Apart from being sectioned into documentaries and feature films, these listings are not yet organized, so until they are, please enjoy browsing!

Faith of the Century:  A History of Communism

Communism spread to all of the continents of the word, lasting through four generations and over seven decades. Hundreds of millions of men and women were affected by this political system, one of the most unjust and bloodiest in history.  Using newly discovered propaganda films and archival photos, this two-disc set explores the mysteries of this totalitarian political machine that lured its share of important followers into the fold. Known as the red church, communism seduced its ardent followers like some earthly religion. Comprehensive, compelling, and captivating.

Reds

Winner of four Academy Awards. "Warren Beatty's lengthy 1981 drama about American Communist John Reed and his relationships with both the Russian Revolution and a writer named Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton) is a compelling piece of little-known history told in a uniquely personal way. Beatty plays Reed as he did the title gangster in Bugsy and Senator in Bulworth, as a visionary likely to die before anyone fully recognizes the progressiveness of the vision, including those who are supposed to be on the same page. Jack Nicholson has an interesting part as fellow intellectual Eugene O'Neill, and the late author Jerzy Kosinski -- himself a refugee from then-Soviet-controlled Poland -- makes a strong impression as Reed's problematic Russian liaison." (Tom Keogh)

Human Remains

Human Remains is a haunting documentary which illustrates the banality of evil by creating intimate portraits of five of this century's most reviled dictators. The film unveils the personal lives of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Francisco Franco and Mao Tse Tung. We learn the private and mundane details of their everyday lives -- their favorite foods, films, habits and sexual preferences. There is no mention of their public lives or of their place in history. The intentional omission of the horrors for which these men were responsible hovers over the film.  Human Remains addresses this horror from a completely different angle. Irony and even occasional humor are sprinkled throughout the documentary. This darkly poetic film is based entirely on fact, creatively combining direct quotes and biographical research. Though based on historical figures, Human Remains is contemporary in its implications and ultimately invites the viewer to confront the nature of evil.

Katyn

"The Katyn massacre is probably more of a 'war crime' than genocide due to the fact that its victims were prisoners of war, but it does have echoes of Srebenica. On the other hand, it probably falls under the category of gendercide since all of the victims were targeted for being men of the Polish officer corps. In any case, it is a powerful film, a narrative that creatively conveys the devastation experienced by the officers and the ones who loved them. The film is also effective in its treatment of the political chaos within a Poland controlled by two murderous regimes." (Sari Siegel)

Pandora’s Box

PANDORA S BOX is another groundbreaking documentary from British Documentary maker Adam Curtis. Subtitled A fable from the age of science, this six part series examines the consequences of political and technocratic rationalism.  The episodes deal in order with communism in the Soviet Union, systems analysis and game theory during the Cold War, economy in the United Kingdom during the 1970 s, the insecticide DDT, Kwame Nkrumah s leadership in Ghana during the 1950-60 s and the history of nuclear power.

Burnt by the Sun

"Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov is also the star of this tragic 1994 drama about the last happy season in the life of a Bolshevik hero's family. The year is 1936, and Stalin's purges are in full swing. Despite his reputation and revolutionary record, Sergei Kotov (Mikhalkov) seems to be on the dictator's hit list, as indicated by the insulting arrival of his wife's former lover, an agent of government police. Mikhalkov treats all this as a matter of personal and political intrigue dropping like rotting fruit in the middle of a sunny and loving period for the Kotov clan. The director ingeniously understates the mounting threat until one begins to realize that the Kotovs are only geographically distant from the long, bloody reach of Stalin. By the time we do realize it, the shock of change is almost unbearable. A very fine movie all around, though Mikhalkov's touches of magic realism (particularly the presence of a golden orb that keeps popping into the action) are distracting and a subject of controversy among viewers." (Tom Keogh)

Stalin by those Who Knew Him

The bold documentaries of Semyon Aranovich created a storm of controversy in Russia by revealing the truth behind a violent, repressive era of Soviet history. Offered together for the first time, this trio of exposés pulls back the Iron Curtain to show what it was really like.  THE ANNA AKHMATOVA FILE offers a portrait of a poet whose life and art suffered under the iron hand of Stalin for most of her life. Her poem Requiem became the underground anthem for the millions who were victimized during his regime. Through the personal experiences of Stalin s last surviving personal protector, I WAS STALIN S BODYGUARD is a singular study of a violent and complex era.  I WORKED FOR STALIN is tale of cunning, betrayal, and fear among the Soviet dictator s inner circle as they jockey for power and position. Aranovich charts their diabolical power games, revealing astonishing facts about the people who were responsible for the fates of millions.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s First Circle

"December 1949. Joseph Stalin rules Russia through a brutal regime of terror and systematized torture. Inside Mavrino Prison, the first circle of penal hell in Stalin's Russia, the inmates -- physicists, mathematicians, electrical engineers, and technical experts -- are forced to operate a scientific research center. The term of their sentence is undefined. A discovery useful to the government could mean freedom. A failure could mean a labor camp in Siberia. From a phone booth on a dark Moscow street, a man makes a furtive and hurried phone call to the American Embassy. His call is being recorded by the Ministry of Security, for whom establishing the caller's identity becomes a matter of mounting urgency. At Mavrino, a voice print analysis machine is in late-stage development. The pressure to complete it becomes relentless. As tension, suspicion and the risk of betrayal mount each scientist must struggle to retain his humanity in the face of overwhelming tyranny." (From the Amazon.com description)

The Fall of Communism

A program that puts the fall of Communism in perspective - from the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, to independence movements in Poland and Lithuania and the break-up of the Soviet Union. Hosted by ABC's Pierre Salinger.

