Forbidden Games

1944: Should We Bomb Auschwitz?(it)

In 1944, two prisoners miraculously escaped from Auschwitz. They told the world of the horror of the Holocaust and raised one of the greatest moral questions of the 20th century.

Think of England(en)

Six disparate souls are sent on a secret government mission to make propaganda porn films for the boys on the front, each one struggling under the weight of their own conscience in this war-torn world, and it's not about to get any easier.

V hodine dvanástej(sk)

The Nightingale(en)

The lives of two French sisters are torn apart by the onset of World War II.

Ako sa Vinco zaťal(sk)

Evening Bells(sh)

Trials and tribulations of a Croatian communist intellectual in the turbulent years before, during and after the Second World War.

Beasts of No Nation(en)

Based on the experiences of Agu, a child fighting in the civil war of an unnamed, fictional West African country. Follows Agu's journey as he's forced to join a group of soldiers. While he fears his commander and many of the men around him, his fledgling childhood has been brutally shattered by the war raging through his country, and he is at first torn between conflicting revulsion and fascination.

Hitler's Forgotten Victims(en)

The story of black and mixed race people in Nazi Germany who were sterilised, experimented upon, tortured and exterminated in the Nazi concentration camps. It also explores the history of German racism and examines the treatment of Black prisoners-of-war. The film uses interviews with survivors and their families as well as archival material to document the Black German Holocaust experience.

The Russians Are Coming(de)

It’s the spring of 1945 in a small resort town on the Baltic. Günter is 16 and firmly believes that the Germans will win the war. During the hunt for a forced labourer who is on the run, Günter catches him and watches as he is shot to death. He proudly accepts the award of an Iron Cross before being shipped to the nearby front as part of the last contingent of troops. He is quickly captured by Soviet soldiers, but manages to escape and return home. When the town is occupied by the Red Army, Günter is arrested for the murder of the forced labourer. The film was banned in 1968 before it was completed, and a large portion of the negative was later destroyed.

The Concert(sh)

Celebrating the end of World War II and liberation of their city, a group of students is set on holding a cultural evening. They invite Ema, a reclusive piano teacher from the same building, to play for them. Ema declines, but starts reminscing back on her own life and the historical events that have seemingly overshadowed it.

Wolf's Night(mk)

A group of Macedonian partisans are hiding away in the mountains from Bulgarian fascist authorities that occupy Macedonia.

The Forgotten Battle(nl)

In WWII's final years, a soldier in the German army, a British glider pilot, and a Dutch resistance fighter's paths intertwine. Their choices shape destinies, impacting not only their freedom but also that of others.

Men Behind the Sun(cn)

The film is a graphic depiction of the war atrocities committed by the Japanese at Unit 731, the secret biological weapons experimentation unit of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The film details the various cruel medical experiments Unit 731 inflicted upon the Chinese and Soviet prisoners at the tail-end of the war.

Between Two Worlds(en)

Passengers on an ocean liner can't recall how they got onboard or where they are going. Soon it becomes apparent that they all have something in common.

Lady Oscar(en)

Oscar François de Jarjayes was born female, but her father insisted she be raised as a boy as he had no sons. She becomes the captain of the guards at Versailles under King Louis XVI and Marie Antonette. Her privileged, noble life comes under fire as she discovers the hard life of the poor people of France. She is caught up in the French Revolution, and must choose between her loyalty and love.

Colt 45(fr)

Vincent Miles, a gunsmith and shooting instructor at the National Police, is an expert in combat shooting who stubbornly refuses to join a field brigade, a choice which their colleagues do not understand. When he meets Milo Cardena, a mysterious and skilled cop, his life changes in such way that he cannot ignore his true nature anymore.

The Hour Before the Dawn(en)

A beautiful Austrian refugee in England--who is also a Nazi agent--marries a scholarly English pacifist. He lives near a secret military base she needs to get information about so she can help in Hitler's planned invasion of England.

Quel maledetto ponte sull'Elba(it)

Hell Is for Heroes(en)

World War II drama where the action centers around a single maneuver by a squad of GIs in retaliation against the force of the German Siegfried line. Reese joins a group of weary GIs unexpectedly ordered back into the line when on their way to a rest area. While most of the men withdraw from their positions facing a German pillbox at the far side of a mine-field, half a dozen men are left to protect a wide front. By various ruses, they manage to convince the Germans that a large force is still holding the position. Then Reese leads two of the men in an unauthorized and unsuccessful attack on the pillbox, in which the other two are killed; and when the main platoon returns, he is threatened with court-martial. Rather that face the disgrace, and in an attempt to show he was right, he makes a one-man attack on the pillbox.

Hope and Glory(en)

A middle-aged man recalls his childhood growing up in and around London during World War II.

