1. Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone
What it felt like to live through the collapse of communism and democracy. A series of films by Adam Curtis.
It has an average vote of 9.1 on TMDB.
2. Phantom India (L'Inde fantôme)
Louis Malle called his gorgeous and groundbreaking Phantom India the most personal film of his career. And this extraordinary journey to India, originally shown as a miniseries on European television, is infused with his sense of discovery, as well as occasional outrage, intrigue, and joy.
It has an average vote of 5.2 on TMDB.
3. Mussolini: The First Fascist (Mussolini, le premier fasciste)
Mussolini seized power in Italy in 1922, after his March on Rome. He would hold it in his grasp until his death in 1945, establishing a dictatorship that lasted more than 20 years. Long considered a buffoon and a second-rate dictator, Il Duce invented fascism that was imitated by Hitler, who viewed the Italian as his political master. He wanted to transform his country into a warrior nation and promised Italians a return to the grandeur of the Roman Empire. He governed by violence and trickery and was one of the first populist leaders of modern times, leading his country into the catastrophe of the World War II. But who was Mussolini, this former teacher who came from the extreme left to become a newspaper editor and creator of the Fascist Party? Why did he ally himself with Hitler? Were the Italians really behind him? With archives and interviews with the last-surviving witnesses of the era, this portrait takes a look back at one of the most notorious dictators of the 20th century.
It has an average vote of 9.5 on TMDB.
4. L'Armée rouge (L'Armée rouge)
(L'Armée rouge)
5. The Dictator's Playbook
Learn how six dictators, from Mussolini to Saddam Hussein, shaped the 20th century. How did they seize and lose power? What forces were against them? Learn the answers in these six immersive hours, each a revealing portrait of brutality and power.
It has an average vote of 7.5 on TMDB.
6. Persons of Interest
Four episodes, each featuring a "person of interest" — Roger Milliss, Michael Hyde, Gary Foley and Frank Hardy — exploring their previously secret ASIO intelligence file.
7. Red Chapters
(Red Chapters)
8. The Struggles for Poland
This 9-episodes documentary series extensively examines the history of Poland in the 20th Century, telling the story through archival films, newsreels, interviews, and readings from novels and poems.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
9. Хроники видика: легенды эпохи VHS (Хроники видика: легенды эпохи VHS)
(Хроники видика: легенды эпохи VHS)
It has an average vote of 9 on TMDB.
10. Chasing the Moon
An unprecedented look at the decade-long odyssey to land a man on the moon. This documentary pulls back the curtain on the familiar narrative of the moonshot, revealing a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama.
It has an average vote of 8.4 on TMDB.
11. Apocalypse: Stalin (Apocalypse, Staline)
The rise of Stalin, from his early beginning as a bankrobber to the cold-blooded leader of the Soviet Union.
It has an average vote of 7.103 on TMDB.
12. Canada vs USSR 1972
It is a moment unlike any other in time. From coast to coast, Canada is united by the game we call our own. The outcome of this historic "Summit Series" is decided in the final minute of the final game. After playing the Soviets in the Forum, Maple Leaf Gardens, Winnipeg and Vancouver, Team Canada leaves for Moscow with only one victory on home ice. Behind the Iron Curtain, they lose the first of the remaining four at the Luzhniki Ice Palace. What follows, is the most dramatic hockey series ever played.
13. The Cuba Libre Story (Geheimes Kuba)
Recounts the tumultuous history of Cuba, a nation of foreign conquest, freedom fighters and Cold War political machinations.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
14. KGB - The Sword and the Shield
The KGB has influenced world events on numerous occasions before. Assassinations, coup d’états, theft of nuclear secrets and sexpionage are just standard trademarks for an organisation that still sends shivers down the spines of politicians and military figures the world over. It may have changed its name on various occasions, from Cheka to SPD to OGPU to NKVD to MGB to KGB to an array of different names after the collapse of the Soviet Union to FSB and SVR today, but it will forever be known, internally and externally, as the KGB.
It has an average vote of 6.5 on TMDB.
15. War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age, first broadcast in 1989, is a thirteen-part PBS series on the origins and evolution of nuclear competition between the United States and the former Soviet Union. The series examined the rivalry for power and how it shaped the diplomacy, negotiation, ethical debates, and doctrine of deterrence that ran through the forty-year history of the nuclear age. This collection contains the full interviews and selected stock footage from the series.
16. Mémoires d'ex (Mémoires d'ex)
(Mémoires d'ex)
17. Moskaus Imperium: Alter Traum von Macht und Stärke (Moskaus Imperium: Alter Traum von Macht und Stärke)
(Moskaus Imperium: Alter Traum von Macht und Stärke)
18. Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War
With firsthand accounts and access to prominent figures around the world, this comprehensive docuseries explores the Cold War and its aftermath.
It has an average vote of 7.778 on TMDB.
19. Abeceda komunistických zločinů (Abeceda komunistických zločinů)
(Abeceda komunistických zločinů)
20. InterNYET: A History Of The Russian Internet (Холивар. История Рунета)
Dashing authors, the first porn sites and the last bastards. How the Russian Internet appeared and how it changed: from complete freedom to the appearance of censorship and the law on isolation.
It has an average vote of 6.9 on TMDB.