1. The Bridge on the River Kwai
The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.
It has an average vote of 7.833 on TMDB.
2. The Color Purple
An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.
It has an average vote of 7.75 on TMDB.
3. The Peacekeepers
With unprecedented access to the UN Department of Peacekeeping, The Peacekeepers provides an intimate and dramatic portrait of the struggle to save "a failed state" The film follows the determined and often desperate maneuvers to avert another Rwandan disaster, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo . Focusing on the UN mission, the film cuts back and forth between the UN headquarters in New York and events on the ground in the DRC. We are with the peacekeepers in the "Crisis Room" as they balance the risk of loss of life on the ground with the enormous sums of money required from uncertain donor countries. We are with UN troops as the northeast Congo erupts and the future of the DRC, if not all of central Africa, hangs in the balance. In the background, but often impinging on peacekeeping decisions, are the painful memory of Rwanda, the worsening crisis in Iraq, global terrorism, and American hegemony in world affairs.
4. Out of Africa
Tells the life story of Danish author Karen Blixen, who at the beginning of the 20th century moved to Africa to build a new life for herself. The film is based on her 1937 autobiographical novel.
It has an average vote of 7.176 on TMDB.
5. Escape from the World's Most Dangerous Place
Successful model Samira Hashi makes an emotional return to Somalia, one of the most dangerous places in the world and the place she was born. Civil war broke out in 1991, 10 days after Samira's birth, but two years later her family managed to flee the country and she grew up in the UK.Now, as Samira and the war both turn 21, she's going back for the first time to visit the people and places she left behind. The contrast with her safe and glamorous life in London could not be starker as she experiences firsthand the war's effect on a generation of young people growing up in conflict.
6. Johann Winckelmann - The Love of Art (Der erotische Blick - Johann Winckelmann)
He described his love of art as his greatest inclination from his youth: Johann Joachim Winckelmann as a representative and rediscoverer of Greek and Roman antiquity. He was the father of European art history and was the victim of a robbery-murder in 1768. The documentary tells of his life, his work and his early death.
7. Razões Africanas (Razões Africanas)
(Razões Africanas)
8. Batouk (Batouk)
This uneven and uninspired documentary of Africa is a collection from various stock footage. Female dancers in mod clothes dance on the Eiffel Tower in comparison to the primitive dances of native Africans. A lone runner trains for a marathon, and a few animals are shown in their natural habitat. Commentary and modern jazz and pop music help to make this seem much longer than 66 minutes.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
9. The Man Who Wanted to See It All (The Man Who Wanted to See It All)
Heinz Stücke left Germany in 1962 with a bike, a tent and a goal: to see everything in the world. Now for the first time in 50 years, he's come home.
It has an average vote of 7.3 on TMDB.
10. Affliction
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa seen through the eyes of the local populations, village officials, aid workers, the sick and those who recovered.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
11. Wild Water
This Sportscope short focuses on the sport of kayaking.
12. Lions of Crocodile River
Lazy relatives. Jealous neighbors. Runaway kids. The everyday troubles of one family - except this family is a pride of lions. Shot over three years during the most extreme seasonal changes in Africa, the film follows Mfumu - the pride's leader - as he struggles to defend his turf, and his mate Chipazuwa as she tries to produce offspring. Among the threats: a river infested with crocodiles that have taken every litter of cubs -- and a rival male, bent on taking over the pride.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
13. SADDARI (Saddari سداري)
Saddari is a story of A 3 Young bikers decide to hit the road to another state for adventure , Ending up embarking on a challenging bike trip across all of Sudan with less than a 100$ In their pockets combined and worn-out bicycles, Facing numerous challenges along the way.
14. The Ark of Lights and Shadows (Archa světel a stínů)
The forgotten story of Martin and Osa Johnson, rebel filmmakers and Kansas natives who made some of the first films in Africa in times when filming itself was more dangerous than lions or malaria.
15. Mr. Kingstreet's War
A couple sets up an African game preserve, only to have British and Italian armies fight over the waterholes.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
16. Stealing Africa
Zambia's copper resources have not made the country rich. Virtually all Zambia's copper mines are owned by corporations. In the last ten years, they've extracted copper worth $29 billion but Zambia is still ranked one of the twenty poorest countries in the world. So why hasn't copper wealth reduced poverty in Zambia? Once again it comes down to the issue of tax, or in Zambia's case, tax avoidance and the use of tax havens. Tax avoidance by corporations costs poor countries and estimated $160 billion a year, almost double what they receive in international aid. That's enough to save the lives of 350,000 children aged five or under every year. For every $1 given in aid to a poor country, $10 drains out. Vital money that could help a poor country pay for healthcare, schools, pensions and infrastructure. Money that would make them less reliant on aid.
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
17. The Little Church That Could
Amidst a mostly Catholic community, a small tiny Anglican church offers more to the community of Placentia than people may think, and holds many connections and history to the rest of the world.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
18. Prince Consort (Prinzgemahle - Im Schatten der Krone)
(Prinzgemahle - Im Schatten der Krone)
19. African Safari
A documentary that leads the audience from Namibia to Kilimanjaro to explore the African wildlife.
It has an average vote of 6.8 on TMDB.
20. The Flawed Genius of Jan Smuts
Jan Smuts is a foremost political figure in South African 20th Century History, and is recognised today by two of the world's leading historians as being at the very centre of the vision for a new world order that emerges from the League of Nations and the United Nations.. Yet, he is virtually persona non grata in his own country.... and largely ignored in school history books.</p><p> This one hour drama-documentary, with its dramatised cameo scenes in which his look-alike grandson takes on the role of Jan Smuts, battle re-enactments, historical archival footage, comments from historians, political analysts, and South African political struggle heroes, looks back on his life and the circumstances that shaped it in search of some answers.
It has an average vote of 9 on TMDB.
