S2.E8 ∙ Episode #2.8

WWI historian Alexander Watson rates five more First World War battle scenes from movies for realism. He discusses the accuracy of the trench warfare and military strategy portrayed in "1917" (2019) and "Paths of Glory" (1957). He also comments on surprise attacks, cavalry, and helmets in "War Horse" (2011) and "Blizzard of Souls" (2019). Watson analyzes the guns, artillery, ships, destroyers, cannons, and other weapons used in "Admiral" (2008).

Oleg's Choice is a rare immersion into the private lives and thoughts of Russian combatants who have chosen to fight on the separatists side in Ukraine. Since the summer of 2014, thousands of young Russians poured into the Donbas region. Driven by Russian propaganda, they believed they were fulfilling their patriotic duty. Among the first wave of volunteers were Oleg and Max. Oleg was appointed deputy commander of a battalion, while Max became a soldier. Their illusions were shattered on the night of June 3rd 2015, when a battle went horribly wrong. While Oleg and Max continue to fight on the ground, they must also fight creeping doubts that they have that they ended up on the wrong side of the war. The film follows their introspection over the long term; the confession they have gone adrift, the search for meaning, the shock at realizing they have been misled - that they themselves have made mistakes to the frantic rhythm of a war that crushes bodies and reason. It is the story of the human face of a lie that confuses those involved. In this war rewritten by propaganda, where two parallel realities confront each other, they try in their own different ways to find a raison d'être. This is a human story on the borders of good and evil, where men are confronted by their own choices.

During Vietnam the thrust of anti-war activity came from college campuses as young people faced the bleak reality of being drafted into the conflict. Now enmeshed in the largest military campaign since Vietnam middle aged women have emerged as the vanguard for uncertain reasons; in the forms of Cindy Sheehan and Code Pink. In recent months Code Pink has once again asserted themselves at the center of the movement with bold actions during congressional hearings. Their controversial tactics have escalated as the group becomes more desperate for change; due to unmet Democratic promises from 2006, and shifting national attention away from Iraq and towards a struggling economy. Mainstream history is usually defined by military landmarks, based on the enormous impact military campaigns have on the populations involved. Consequently alternative histories are often defined by the struggles against the forces responsible for War. 'A Thursday Night With Code Pink' is designed as a vignette to provide insight into the contemporary women lead anti-war movement.

Documentary about teenagers who were confined to the ghetto prior to being sent to concentration camps in WWII. Using the teens own words and additional historical narrative, The Lodz Ghetto tells of the privation, fear and ultimate disaster that befell these young people as they survived the best they could under the most trying circumstances imaginable.