(Film For Action) – These documentaries expose the ugly truth about war and the governments who wage them. The US government is focused on in this collection because I am based in the US, and it is every citizen’s duty to call out and name the crimes of their government. It’s all too easy to decry the injustices of other countries while remaining silent when those crimes are committed by our own. But nothing good has ever come from silence when the truth is marginalized and lies are amplified.
As John Pilger says, we must break the silence. But first, we must understand the truth about war, so that we will no longer be fooled by the lies our own government tells us again and again. This kind of media literacy is vitally necessary today. The same government that asked us to trust us with Vietnam, Iraq, and countless other conflicts, is asking us to trust them again when it comes to Russia, Syria, Iran, and North Korea. Let us not forget what we have already learned.
These documentaries are all mostly free to watch online. A few cost a few dollars to rent. Suggest other films to add to this list via our contact page.
If you believe this information is important for everyone to know, please share it. While some of us are familiar with this information, there is always a new generation that must regretfully learn about this history for the first time. This makes this collection especially useful for high school and college students.
Given a large number of people still defend and support aggressive US foreign policy (thanks largely to a complicit and compliant corporate mass media), there is still a great need for this information to reach a wider consciousness.
Even if we watched some of these films years ago and their conclusions seem obvious, we should never take for granted how many people have yet to take this journey and would benefit from learning about it now. Even many folks that have seen some of these films and consider themselves pretty informed will likely be shocked by the history they will learn about from the ones they haven’t seen yet.
| The War at Home: The Untold History of Class War in the United States (2021) 104 min · “In a time when many are questioning institutional integrity across society, seeking accurate and relevant information to help make sense of our supposedly post-truth era, Noble shines a spotlight into our dark past while providing a… |
| The War You Don’t See (2010) 98 min · A powerful and timely investigation into the media’s role in war, tracing the history of embedded and independent reporting from the carnage of World War One to the destruction of Hiroshima, and from the invasion of Vietnam to the… |
| The Power Principle: Corporate Empire and the Rise of the National Security State (2012) 264 min · “A gripping, deeply informative account of the plunder, hypocrisy, and mass violence of plutocracy and empire; insightful, historically grounded and highly relevant to the events of today.” – Michael Parenti, Historian, Author The Face… |
| Counter-Intelligence: Shining a Light on Black Operations (2013) 360 min · “Scott Noble may have outdone himself with Counter Intelligence. The Psywar filmmaker amassed a tour de force of power elite and deep state scholars weighing in and synthesizing decades of research. From the rise of the national… |
| Oliver Stone: The Untold History Of The United States (2012) 570 min · There is a classified America we were never meant to see. From Academy Award®-winning writer/director Oliver Stone, this ten-part documentary series looks back at human events that at the time went under reported, but that crucially… |
| The Occupation Of The American Mind: Israel’s Public Relations War in the United States (2016) 85 min · Despite receiving an overwhelmingly positive response from those who have actually seen it, The Occupation of the American Mind has been repeatedly attacked and misrepresented by right-wing pressure groups and outright ignored by… |
| War By Other Means (1992) 52 min · John Pilger travels to many third world countries to investigate the devastating results of loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). This film shows how many wars today are not carried out at the barrel of a gun… |
| What I’ve Learned About U.S. Foreign Policy (2000) 118 min · This is a powerful 10-part compilation that (in important ways) pulls aside the veil of Official myths and Lies about “freedom”, “democracy”, Human Rights, etc., being the basis of U.S. foreign policy. |
| Breaking The Silence – Truth And Lies In The War On Terror (2003) 51 min · “BREAKING THE SILENCE is a film with enormous emotional power, bringing us the human consequences of our military attacks on Middle East countries. It also provides us with important insights into the reasons for these cruelties… |
