Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience

Korengal

Korengal picks up where Restrepo left off; the same men, the same valley, the same commanders, but a very different look at the experience of war.

5.0

100 Miles to Redemption

A poignant story about overcoming our demons and finding hope through darkness. Haunted by the affects of PTSD induced by fighting a war, the physical injuries that led to copious amounts of opiates, the emotional strain of his squad leader committing suicide, losing his best friend from overdosing on heroin, all combined with his drug addiction ultimately left Shawn losing all hope in life.

6.2

The Hornet's Nest

Armed only with their cameras, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning conflict Journalist Mike Boettcher, and his son, Carlos, provide unprecedented access into the longest war in U.S. history: they are embed with U.S. troops during nine days of intense combat in Afghanistan.

7.2

2010

Restrepo

Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.

6.8

2021

Escape from Kabul

Unfolding over 18 monumental days in August 2021, this deeply immersive and emotional documentary combines never-before-seen archival footage from those on the ground at the airport with exclusive interviews with people who were there throughout the period, including Afghan citizens attempting to flee, U.S. Marines tasked with managing the evacuation, and Taliban commanders and fighters who had recently taken the city.

2012

Where My Heart Beats

In 1989, Swedish journalist, Khazar Fatemi narrowly fled the war torn country of Afghanistan with her life. Twenty years later, the former refugee returned to the place that has always remained in her heart. Where My Heart Beats follows Khazar's dangerous, painful, and inspirational journey back home to reconnect with the amazing people of this broken nation.

7.0

2008

The Fallen

A powerful and poignant film in which families and friends of those who have died fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq talk openly about their loved ones and their grief. Epic in scale and spanning seven years of war, this landmark three-hour film gives a rare insight into the personal impact and legacy of this loss.

7.1

Retrograde

The story of the last months of the 20-year war in Afghanistan through the intimate relationship between American Green Berets and the Afghan officers they trained.

2024

No Book This Year

"No Book This Year" tells the story of Yalda, a former staff member of Afghanistan's booth at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Years after the booth's closure, Yalda takes it upon herself to independently relaunch Afghanistan's presence at the fair. Despite numerous challenges and obstacles, her unwavering determination to showcase Afghan literature and culture shines through, illustrating the resilience of the human spirit in preserving cultural heritage.

10.0

2011

Afghanistan: War without End?

Key decision makers reveal the inside story of how the West was drawn ever deeper into the Afghan war. Reporter John Ware charts the history of a decade of fighting and looks at when the conflict may end.

8.3

Under Taliban Law

On August 15, 2021, Afghanistan descends into chaos. In one day, the completion of the withdrawal of Western forces precipitated the debacle of the regime in place: the army vanished, the leaders fled and the Taliban took Kabul without a fight. The great Central Asian country opens a new chapter in its tragic history, twenty years after the "war on terror" launched by George W. Bush in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. The undisputed masters of 40 million trapped Afghans, the "students of religion" are back and are savoring their revenge by posing as the United States' victors. Their program will surprise no one: to restore the Islamic emirate and set up the "true" sharia, i.e. a perfect world, with divine commandments applied to the letter as in the time of the prophet.

Rory Fanning: From Ranger to Resister

After ex-NFL star turned soldier Pat Tillman's death is covered up by the U.S. Army, Rory Fanning is discharged from the Army for resisting a second combat tour. Back home, he walks across the country while studying the history of war resistors.

2024

Broken Token

A single female voice sings of waiting in her garden for her ‘dark-eyed sailor’ to return from war, bearing the other half of their token, a gimmel ring. Three veterans pass on the road as she waits, and she asks them: “When you were fighting in distant lands, did you think of the home you left?” In reply the veterans relate their recollections. The garden images in the accompanying film represent ‘home’, but also stand for a more general possibility of redemption, of the potential of the past to return at any time, disguised and changed, to renew the present: “Each moment of time is a garden gate,” the song goes, “Through it my love may walk.”

6.9

2018

Combat Obscura

Former combat videographer Miles Lagoze presents personal footage of U.S. Marines in the Afghan war zone.