Father's Little Dividend(en)

Newly married Kay Dunstan announces that she and her husband are having a baby, leaving her father to come to grips with the fact that he will soon be a granddad.

The Blind Sunflowers(es)

Orense, Spain, 1940, just after the end of the Civil War. Every time Elena locks the door of her home, she and her children become the faithful guardians of a sacred secret: Ricardo, her husband, their father, hides in the house, trying to avoid the brutal political persecution of the victors, who hunt, as if they were wild animals, and imprison or execute, those who have lost the bloody and tragic struggle…

Mother and Son(ru)

A man goes for a walk through the countryside with his dying mother.

Wavelength(en)

Wavelength consists of almost no action, and what action does occur is largely elided. If the film could be said to have a conventional plot, this would presumably refer to the three “character” scenes. In the first scene two people enter a room, chat briefly, and listen to “Strawberry Fields Forever” on the radio. Later, a man (played by filmmaker Hollis Frampton) enters inexplicably and dies on the floor. And last, the female owner of the apartment is heard and seen on the phone, speaking, with strange calm, about the dead man in her apartment whom she has never seen before.

Patterns(en)

Staples, a successful plant operator, is brought in from Ohio to take an executive position at Ramsey & Co. in New York. He forms a friendship with Briggs, the long-time vice president, but it soon becomes apparent that Walter Ramsey, who has inherited the position of CEO, is grooming Staples to replace Briggs. Ramsey will not fire Briggs, instead doing everything he can to humiliate and sabotage Briggs until he resigns.

Stiffs(en)

Frank Tramontana, a hearse driver who unwittingly gets drawn into a scheme his co-workers have concocted for a series of unfortunate "accidents" designed to clean up the neighborhood and fill their funeral parlor with much needed customers.

Ituzaingó v3rit4(es)

This night, Ituzaingó, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, exudes film and theater. Actors, actresses, directors, and producers parade like narcissuses of the underground in a world of jealousy, hypocrisy, idiocy, and so much more.

Ogres(fr)

There's drama aplenty for the travelling theatre company Chekhov Cabaret. The actors share the good times and the bad as a nomadic tribe where work and private life always mingle. They don’t mince words, these obstreperous actors with a sardonic sense of humour. Theatre always comes first.

Bye Bye Blondie(fr)

A love story of two women who meet up in their late forties and attempt to retrieve the romance they had in their youth.

Sensualidad(es)

A saloon singer is released from prison after being convicted on a prostitution charge. She plans to blackmail the judge from her case by seducing him, but after she grows close to the judge she has a change of heart.

Puppet Master 4(en)

Blade, Tunneler, and Pinhead go toe-to-toe with a team of terrifying, gremlin-like creatures known as "Totems" that are sent by the Egyptian demon Sutekh to recapture the magic stolen by Toulon.

Love Streams(en)

Two closely-bound, emotionally wounded siblings reunite after years apart.

The Heiress(en)

In 1840s New York, the uneventful and boring days of the daughter of a wealthy doctor come to an end when she meets a dashing poorer man — who may or may not be after her inheritance.

The Old Dark House(en)

In a remote region of Wales, five travelers beset by a relentless storm find shelter in an old mansion.

Barefoot Gen(ja)

A story about the effect of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.

A House of Your Dreams(fr)

On a mission to loosen up, a miser's sets about buying a house in the country for his family.

The Secret(fr)

Marie, who works as a successful door-to-door encyclopedia salesperson, has been married to her husband Francois for 12 years and has a two-year-old son. Though she is relatively content with her life, she feels something is wanting. Enter 50-year old African-American Bill. Initially she is annoyed by his insouciance, but she finds that she is irresistibly attracted to him. Soon the two are in the midst of sordid illicit affair. She knows little about her new lover, and he seems uninterested in learning about her, but the long sessions of lovemaking are something else entirely. Feeling out of control, Marie is increasingly repelled by her own actions. Psychologically, she struggles to reconcile her torrid encounters with Bill and mundane domestic chores such as bathing her son. Moreover, she finds herself incapable of hiding her adulterous behavior, rather she comes home with scratches and hickeys all over her body, to the devastation Francois.

Le Corbeau(fr)

Remy Germain is a doctor in a French town who becomes the focus of a vicious smear campaign, as letters accusing him of having an affair and performing unlawful abortions are mailed to village leaders. The mysterious writer, who signs each letter as "Le Corbeau" (The Raven) soon targets the whole town, exposing everyone's dark secrets.

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet(en)

The story of life on our planet by the man who has seen more of the natural world than any other. In more than 90 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Addressing the biggest challenges facing life on our planet, the film offers a powerful message of hope for future generations.

Lucky(en)

Follows the journey of a 90-year-old atheist and the quirky characters that inhabit his off-the-map desert town. He finds himself at the precipice of life, thrust into a journey of self-exploration.