MARCH 2011

LEST WE FORGET

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CHARLES BEAN’S GREAT WAR

This dramatised documentary pays tribute to the great Australian war correspondent, Charles Bean, who played a major role in the shaping of our understanding of World War I. This is the story of a man and his mission to share the truth of war.

Bean was so inspired by the dignity and performance of Australian troops in Gallipoli that he made it his life’s work to tell their story to the Australian public. The result was the monumental twelve volume ‘Official History of Australia in the War of 1914 – 1918’, widely recognised as one of the best histories of the war ever written. Bean also went on to become the driving force behind the establishment of the Australian War Memorial.

Release Date: 4th May, 2011

NOT FORGOTTEN

The stories of those who fought in the war to end all wars.

In NOT FORGOTTEN, presenter Mark Lee (best known as Archy Hamilton in GALLIPOLI) heads to the memorials as a starting point, researching individual stories to turn names and statistics into people with faces and personal histories. Tracking down their descendants, he unveils a series of moving portraits, exploring the scale of the loss, the experience of grief, and the motivations which took so many Australians to war on the other side of the world.

From a population of just over 4 million, 324,000 Australian men served overseas in WW1. Some 61,700 never came home. Australia suffered the highest casualty rate in the British Empire forces. And every single one of them was a volunteer. As WW1 fades into ancient history, this documentary turns the names frozen in time back into remembered lives. It helps us unlock the experience and the legacy of the Great War on a personal, family, community and national level, and ensuring that 90 years later, these names are not forgotten.

Release Date: Available Now

PAPER DOLLS – AUSTRALIAN PINUPS OF WORLD WAR 2

Australia during the Second World War is usually pictured as austere, a time of rations and perseverance. Women from this time are often portrayed as domesticated or working for the war effort. Sexuality was dangerous and mentioned only in reference to the allure of the visiting American soldiers. Fashion was negated for the khaki greens and grays of uniforms.

In the dark of war, the pinup girls were pictures of hope, of a better time, of people’s longing for fun. Pinups came in different forms: girls in bathers, dancing girls, drawings of glamorous, idealized womanhood and soft focus girls gazing longingly out of their frame. For the women featured in the photos, their brief stardom was for some a liberating and exciting adveture, while for others it was a secret to be hidden from family and community.

This film charts the growth of the Australian pinup through the recollections of three former pinup girls (one amateur and two professional models) as well as a selection of World War 2 veterans who share how these pictures were morale boosters and uplifted their spirits during a frightening, desperate and lonely period of their lives.

Release Date: Available Now

A VERY SHORT WAR

60 million people died during World War II. Cliff Carpenter, Australian airman, was one of them.

A VERY SHORT WAR revolves around the short life of Jack Clifford (Cliff) Carpenter, a pioneer Australian aviator – a man who designed and built his first aeroplane as a teenager and sadly lost his life at the age of 28 in the darkening skies over Norway on the day of the German invasion. He left behind a grieving mother and father, a brother, two sisters and an enduring family legacy.

Through his letters home we are exposed to a fascinating and intriguing insight into the spirit of the times as World War 2 beckoned. A Very Short War is not the story of a hero, yet it is truly heroic. It is a heartening story of great loss as it follows the quest by the nephew Cliff never knew to unravel the truth behind the ultimate sacrifice made in a lonely place far from home.

Release Date: 6th April, 2011

BEAUFIGHTER SQUADRON WW2

This story exposes significant historical events that have been largely neglected or completely forgotten by today’s contemporary society. It tells the tale of the World War 2 Beaufighter Aircraft – known by the Japanese as Whispering Death, a fast heavily armed and almost indestructible aircraft, and its indefatigable Australian crews. Together they helped tip the balance against the invading Japanese during the dark days of 1942-43, once and for all ending the Japanese territorial ambitions toward New Guinea during the crucial Battle of the Bismarck Sea.

