Films about Colonial Wars of the long 19th Century
This collection provides information on selected movies, TV productions and documentaries on the themes of gender, military and war in the period covered by the Oxford Handbook.
The most important wars for this period include:
- Imperial Conquest of Africa (1880–1914)
- Spanish–American War (1898)
- Boer/South African War (1899–1902)
- Philippine-American War (1899–1902)
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A Message to Garcia is a 1936 American adventure spy film directed by George Marshall, inspired by the 1899 essay "A Message to Garcia" by Elbert Hubbard, that was loosely based on an incident during the ramp up to the Spanish–American...
In 1896, Ethiopia, an African nation, largely armed with spears and knives, defeats a well-equipped and organized Italian military bent on colonization. The Battle of Adwa and Ethiopia's independence in the era of European colonization still...
Offering parallels to today's wars, this story about the Philippine-American War explores how ideological conflict often terrorizes local people. When American soldiers arrive in a fictional village, its leader Rafael declares himself their...
Epic drama of honor, passion and freedom set during the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), a time when Britain colonised by might in Southern Africa. The film follows the bound fates of rebellious Boer farmer Sloet Steenkamp (Ian Roberts) and...
Set in the prisoner of war camp on the island of St Helena, this popular South African television mini-series deals with the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) as seen through the eyes of two fictional characters: Sloet Steenkamp (Ian Roberts), a...
Breaker Morant is a 1980 Australian war drama film on the court martial of lieutenants Harry "Breaker" Morant (1864-1902), Peter Handcock (1868-1902) and George Witton (1874-1942)—one of the first war crime prosecutions in British...
During the Cuban War for Independence, a young Cuban woman sympathetic to independence and a Spanish soldier fall in love. Their relationship serves as a window to understand the complexity of the revolution as well as the increasing American...
The Dutch and the British fight for control over South Africa during the Boer War (1899–1902). Elite farmers hire the rider, who uses guerilla tactics to disrupt the British forces. The film also explores the origins of apartheid while obscuring...
El Paso Stampede is a 1953 Western film directed by Harry Keller. Federal Marshal "Rocky" Lane (Allan Lane) saddles up Black Jack to go to the Mexican border to investigate cattle raiding during the Spanish–American War (1898). He gets a...
This biopic of Emilio Aguinaldo, the first president of the First Republic of the Philippines, reveals the long struggle for independence. Aguinaldo's efforts to coordinate colonial resistance against the Spanish lead his peers to elect him...
Elizabeth of Ladymead is a 1948 British Technicolor drama film, charting the life of a British family between 1854 and 1945 and their involvement in four wars - the Crimean War (1853–1856), Boer War (1899–1902), First World War and ...
Feast of the Uninvited is the story of small lives touched by war... When the great insurrections, revolutions, the wars, sweep over everyday people, their social fabric is torn to shreds, their futures become uncertain, their lives open...
Director Raya Martin offers an inventive exploration of the American occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War by recreating the visual quality and editing techniques of early cinema. A mother and her son flee Manila for the...
Khartoum is a 1966 British epic war film based on historical accounts of Gen. Charles "Chinese" Gordon's (1833–1885) defence of the Sudanese city of Khartoum from the forces of the Sudanese Mahdist army, during the Siege of Khartoum (...
Informed by scholarship and archival records, this television docu-series explores the history of the Congo from the 15th century to the present. From the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade to colonialism and independence, the three-part series examines...
After fighting a four-year war against colonial France, Ahidjéré Béhanzin, King of Dahomey (present-day Benin), is exiled to Martinique in 1894. Along with his "minder" and a Creole woman with whom he falls in love, the king, who was worshipped...
In this celebration of Spanish nationalism, and an early example of Francoist Spain, a captain makes a last stand in a small village in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War (1898). Stationed in Baler on the island of Luzon, Captain...
Ohm Krüger is a 1941 German biographical film directed by Hans Steinhoff, part of a series of propaganda films produced in Nazi Germany attacking the British. Supported by the Reich Minister of Propagana at the time, Joseph Goebbels (...
At the beginning of World War I, Allied nations turned to British-born writer Gertrude Bell (1868-1826) to help organize the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Queen of the Desert, directed by Werner Herzog, offers a sweeping account...
This miniseries dramatizes the famed volunteer regiment during the Spanish-American War. Assistant Navy Secretary Theodore Roosevelt leads the First Voluntary Calvary (the Rough Riders), a representation of the racial, ethnic, class, and regional...