Political Pictures

Following a personally difficult but artistically rewarding spell making films under house arrest, Jafar Panahi is back on the streets of Tehran.

Composed of film, music and photographs from the archives, a fascinating portrait of the life and times of the founder of cultural studies and the New Left Experience.

A prisoner of war exposed to extreme cruelty and trauma struggles to readjust to civilian life upon his release, in Valentyn Vasyanovych's bold and brutal drama.

An unflinching and award-winning look at the anatomy of American war-making.

Roberto Rossellini’s landmark of Italian neorealism often cited as one of the greatest films ever made.

Roberto Rossellini’s ambitious and enormously moving follow-up to his breakthrough Rome, Open City.

What if your father was a Nazi? This is the harrowing question raised in David Evans’ thought-provoking documentary.

After COP25 in 2019, thousands of young Danish people took to the streets to demand instant action on climate change. In the subsequent general election the new Danish government pledged bold climate policies, but will they be able to enact them?

James Norton stars as Welsh journalist Gareth Jones whose 1930s visit to Soviet Ukraine uncovered the truth of Stalin’s state-sponsored famine and reputedly inspired George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

The first part of Márta Mészáros' award-winning autobiographical Diary trilogy, set in Hungary from 1947 to 1953.

The second part of Márta Mészáros’ triumphant Diary trilogy focuses on Juli starting to realise her dream of becoming a director.

A climate of fear and mistrust pervades Budapest after the 1956 Uprising, the setting for the last part of Márta Mészáros’ outstanding Diary trilogy.

Disturbing, prophetic look at division and occupation in eastern Ukraine, from the director of In the Fog.

As the Algerian Civil War unfolds, a group of determined young women come face to face with a new, dangerous reality.

Denzel Washington takes the lead in one of the great screen biopics, directed by Spike Lee.

Kazuo Hara’s infamous and audacious documentary follows Kenzo Okuzaki, an ageing Japanese WWII veteran on a mission to uncover the truth about atrocities committed during the war in the Pacific.

Tilda Swinton narrates the extraordinary journey of Gertrude Bell, a singular woman who played a significant – often unrecognised – role in British imperial policy making in Iraq.

After a violent storm, Kisilu, a Kenyan farmer, transforms from a father and community leader to an acitivist on the global stage, as he visits COP21 in Paris to bring his message to the world.

Ken Loach’s passionate war drama follows an idealistic young Liverpudlian (Ian Hart) who fights for the international brigade during the Spanish Civil War.

Kim Longinotto’s observational documentary delves into Iran’s difficult and one-sided divorce process.

Derek Jarman's passionate and poetic lament on the rise of Thatcherism and corporate dealings.

Gillo Pontecorvo’s masterpiece about the last years of French colonial rule in Algeria, seen from the perspective of both the revolutionaries and the French authorities.

Claude Lanzmann's monumental chronicle of the Holocaust has been acclaimed by many as the greatest documentary ever made.

Claude Lanzmann's monumental chronicle of the Holocaust has been acclaimed by many as the greatest documentary ever made.

Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni deliver the finest and most nuanced performances of their careers in this understated masterpiece from director Ettore Scola.

Derek Jarman's affecting vision of the horrors young men faced during the First World War.

The inspiring journey towards freedom of Raghda and Amer, a couple brought together by the turmoil of the Syrian Civil War.

A French boarding-school friendship threatened by Nazi hatred in Malle's elegant tale of World War Two.

“The revolution is not a dinner-party.” Jean-Luc Godard's mix of mordant satire, pedagogical treatise, political tract, and pop-artwork.

Mikhail Kalatozov’s epic about the Cuban Revolution is breathtaking both for its scope and the audacity.

Darkly comic Polish drama about a young woman who goes on a voyage of self-discovery in Ireland after her father unexpectedly passes away.

Jean-Luc Godard intercuts footage of The Rolling Stones composing their classic Sympathy for the Devil with punchy agitprop sketches on the global anti-imperialist struggle.

Patricio Guzmán’s lyrical, illuminating follow-up to Nostalgia for the Light explores the fateful role played by water in Chile’s tragic history.