Films about the Post-Cold War Period
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:
- Wars in former Yugoslavia (1991– 99)
- U.S. Wars in the Middle East (1990–91ff)
- Wars of Globalization
- UN Peacekeeping / New Humanitarianism
An account of the 100-day Rwandan genocide, as experienced by a young Tutsi girl. Josette seeks refuge in the Catholic Church, only to find another form of horror there. The departure of UN peacekeepers further makes the area unstable and Josette...
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, a unit of the U.S. Special Forces and CIA paramilitary officers travel to Afghanistan to topple the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. The Americans align with a local warlord on their march, by horseback, toward Mazar-i-...
In this highly acclaimed film about the Second Chechen War, an elderly Russian woman transforms the barren landscape of war and the deadened spirit of those engaged in it. Aleksandra travels to a remote outpost in Chechnya to visit her grandson....
A moving portrait of Arab immigrant life in America following 9/11 and the Iraq War. Muna, a Christian Palestinian, lives and works in the West Bank until she receives a green card in the lottery. She and her son move in with her sister's family...
This documentary follows a platoon of Danish soldiers on a six-month tour of Afghanistan in 2009. It focuses on the men's emotional response to war, from casual patrols encountering local people to intense fighting against Taliban soldiers. Its...
Traveling with a peacekeeping mission, a group of Western journalists visit a small village in Darfur in western Sudan. When they learn that the state-sponsored militia, the Janjaweed, have targeted the village, they must decide whether to run...
In this cinema verite style documentary, filmmaker Sabina Vajraca traces her family's journey back home after the Bosnian War. Returning to the previously multi-ethnic city of Banja Luka, the Bosniak family confront the unapologetic Serbian...
This Oscar-nominated film weaves together three loves stories to reveal the interconnectedness of modern Europe during the Macedonia conflict in the Yugoslav Wars. A monk helps Zamira, a young Albanian girl, escape, a London agent falls for a...
The international politics of war delay the rescue mission of a U.S. naval pilot during the Bosnian War. During a reconnaissance mission, Lt. Chris Burnett flies off course and identifies mass graves in the demilitarized zone. After his plane is...
This documentary presents the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide from Tutsis who survived. On April 10, 1994, Hutus invaded the small village of Astrida and excuted 200 Tutsis behind a convent. Director Gilbert Ndahayo, who was 13 at the time and...
Based on real events in the Somali Civil War, a thwarted mission by the U.S. Joint Special Operations leads to deadly battle in the city of Mogadishu. Tasked with capturing warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid in October 1993, Army Rangers and Delta...
The people of a volatile, oil-rich Nigerian community wages war against their corrupt government and a multi-national oil corporation to protect their land from being destroyed by excessive drilling and spills. To seek justice, a rebel...
In the midst of international tribunals on war crimes during the Bosnian War, an Austrian journalist questions whether the war and its crimes still continue. Nicole travels to a small Bosnian village to search for Edina, who disappeared after her...
In a series of interlocking stories, director Goran Paskaljević explores the connection between violence and masculinity within the context of the then ongoing wars in former Yugoslavia. Set during the Kosovo War, men inflict violence over...
In Caché, an internationally acclaimed psychological thriller and widely hailed as a masterpiece, director Michael Haneke explores postcolonial tensions and memory in modern day France. Georges Laurent, a celebrity journalist, receives...
Director Mike Nichols' last film explores the Cold War origins of the U.S. War in Afghanistan. In the early 1980s Rep. Charlie Wilson of Texas pushes funding for a covert CIA operation to support the Afghan mujahideen. His passion for defeating...
Rahima is an orphan of the Kosovo war. She works in a restaurant and must raise her young brother Nedim by herself. However, he is a careless student and a troublemaker, getting into various illicit schemes. During a confrontation, he breaks the...
A young boy's reminiscences reveal the long-standing tensions and little-known revolts leading to Indian Independence. Jhunku Roy finds himself torn between his belief in British justice and the growing revolutionary spirit in East Bengal in the...
This film explores familial tensions, daily life, and possibilities in a small town in Herzegovina between the fall of communism and the outbreak of war in the former Yugoslavia. Divko returns home after twenty years in exile and sets out to...
In the first film about the Gulf War, director Edward Zwick scrutinizes "friendly fire" and its emotional toll on the survivors. Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Serling investigates the posthumous candidacy of Captain Karen Walden, the first woman...