History Through the Film Lens | WWII Shorts

YouTube is often championed as the hub of all video content, but I wanted to spotlight another video service called Vimeo. I have been using them for my church's media needs for sometime by posting sermons and shorts.

What I have found is that YouTube definitely has a large quantity of videos to choose from, but I would argue that Vimeo tends to have better quality videos for choosing. However, I must admit that this site has more of an artistic edge, so don't expect to find History Channel shorts here. A lot of the videos are posted by independent film, here is one such example:

The Bridge

This 10 minute short is based on a true story involving a volunteer Japanese solider (from the 442nd) fighting in Italy during WWII. The violence/cursing is a bit much for the classroom and the characters seem like caricatures at times, but the film has a good production quality and its worth checking out for your own personal enjoyment.

The Colonial Friend 

Click Here to view the film

 Here is one French animated short that I found in the special features section of the 2006 film, Days of Glory.  It is a well made animated short based on a true event.  The story follows a North African solider who signs up to defend his "mother country" of France during the early stages of WWII and the realities of colonial rule after the war. This would be an excellent film for a World History class that has wrapped up their unit on World War II and is transitioning into Post-Colonialism and the Cold War.

Image via DVD Beaver

There is little spoken dialogue until the end and the majority of the story is told though visuals. I couldn't find the subtitled version online, but you can rent the movie Days of Glory, or translate for your students. Basically, the Frenchman over the PA is saying, "You are not getting paid, go home."
This short, but powerful film should spur some good discussions about the realities of post-colonial rule after WWII.