A Century on Film - Season 1

A Century on Film looks back at a world-changing century of human drama and tragedy through rare and precious archival footage. Episode 1 begins with the World War I, including moving scenes from the world's first full-length war documentary, "The Battle of the Somme." It was filmed by British army cameraman, Geoffrey Malins, who wrote, "What a record. …When this devastating war was over, people would be able to view all over again the fearful shells bursting, killing and maiming…" A wealth of other historical footage and testimonies bring the Great War to life in a dramatic opening to this fascinating series.

A Century on Film looks back at a world-changing century of human drama and tragedy through rare and precious archival footage. In the second installment covering World War I, we feature German scientific genius, Fritz Haber, who developed the world's first chemical weapons. The story of his scientist wife's response reflects the differing views of scientific progress in a human drama that plays out with tragic consequences. Images of the destructiveness of war, the heroes it created, and the roots of our modern world are also explored in rich and moving detail.

In the final of our 3 episodes covering World War I, A Century on Film looks back at Emir Faisal, who led the Arab Revolt with the help of the legendary Lawrence of Arabia. Faisal entered Damascus triumphantly in October 1918 only to be told soon after by the British that Syria would be a French protectorate. This episode also illuminates the activities of American financial powerhouse, J. P. Morgan and Company, in funding the Allies during the war, and Germany's support of Lenin's return to Russia before the October Revolution in 1917. Tune in for many more fascinating visual insights and drama in A Century on Film.

Our focus turns to the Roaring Twenties in the United States after World War I. Powerful families have positioned this New World nation as a rising superpower. Precious images from the Rockefeller Archive Center and other sources tell the story of how a late 19th century businessman made a fortune in oil and became the world's most powerful industrial magnate. Our images also track the J.P. Morgan financial powerhouse and its role in history, and the immigrants who helped build Hollywood among other American icons.

Early in 1929, the American boom still knows no bounds. But on October 24, 1929, Wall Street sees the biggest crash ever recorded. We show footage and a dramatic voiceover from just days after "Black Thursday." John D. Rockefeller records a message for those left in despair by the crash. J.P. Morgan, Jr. is summoned to testify before a Senate committee. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Rockefeller family builds the Rockefeller Center as a statement of confidence in the economy. Our images track the rise and fall of the American economic juggernaut in the 1920s and 30s.

How did notorious dictator Adolf Hitler rise to power in a democratic Germany? Why did Germans embrace totalitarianism? And other nations fail to stop him? We trace in historic images the man who manipulated the German legislature into supporting his minority National Socialist party through deal making and intimidation - surrounding the Reichstag with storm troopers to help achieve his ends. Hitler also claimed to be inspired by Henry Ford's anti-Semitic ideas. A compelling introduction to Hitler's rise.

The outbreak of World War II. In September 1939, Germany invades Poland and quickly succeeds in conquering much of Europe. Private footage shows Hitler triumphantly inspecting a fallen Paris. His systematic persecution of the Jews proceeds unfettered as people turn a blind eye. America remains neutral reflecting local sentiment, but as Hitler moves into the Soviet Union, and then Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, the war becomes a worldwide affair. Precious images tell the story.

In the final stages of World War II, Soviet forces turn the tables on the German military machine. But Hitler's gas chambers continue exterminating Jews and others in an unprecedented genocide while America and Germany compete for supremacy in military technology - foreshadowing a cold war world. The Allied landing at Normandy turns the tide and Paris is liberated, Berlin falls and Hitler suicides. America drops the first atom bombs on Japan, and the war ends. The full horror of the times is revealed in undeniable images.

This documentary will shed light on the clandestine wars fought between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Rarely seen footage will show East Germany's secret police searching a citizen's home for evidence of contact with the west. In the United States, "McCarthyism" had begun to escalate. Ronald Reagan, an actor who would later become president, served as a spy for the FBI in Hollywood. The CIA secretly made plans to overthrow various third-world regimes. One of their first targets was Iranian Prime Minister Mossadegh. Recently gathered footage provides a unique view of the events that led to his downfall.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, a spy provided the US with important information on Soviet nuclear missile placement. The Soviet Union would later discover that this spy was Oleg Penkovsky, a colonel in Soviet military intelligence. Through recently gathered footage, we can get a clearer sense of the hidden struggle that occurred during the Cold War between the 2 super powers. As the Vietnam War intensified in the late 60s, the CIA and US military began an operation to eliminate communists in South Vietnam.

We turn our lens to the stormy 1960s. In this decade of youth uprisings, Che Guevara and Mao Zedong are two revolutionary heroes who urge them on. In 1967, the first live global satellite broadcast sends images of a newborn baby in Japan, and the filming of Romeo and Juliet in Italy, around the world. TV is also bringing the horror of the Vietnam War into people's living rooms on a daily basis, igniting antiwar protests worldwide. Che Guevara was a major inspiration for the leader of Germany's huge antiwar movement, a young Rudi Dutschke.

In 1968, British university students clash with mounted police. There in support of their anti-war protest are scientist Stephen Hawking, and rock star, Mick Jagger. Socialist Czechoslovakia's fledgling democracy movement is suppressed by Soviet forces. Later at the Mexico Olympics a Czech medal-winner pointedly averts her eyes from the Soviet flag on the podium. The world is rocked again 20 years later. In 1987, David Bowie holds a concert on the west side of the Berlin Wall. We see young East Berliners ignore injunctions against public assembly to hear Bowie sing "Heroes."

Now in the 21st century, images trace the "war on terror." In 2001, two planes plunge in to destroy New York's twin towers and become a lightning rod for hatred. After the Iraq War, images of torture by US soldiers in Abu Ghraib prison stir equally strong anti-American feeling, and spawn a group that will kill in revenge and show the world; the so-called "Islamic State." In 2015, images capture a movement by French Muslims to sever the chain of violence and hate in the wake of the November terrorist attacks on Paris.

Image-makers in the 21st century are no longer the professional media, but every citizen with internet access. Personal footage of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami tells its tragic story to the world. Young Americans inspired to start a free video sharing site then launch a new era in image distribution. The U.S. recognizes same-sex marriage after supporters mobilize with the help of online videos. Shared images of Tunisian struggle embolden others and help give rise to the Arab Spring. Watch famous and rare images that can tear us apart, and bring us together.