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Political Pictures
When asked what a government most fears, one prime minister declared, "Events, dear boy. Events". These films chart events and people, real and imagined, who dared to ask for change, for power and for more.
From Roberto Rossellini's portrayal of resistance under Nazi occupation to the revolutionary stirrings of Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers and on to the intellectual interrogation of The Stuart Hall Project, our collection offers an entryist route into cinema's body-politic: where radical thought meets imperative image-making.
PaisàPaisà
War1946126 minsDirector: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s ambitious and enormously moving follow-up to his breakthrough Rome, Open City.
War RequiemWar Requiem
War198993 minsDirector: Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman's affecting vision of the horrors young men faced during the First World War.
Between Two WorldsBetween Two Worlds
Drama2021106 minsDirector: Emmanuel Carrère
Juliette Binoche plays an undercover reporter investigating the conditions faced by France’s working women in this insightful, involving drama.
Rome, Open CityRome, Open City
War1945103 minsDirector: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s landmark of Italian neorealism often cited as one of the greatest films ever made.
La ChinoiseLa Chinoise
Drama196796 minsDirector: Jean-Luc Godard
“The revolution is not a dinner-party.” Jean-Luc Godard's mix of mordant satire, pedagogical treatise, political tract, and pop-artwork.
My Nazi LegacyMy Nazi Legacy
Documentary201596 minsDirector: David Evans
What if your father was a Nazi? This is the harrowing question raised in David Evans’ thought-provoking documentary.
I Never CryI Never Cry
Comedy202097 minsDirector: Piotr Domalewski
Darkly comic Polish drama about a young woman who goes on a voyage of self-discovery in Ireland after her father unexpectedly passes away.
The Last of EnglandThe Last of England
Animation & Artists Moving Image198791 minsDirector: Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman's passionate and poetic lament on the rise of Thatcherism and corporate dealings.
Au revoir les enfantsAu revoir les enfants
War1987105 minsDirector: Louis Malle
A French boarding-school friendship threatened by Nazi hatred in Malle's elegant tale of World War Two.
Land and FreedomLand and Freedom
War1995105 minsDirector: Ken Loach
Ken Loach’s passionate war drama follows an idealistic young Liverpudlian (Ian Hart) who fights for the international brigade during the Spanish Civil War.
HostileHostile
Documentary202293 minsDirector: Sonita Gale
This powerful BAFTA recognised documentary explores the personal stories of those affected by the UK's ‘hostile environment’ policies.
A Syrian Love StoryA Syrian Love Story
Documentary201576 minsDirector: Sean McAllister
The inspiring journey towards freedom of Raghda and Amer, a couple brought together by the turmoil of the Syrian Civil War.
The Battle of AlgiersThe Battle of Algiers
Drama1966121 minsDirector: Gillo Pontecorvo
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.
Shoah (First Era)Shoah (First Era)
Documentary1985274 minsDirector: Claude Lanzmann
Claude Lanzmann's monumental chronicle of the Holocaust has been acclaimed by many as the greatest documentary ever made.
Shoah (Second Era)Shoah (Second Era)
Documentary1985293 minsDirector: Claude Lanzmann
Claude Lanzmann's monumental chronicle of the Holocaust has been acclaimed by many as the greatest documentary ever made.
The Stuart Hall ProjectThe Stuart Hall Project
Documentary201399 minsDirector: John Akomfrah
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.