Documents of War: The War on Terror
Documentaries involving the War in Afghanistan (2001-present), the Iraq War (2003-2011), and the operation of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp (2002-present). Topics range from the politics and propaganda involved in the War on Terror to the soldiers and citizens affected by it.
List order is from newest to oldest (by year of release), and titles are sorted alphabetically within each year.
Related documentary list: Documents of War: The Vietnam War
List order is from newest to oldest (by year of release), and titles are sorted alphabetically within each year.
Related documentary list: Documents of War: The Vietnam War
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- 145 titles
- DirectorsDavid SalzbergChristian TureaudStarsFrank AdamskiOfren ArrechagaEd BankstonArmed 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.
- DirectorSebastian JungerStarsLaMonta CaldwellMiguel CortezStephen GillespieKorengal picks up where Restrepo (2010) left off--with the same men, in the same valley, with the same commanders--but presents a very different look at the experience of war.
- DirectorMichael KirkStarsWill LymanPeter BakerThomas RicksFrom PBS and FRONTLINE: FRONTLINE examines the unfolding chaos in Iraq and how the U.S. is being pulled back into the conflict. Drawing on interviews with policymakers and military leaders, the film traces the U.S. role from the 2003 invasion to the current violence, showing how Iraq itself is coming undone, how we got here, what went wrong, and what happens next.
- DirectorAmir AmiraniStarsSusan SarandonMark RylanceDanny GloverThe story of the biggest demonstration in human history, which took place on 15th February 2003, against the impending war on Iraq.
- DirectorRick RowleyStarsJeremy ScahillNasser Al AulaqiSaleha Al AulaqiInvestigative journalist Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America's expanding covert wars.
- DirectorMichael GolembeskyThis film is an artistic look at the war in Afghanistan and the reflection and quiet still that many Veterans bring home with them. It is a collection of HD helmet camera footage of Marine and Army Special Operations in the village of Daneh Pasab, Afghanistan in April of 2010; offset by the integration of current footage shot around Colorado along with a collection of original music by independent artist. The film is a balance between personal reflection footage in Colorado where the story is being narrated and raw, violent experiences of service in Afghanistan.
- Elite Air Force pararescuemen combat operations retrieve wounded personnel from lethal warzones in Afghanistan and Eastern Europe during Enduring Freedom. Their air and ground perspective.
- StarsAlex JenningsZain UllahDick CheneyTop US, European and Iraqi leaders - political and military - tell the inside story of their private talks, phone calls, deals and clashes. Former members of Saddam Hussein's regime tell - for the first time on television - just what he said to them as the threat of war grew. Over three episodes, the series gets the insiders to tell what happened at crucial moments on the road to war following 9/11, the first year after the invasion as Iraq's liberation became a US occupation and Iraq's descent into civil war and the Americans struggle to turn the country round.
- DirectorDan KraussStarsAdam WinfieldChristopher WinfieldEmma WinfieldThis provocative, bold, and deeply moving documentary profiles Adam Winfield, a soldier-turned-whistleblower who returns from the battlefield to expose shocking war crimes that the U.S. Army will do anything to cover up.
- DirectorGreg BarkerStarsOsama bin LadenNada BakosMarty MartinFilled with testimony and recollections from actual C.I.A. agents, this in-depth account reveals the remarkable true story of the pursuit of the world's most notorious terrorist, Osama bin Laden.
- DirectorEva OrnerThe Network is a documentary set behind the scenes at the largest television network in one of the most unstable and dangerous places on earth, Afghanistan.
- DirectorFredric LeanStarsHaider Al-SaedyMaha AlkhafajiBob Carey'The Wind of Al Amal' explores the complicated struggle and fragmented stories of some Iraqi refugees and exiled as some of them attempt to integrate themselves into the American landscape while struggling with the haunting demons of their past. The Wind of Al-Amal is the first US/French co-production for a feature length documentary about one of the world's largest refugee crisis in the world today: The invisible ongoing Iraqi Refugees plight. 10 years later: Is anyone still paying attention?
- DirectorJustin J. SpringerStarsSean HollinsJosh KisnerTorrey KramerArmy veteran Justin Springer served two tours in Iraq where he witnessed dozens of Soldiers in his unit suffer from the signature wound of the war-traumatic brain injury (TBI.) The result of exposure to the blasts of roadside bombs, TBI can plague Soldiers with a combination of severe headaches, chronic pain, impaired memory and concentration, and behavioral distress. Concerned about the state of military medical care following controversy at the Army's Walter Reed hospital, Justin embarked upon a journey to discover a Soldier's perspective on an injury estimated to affect 1 in 4 returning veterans. Filmed over the course of two years, Along Recovery is a compelling documentary focused on four Soldiers who were evacuated from combat for treatment at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. With unprecedented access inside the Army's flagship hospital, Along Recovery depicts the struggles and successes of each Soldier as he battles an invisible injury which doctors do not fully understand.