Spartamerika

An essay film exploring the thirteen United States Presidents that have led the country through war and conflict from 1950 to 2025.

6.7

2015

Mazar Sharif

An Iranian diplomat who miraculously survived Taliban's raid on the Iranian consulate in Mazar E Sharif (Afghanistan) narrates his 19 days of hide and escape to reach Iran's borders meanwhile on the other side, the Iranian troops are preparing for retaliation.

7.7

2025

Bodyguard of Lies

Exposes the tangled web of deception spun by the U.S. government during its 20-year war in Afghanistan, revealing the campaign of lies and misinformation fed to the American public. Through shocking testimonies from government insiders, confidential documents, and private audio recordings of those at the highest levels of the military and elected leadership, this gripping documentary urges a reckoning with the wider implications of government deception on a global scale.

2013

Voice of a Nation: My Journey Through Afghanistan

Jawed Taiman takes a distinct look at Afghanistan and lets the Afghan people have their say. En route through the different provinces, through urban and rural regions, in discussion with intellectuals and simple folk, politicians and Taliban fighters a multifaceted picture emerges of a country that is often portrayed as incomprehensible.

2021

Afghanistan : vivre en pays taliban

By immersing themselves in a Taliban village, and after gaining very rare access to major institutions, the directors shed a disturbing light on today's Taliban society, and on the workings of this ultra-conservative parallel state. whose leaders have just symbolically moved into the presidential palace, to assert a stranglehold that foreshadows the Afghanistan of tomorrow.

2008

Afghan Heroin: The Lost War

Afghan Heroin: The Lost War is a documentary which investigates how the war on terror in Afghanistan has unleashed heroin into the mainstream. Heroin is one of the most addictive drugs on Earth. Some 90 per cent of the drug is grown in Afghanistan and this hard hitting documentary investigates how the War on Terror has inadvertently unleashed a massive supply of the deadly drug. After the Western coalition troops started their hunt for terrorist Osama Bin Laden and his Taliban allies in late 2001, the country torn apart from decades of war once more became the world’s opium growing capital. Many impoverished farmers had no choice but to grow the opium poppy to feed their families. The documentary delve into the devastating effects of addiction that includes shocking scenes of a young Norwegian couple hustling, scoring and shooting up several times a day in order to appease the monster inside them.

Recommended Movies

6.5

2020

Father Soldier Son

When Sgt. First Class Brian Eisch is critically wounded in Afghanistan, it sets him and his sons on a journey of love, loss, redemption and legacy.

6.4

Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.

8.0

2025

My Mom Jayne

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

7.1

2013

The Class of ‘92

A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.

6.7

Gilbert

The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.

Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin

6.9

2003

Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin

Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.

6.1

2002

Naqoyqatsi

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

7.8

2025

John Candy: I Like Me

Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.

The Summers of It - Chapter Two: It Ends

7.1

2019

The Summers of It - Chapter Two: It Ends

This documentary focuses on the actors and their journey over two summers to create the remake to the original IT, by Stephen King. The documentary originally released as bonus material, bundled with IT: Chapter Two.

6.3

2015

Champs

A documentary about the sport of boxing, as seen through the eyes of champions Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins.

6.7

2006

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.

6.9

1971

Directed by John Ford

A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.

7.2

City of Ghosts

With unprecedented access, this documentary follows the extraordinary journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”—a group of anonymous citizen journalists who banded together after their homeland was overtaken by ISIS—as they risk their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today.

7.2

Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20

An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.

6.4

2006

Fuck

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.

7.4

I Am Heath Ledger

The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.

6.6

Harmontown

A comedic, brutally honest documentary following self-destructive TV writer Dan Harmon as he takes his live podcast on a national tour.

7.3

Sidney

This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.

6.8

2004

The Matrix Recalibrated

The making of Matrix Revolutions, The (2003) is briefly touched on here in this documentary. Interviews with various cast and crew members inform us how they were affected by the deaths of Gloria Foster and Aaliyah, and also delve into the making of the visual effects that takes up a lot of screen time. Written by Rhyl Donnelly

7.6

Night Will Fall

When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".