The Soviet Story

This award-winning documentary by director Edvins Snore and tells the story of the Soviet regime and how the Soviet Union helped Nazi Germany instigate the Holocaust. Other subjects covered by the film include: - The Great Famine in Ukraine (1932/33) - The Katyn massacre (1940) - The SS-KGB partnership - French Communists and the Nazis - Soviet mass deportations - Medical experiments in the GULAG. The Soviet Story was filmed over 2 years in Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Germany, France, UK and Belgium. The film includes recently uncovered archive documents as well as interviews with former Soviet Military intelligence officials. As a result, The Soviet Story presents a truly unique insight into recent Soviet history, told by people, once Soviet citizens, who have first-hand knowledge of it. The Soviet Story also discusses the impact of the Soviet legacy on modern day Europe. Listen to experts and European MPs discussing the implications of a selective attitude towards mass murder; and meet a woman describing the burial of her new born son in a GULAG concentration camp. The Soviet Story is a story of pain, injustice and realpolitik. The DVD contains the full 85 minute documentary feature, 25 minutes of bonus interviews, and a full color film booklet. The film is in English and the DVD includes subtitles in 15 languages: Czech, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Ukrainian (the subtitles are selected via a menu screen). The DVD is new, factory-sealed, NTSC Region 0 and shipped direct from the films producer. This edition is for Private Home Use. Libraries, Community Groups/Clubs, Universities, Endowments, etc. please purchase the appropriate licensed edition from the film's website www.sovietstory.com.

Russia:  Land of the Tsars

Its forests stretch from Europe to the Pacific. Its winters have vanquished the mightiest armies ever mustered. Its people have borne the excesses of some of history's most notorious rulers. RUSSIA: LAND OF THE TSARS illuminates the imperial past of the world's largest nation. At the heart of this epic tale are the figures whose names have become legend: Ivan the Terrible, who expanded the empire at the rate of 50 miles--and innumerable lives--a day; Peter the Great, whose sweeping reforms westernized the nation; and Catherine the Great, whose rule was marked by conquest, change and controversy. Filmed on location throughout Russia, enriched by exclusive visits to important sites and museums, and filled with commentary from renowned scholars, this is a kaleidoscopic, captivating portrait of a land that has endured centuries of despair and rebellion, innovation and conflict.

Stalin:  Man of Steel

***100 minutes of newly-released information and archival documentary footage. ***Thorough examination of Stalin's biography. ***He ruled with an iron fist, treating his people like grist for the mill of power and threatening the world with his expansionist fantasies. One of the most influential and notorious leaders of the 20th century, he was likely also the greatest murderer of history, sending an estimated 20 million people to their deaths. ***STALIN: MAN OF STEEL is a multi-faceted portrait of the man who succeeded Lenin as the head of the Soviet Union. With a captivating blend of period documents, newly-released information, newsreel and archival footage and interviews with experts, the program examines his rise to power, deconstructs the cult of personality that helped him maintain an iron grip over his vast empire, and analyzes the policies he introduced, including the deadly expansion of the notorious gulags where he banished so many of his countrymen to certain death.

Joseph Stalin:  Red Terror

He held absolute power over the Soviet Union for 29 years. His legacy arguably surpasses even Hitler's he sent over 20 million of his own countrymen to their deaths! Josef Stalin is one of the greatest tyrants of all time. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the extent of his atrocities have been revealed to a stunned world, and he has taken his place alongside Hitler as one of the most reviled leaders of the century.   This comprehensive portrait revisits the life of "Uncle Joe" through astonishing Soviet archival film and an astonishing collection of interviews. Biographers Robert Conquest and Edvard Radzinsky explore his disastrous reforms, including the collectivization of agriculture and his massive purges. Former interpreter Valentin Berezhkov offers a first-person view of the dictator, while purge victim Dr. Janusz Bardach talks about his time in the Gulags. And in a rare interview Mikail Gorbachev explores the rise, rule and legacy of the most infamous of all his predecessors. BIOGRAPHY proudly presents a definitive history of one of the most important, compelling and hated men in history.

Vladimir Lenin:  Voice of Revolution

Documents released since the fall of the Soviet Union shed new light on one of the most controversial and influential figures of the century.

Trotsky:  Rise & Fall of a Revolutionary

Trotsky, the hero of the Russian Revolution, was for years venerated like a saint. For him the October Revolution and the civil war were merely stages on the way to his real aim: the world revolution.  Yet the celebrated hero became a wanted man. His embittered opponent Stalin, whom he underestimated all his life, took away his power little by little, extinguished his influence and banished him from the history of the Revolution.  Trotsky's role in history is still a subject of controversy; in Russia he is the great non-person. Even today he is still an object of unbridled hatred from many quarters. Was Trotsky a moral monster, a mass murderer, who wanted to subjugate the world with one blow, once and for all.  This film examines Trotsky, the revolutionary; venerated and reviled, loved, hated, feared. Archive material compiled from all over the world, citations and new shoots create an electrifying proximity to the historical person and to the man Leo Trotsky. Stages in his life and eventual flight are carefully examined, from St. Petersburg, to Mexico City. This is the riveting political biography of the Revolution's onetime hero.  A film by Daniel Ast and Jurgen Ast.

Russian Revolution in Color

“The Russian Revolution and Civil War were major watersheds of the 20th Century. Now, for the first time, the story of this bloodsoaked time is being told in full color. New footage from the battlefields, expert testimonies, and exciting colorized archives help to unfold the dramatic story of the Communist rise and seizure of power in 1917.”

plot summaries & other information are from Amazon.com unless otherwise noted