- DirectorsJohn GianvitoJon JostMinda MartinStarAndre GregoryFive accomplished, politically progressive film-makers come together to raise the collective consciousness about the U.S. war in Afghanistan, officially the longest war in U.S. history. Inspired by the 1967 collaborative undertaking, 'Loin du Vietnam', 'Far from Afghanistan' explores, through a mosaic of approaches, issues of shared responsibility, history and memory - all in a concerted effort to help accelerate political resistance to the war.
- DirectorBeth MurphyStarKirk Wallace JohnsonA modern day Oskar Schindler story that focuses on Kirk Johnson, a young American fighting to save thousands of Iraqis whose lives are in danger because they worked for the U.S. to help rebuild Iraq. After leading reconstruction teams in Baghdad and Fallujah, Kirk returns home only to discover that many of his former Iraqi colleagues are being killed, kidnapped or forced into exile by radical militias. Frustrated by a stagnating government bureaucracy in the U.S. that has failed to protect its 'Iraqi allies,' Kirk begins compiling a list of their names and helps them find refuge and a new life in America.
- DirectorEduardas SilvaStarsRoss KempAlgis RamanauskasEduardas SilvaDocumentaries about 10 year Lithuanian military operations in Afghanistan. Filming Crew follow Special operation forces in South of Afghanistan and Chagcharan PRT. 2012 Season 5 documentary episodes about Afghan war, roots, progress and near future.
- DirectorsBestor CramMike MajorosDavid ZeigerStarsSelena CoppaZollie GoodmanClifton HicksIn March of 2008, 250 veterans and active duty soldiers marked the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by gathering in Washington, DC to testify from their own experience about the nature of the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. Inspired by the 1971 Winter Soldier Investigation held by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, they too sought to express their opposition to those wars with their first-hand accounts, bearing witness with voices not generally heard. Our documentary is a portrait of three participants. If follows their lives for 6 weeks leading to the even and afterward; an active duty female soldier, a 9 year National Guard Veteran, and a 3 tour former Marine. This is their story.
- DirectorSimone de VriesThis documentary looks for an answer to the question of why the number of suicides among young American veterans and soldiers of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is so frighteningly high.
- StarsRicky ThibeaultSam DurhamJeremy SteinFollowing multiple US Military EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) Squads, which take care of disarming or destroying dangerous improvised explosive devices (IED) from the Taliban.
- DirectorMartha DavisStarsDiane DavisGian-Murray GianinoLee Aaron RosenDoctors of the Dark Side is the first feature length documentary about the pivotal role of physicians and psychologists in detainee torture. The stories of four detainees and the doctors involved in their abuse demonstrate how US Army and CIA doctors implemented the Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and covered up signs of torture at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Interviews with medical, legal and intelligence experts and evidence from declassified government memos document what has been called the greatest scandal in American medical ethics. Based on four years of research by Producer/Director Martha Davis, written by Oscar winning Mark Jonathan Harris, and filmed in HD by Emmy winning DP Lisa Rinzler, the film shows how the torture of detainees could not continue without the assistance of the doctors.
- DirectorsNara GarberBetsy NaglerAs families across America endure the repeated deployment of loved ones to Iraq and Afghanistan, many attempt to fill the void with Flat Daddies and Heroes on a Stick, life-sized cardboard cutouts of their husbands, wives, sons, and daughters serving overseas. The documentary feature "Flat Daddy" uses these two-dimensional surrogates as a connecting thread to explore the lasting impact of the war on the families left behind.
- DirectorDanfung DennisStarsNathan HarrisAshley HarrisThe Marines of Echo CompanyWhat does it mean to lead men in war? What does it mean to come home? Hell and Back Again is a cinematically revolutionary film that asks and answers these questions with a power and intimacy no previous film about the conflict in Afghanistan has been able to achieve. It is a masterpiece in the cinema of war.
- DirectorJames SpioneStarEthan McCordU.S. Army veteran Ethan McCord recounts his life-changing experiences at the scene of one of the most notorious events of the Iraq War: the slaying of two Reuters journalists, along with a group of mostly unarmed men, on the streets of Baghdad by American attack helicopters in July 2007.
- StarBarney ScrivenerThe story of the war in Afghanistan: filmed by soldiers, shot by soldiers.
- DirectorHeather CourtneyA documentary that chronicles four years in the lives of childhood friends as they enter a faraway war.