The pivotal role played by Australia’s (at the time) large and efficient aircraft industry is documented on archival film – along with the men of 30 and 31 Squadrons who flew the Beaufighters from bases in the Northern Territory, Port Moresby and the islands to the north – with whom we share the experiences as they fought, lived and flew sorties against the enemy.

Release Date: Available Now

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

Ewan McGregor and his R.A.F. pilot brother, Colin, commemorate the 70th Anniversary of The Battle Of Britain.

To mark the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain, arguably the most important event in modern British history, brothers Colin and Ewan McGregor present a ninety minute special leading us through the timeline of events during the height of the Battle.

Colin is an R.A.F veteran of twenty years’ service – Ewan a hero of the big screen and fledgling pilot himself. Together they take us on a journey to honour the heroes of 1940 both on the ground and in the air, bringing the story of the Battle of Britain to a new generation. They will take to the skies over Southern England as Spitfires and Hurricanes once again fly over the White Cliffs of Dover. They discover the legacy of the Battle and reveal the inspiring personal stories of the few who were there and those still with us today.

Release Date: 6th April, 2011

FIRST LIGHT

Geoffrey Wellum was just 18 when he was thrown into combat as a fighter pilot at the beginning of the terrifying air war of the Battle of Britain. Now seventy years on and aged 89, he is still haunted by the conflict that almost destroyed him.

Based on Geoffrey’s personal and deeply moving memoirs, FIRST LIGHT is an intimate drama-documentary that delivers a compelling testimony of his wartime experiences, revisiting the stark emotions and fiery action that dazzled and terrified him as a young man and which changed his life forever. It is the story of a boy who went to war, and who came back a broken man.

Release Date: 6th April, 2011

THE POLISH BATTLE OF BRITAIN

Largely based on the diary kept by pilots of the squadron, this dramatised documentary recounts how, during the most decisive phase of the Battle of Britain, a single squadron of 34 Polish fighter pilots wreaked havoc on the Luftwaffe, in the process helping to change the course of history and overturning RAF prejudices.

From 303 Squadron’s bitter struggle for acceptance when they first arrived in the UK, to the crucial part they played in averting the German invasion, and their ultimate betrayal by the Allies when their country was handed over to Stalin – this is the unknown story of one of the most extraordinary episodes of World War II.

Release Date: Available Now

THE LANCASTER AT WAR

This documentary tells the story of the Avro Lancaster and its part in the bombing campaign of Germany. A campaign that remains highly controversial to this day. The Lancaster’s operational history ranges from the destruction of Hamburg to the massive food drops on Occupied Territory that would save the lives of thousands – it was the only aircraft capable of carrying the huge 22,000 lb ‘Tallboy’ bombs; it carried out the epic Dambusters Raid with the infamous ‘Bouncing Bomb’; it took part in precision raids against the launch sites of Hitler’s ‘V’ weapons, as well as dangerous low level raids many hundreds of miles inside Germany, striking at vital industrial and military targets.

However, THE LANCASTER AT WAR is more than the history of an aircraft, no matter how powerful and intense that story alone is. Featuring exclusive interviews with surviving Lancaster aircrew who flew and fought throughout the grim battle of aerial attrition, THE LANCASTER AT WAR brings home the reality of taking part, night after relentless night, in missions where the odds of survival were slim. These men tell of the fear, the pride and determination that played a significant part in the defeat of the Nazi regime and bringing the war to a swift and decisive end.

Release Date: Available Now

FIGHTING THE RED BARON

At the outset of WW1 the aeroplane was seen as having little use other than to act as a spotter plane for the cavalry and artillery. But in the space of 6 months – the bloodiest of the war – a group of young pilots transformed the role of the aeroplane into a deadly killing machine that changed the nature of warfare forever. This is the story of those 6 months, centering around Bloody April during which the average life expectancy of a pilot was reduced to just 3 weeks.

The film is told though the first hand accounts of the actual pilots, painstakingly documented in Josh Levin’s book ‘On a Wing and a Prayer’ and archaeological digs.

