S1.E7 ∙ Striking Distance

Following 9/11, less than 100 US troops were sent to overthrow the Taliban, a war-origin story and cautionary tale highlighting the impact of 15 years of constant combat.

Chronicles the battle to control Fallujah, Iraq (known as "Operation Phantom Fury") from the perspective of six American troops who were there.

The Nazi evolution from murderous anti-semitism into organised death camps, as documented in this sober piece of historical excavation from Holocaust specialist James Bulgin, is truly shocking in its specificity. An ad-hoc interpretation of party doctrine became an agreed policy of mass shootings on the Eastern Front, before logistical frustrations and concern for the mental health of the executioners prompted a shift to more efficient methods. Almost as distressing as the barbarism itself was the necessary collaboration and complicity of many thousands of locals across Latvia and Lithuania. Harrowing viewing, but it is surely only in better understanding the detail behind the Nazis' mass murders that we can better understand how to ensure it never happens again.

"Powstanie Warszawskie" ("Warsaw Uprising") is the world's first feature film assembled entirely of documentary materials. The film tells the story of the Warsaw Uprising as seen by two young brothers, filmmakers of Uprising Chronicles, carrying orders of Propaganda Bureau of the Armia Krajowa. They are direct witnesses to the street fights against Germans and dream of shooting the "real" war. Initially, however, they document the life of capital's civilians. Such materials are expected from their commander, giving them the task of preparing the journal, which is to be displayed in the cinema "Palladium". Looking for suitable shots they go deeper and deeper into actual fights. In the end, they manage to join one of the fight units, which they follow in action. The characters realize that they had to participate in something beyond their wildest dreams - the world in which they find themselves is the world after the apocalypse. They realize that their role is to document the apocalypse and keep safe the tapes at all costs.

Robert Greenwald's gripping and controversial documentary, detailing the administration's march to war, as seen through the eyes of countless experts. 2004 National Theatrical Release.

This WWII documentary uses current location filming and authentic historic film clips to document the Battle of the Bulge, the last big German offensive in World War II, which was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in eastern Belgium, northeast France, and Luxembourg in December of 1944. The film also portrays the heroism, as well as the confusion and humiliation, that characterized both the Allied and the German troops. It contains rare or previously unseen archival film material as well as in-depth interviews with military leaders from both sides who gives their account of this battle.