pieces, Andrzej Wajda’s debut depicts the establishment of a teenage anti-German resistance group.

Ashes and Diamonds Ashes and Diamonds
War 1958 99 mins Director: Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda’s best-known, visually remarkable film starring Zbigniew Cybulski.

A Generation A Generation
War 1955 85 mins Director: Andrzej Wajda
With gripping set-pieces, Andrzej Wajda’s debut depicts the establishment of a teenage anti-German resistance group.

Who We Love Who We Love
Drama 2021 94 mins Director: Graham Cantwell
Bullied for her sexuality, Dublin schoolgirl Lily turns to her gay best friend for support in this vibrant coming-out, coming-of-age drama.

Sebastian Sebastian
Drama 2024 110 mins Director: Mikko Mäkelä
A young London-based writer begins a double life as a sex worker to research his debut novel, in this gripping psychological drama.

Punch-Drunk Love Punch-Drunk Love
Drama 2002 95 mins Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Adam Sandler is a beleaguered businessman who finds romance with a mysterious woman, in Paul Thomas Anderson’s award-winning offbeat comedy.

An Elephant Sitting Still An Elephant Sitting Still
Drama 2018 234 mins Director: Hu Bo
The troubled lives of four desperate people unfold over the course of a single day, in this melancholy masterpiece about the human condition.

The Outcasts The Outcasts
Fantasy 1982 106 mins Director: Robert Wynne-Simmons
Haunting Irish folk-horror, from the writer of The Blood on Satan’s Claw, about an introverted farm girl suspected of witchcraft.

Memoir of a Snail Memoir of a Snail
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2024 95 mins Director: Adam Elliot
Nick Cave and Sarah Snook voice an Oscar-nominated stop-motion classic of divided twins, told with adult candour and uncanny warmth.