Release Date: Available Now

CONVOY

CONVOY is the story of the longest and bloodiest campaign of WW2. Over 4 years, 100,000 people died and 2,500 ships were sunk in the Battle of the Atlantic. It brought Britain to the brink of defeat. From the eastern seaboard of the U.S.A. to the west coast of Africa, those who died had no graves – only their names carved on memorials.

This four-part series is driven by compelling interviews with members of the Merchant Navy, U-boat crews and Royal Navy who fought in the battle. We speak to merchant seaman Albert Becker who survived 46 days at sea in a life raft; Richard Hardegan the commander of U-123 who sank 8 ships in a single night; and navy officers who were forced to steam past victims of the sinkings. And every crucial event is covered, from the opening salvo when a U-Boat snuck into Scapa Flow and sunk HMS Royal Oak, to the ‘Happy Time’ of German U-Boat dominance and the final months of the battle where the U-Boats were driven out of the Atlantic.

Release Date: Available Now

LIVING WITH THE ENEMY

This is the story of the years between the end of World War II and the founding of the two German states: 1945 to 1949, which proved to be a decisive period for both Germany and the occupying forces. It was a period of reciprocal impressions and experience for both occupiers and occupied and a period that still fundamentally shapes personal fates, families, the economy, the arts and geopolitics.

This period was the beginning of the Cold War. It would influence global politics for decades to come. A new generation of historians with new findings, archives only now accessible, and the willingness of those involved to engage in an open dialogue make a new, remarkable in-depth view of these historical events possible.

Release Date: Available Now

PARIS 1919

For six fateful months in 1919, Paris became the centre of the world. The last shots had been fired in the most devastating war of all time. Almost 10 million were dead. Two empires had collapsed. The old world order lay in tatters and a new one desperately needed to be created.

Driven by unprecedented urgency, delegations from over 30 nations descended upon Paris for the most ambitious peace talks in history. The French capital became the destination of emirs and presidents, newsmen and royalty, ambitious socialites and enterprising arms dealers.

At the helm of the conference were the Big Four – U.S. president Woodrow Wilson, French prime minister Georges Clemenceau, British prime minister David Lloyd George and Italian prime minister Vittorio Orlando – all of whom endeavoured to engineer a peace treaty “for all time”. And while the Big Four staggered under their mind-boggling agenda, separate committees assessed war reparations or realigned national borders, creating new entities like Iraq or Yugoslavia with little chance for reflection. Meanwhile, the streets were teeming with starving widows and war amputees – and all the while, Germany was rearming.

Paris 1919 takes us inside this singular event with vivid sense of character and narrative. In a finely crafted and thoughtful work of popular history, director Paul Cowan blends re-enactments with archival images to evoke the cut-and-thrust of diplomacy and a brief moment when the prospect of everlasting peace gave hope to a weary world. Bringing events into focus are astute observations from John Maynard Keynes and Harold Nicolson, members of the British delegation and players in a real-life cast that includes Lawrence of Arabia, Chaim Weizmann and a young Vietnamese kitchen hand named Ho Chi Minh.

Release Date: Available Now

WORLD WAR 2 IN COLOUR

This two part series presents new, unseen colour material from World War 2 – including footage of King George VI and Queen Elisabeth visiting the 1939 World’s Trade Fair in New York; Pearl Harbour before and after the Japanese attack; good quality 35mm footage of a military wedding in Dresden two years before the 1945 bombing; celebrations of Hitler’s birthday in his home town of Linz in 1943; the capture of the U-boat U-505 by the US navy; US marines on Iowa Jima; and a kamikaze hit on the carrier USS Ticonderoga in 1945.

Also included in the series is documentary footage by Hollywood directors William Wyler, George Stevens and John Ford, including some of Ford’s Oscar-winning coverage of the Battle of Midway where he was wounded.

Release Date: Available Now

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