| Bitter Lake (2015) 136 min · Adam Curtis: Politicians used to have the confidence to tell us stories that made sense of the chaos of world events. |
| The Power of Nightmares (2004) 180 min · The Power of Nightmares is a BBC documentary 3-part film series. The films compare the rise of the Neo-Conservative movement in the United States and the radical Islamist movement, making comparisons on their origins and claiming… |
| Afghanistan War Exposed: An Imperial Conspiracy (2020) 37 min · Abby Martin covers the whole truth about the Afghanistan War, from the CIA construct of the 80’s through 2020’s senseless stalemate. Two decades, three administrations, tens of thousands of lives; it’s time to #EndTheForeverWar. |
| Buying the War: How Big Media Failed Us (2007) 83 min · In 2003, the United States pre-emptively attacked Iraq in a war that would last for eight years claiming an estimated 189,000 lives, costing over $2 trillion and causing untold economic and emotional devastation for the |
| Vietnam: The Quiet Mutiny (1970) 26 min · In this, the first of his 58 documentary films, John Pilger combines candid interviews and amazing frontline footage of Vietnam to portray a growing rift between the US military bureaucrats – “lifers” – and the soldiers who physically… |
| Cointelpro 101 (2010) 56 min · COINTELPRO may not be a well-understood acronym but its meaning and continuing impact are absolutely central to understanding the government’s wars and repression against progressive movements. COINTELPRO represents the state’s strategy… |
| No End in Sight (2007) 102 min · A staggering portrait of arrogance and incompetence, the documentary No End in Sight avoids the question of why the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, choosing instead to focus on the war’s aftermath–and meticulously examines the chain of… |
| The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis (1987) 86 min · In this documentary Bill Moyers exposes the inner workings of the secret government. Though originally broadcast in 1987, it is even more relevant today. Interviews with respected, top military, intelligence, and government insiders… |
| Iran (Is Not the Problem) (2008) 79 min · IRAN (Is Not The Problem) is a feature length documentary film responding to the failure of the American mass media to provide the public with relevant and accurate information about the standoff between the US and Iran, as happened… |
| Enemy Image (2005) 92 min · When Baghdad exploded under bombs, television chose to bring us fireworks. But does this distant and spectacular image tell us what is really happening on the ground, how it feels or what it means? Television has the means to take us… |
| Rethink Afghanistan (2009) 65 min · Rethink Afghanistan is a ground-breaking, full-length documentary focusing on the key issues surrounding this war. We hope to raise critical questions regarding Afghanistan that Congress must address in oversight hearings, which inform… |
| The Israeli Lobby (2007) 50 min · Is the pro-Israel lobby so strong, financially and politically, that the U.S. relationship with Israel is taboo and therefore unmentionable? And what happens to those who dare expose the unmentionable? In March 2006 the American… |
| Hearts and Minds (1974) 112 min · Peter Davis’ landmark documentary Hearts and Minds confronts with stark frankness the United States’ involvement in Vietnam and the development of its foreign policy in the 1970s. Using a carefully constructed range of meticulously… |
| Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers (2006) 76 min · This is the story of what happens to everyday Americans when corporations go to war. |
| Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives: The Environmental Footprint of War (2008) 58 min · Using on-site and archival footage to illustrate specialist and eyewitness accounts from around the world, “Scarred Lands & Wounded Lives” shows how war and preparations for war further compromise the environmental health of a planet… |
| The Coming War on China (2016) 110 min · The Coming War on China is John Pilger’s 60th film for ITV. Pilger reveals what the news doesn’t – that the world’s greatest military power, the United States, and the world’s second economic power, China, both nuclear-armed, are on the… |
| Gaza Fights For Freedom | Directed by Abby Martin (2019) 84 min · [For best viewing experience, use headphones, external speakers or TV speakers.] |
| Soldiers of the Vine: Healing War Trauma with Plant Medicine (2017) 65 min · In May of 2016, six American Veterans with PTSD went to the Amazon in search of healing. What they found was another war…for the soul of humanity. |
