Best Canadian history movies
A curated collection of popular history movies from Canada.
September Dawn (2007)
September Dawn (2007)
A story set against the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the film is based upon the tragedy which occurred in Utah in 1857. A group of settlers, traveling on wagons, was murdered by the Mormons. All together, about 140 souls of men, women and children, were taken.
The Colt (2005)
The Colt (2005)
During the heat of battle in the midst of the Civil War, a beguilingly innocent colt is born to Union Jim Rabb's beloved mare. Refusing the orders to shoot it, lest it prove a hindrance, Rabb keeps the colt as a consolation in these desperate times-a symbol of hope that leads the men of the First Cavalry on a journey of self-discovery and newfound brotherhood.
Canada Vignettes: Sodbusters (1978)
Canada Vignettes: Sodbusters (1978)
A Canadian prairie farm family has a tough beginning on their new farm.
Bitter Harvest (2017)
Bitter Harvest (2017)
Set between the two World Wars and based on true historical events, Bitter Harvest conveys the untold story of the Holodomor, the genocidal famine engineered by the tyrant Joseph Stalin. The film displays a powerful tale of love, honour, rebellion and survival at a time when Ukraine was forced to adjust to the horrifying territorial ambitions of the burgeoning Soviet Union.
Passchendaele (2008)
Passchendaele (2008)
Sergeant Michael Dunne fights in the 10th Battalion, AKA The "Fighting Tenth" with the 1st Canadian Division and participated in all major Canadian battles of the war, and set the record for highest number of individual bravery awards for a single battle
The Boy in the Woods (2023)
American Soldiers (2005)
American Soldiers (2005)
Iraq, 2004: during a routine sortie a US patrol is ambushed and the young soldiers are forced to put their training and skills into action fast. A determined foe with superior local knowledge, the Fedayeen insurgents soon draw them into close quarter combat and a desperate fight for survival.
Winston Churchill: A Giant in the Century (2014)
Winston Churchill: A Giant in the Century (2014)
A new look at the public and private life of one of the most important statesmen in the history of Europe: Winston Churchill (1874-1965), soldier, politician, writer, painter, leader of his country in the darkest hours, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, a myth, a giant of the 20th century.
Battle of the Brave (2004)
Explosion 1812 (2012)
Explosion 1812 (2012)
On April 27, 1813, American forces defeated the British at York (present-day Toronto) and captured the capital of Upper Canada - but not before suffering their own losses. History Television's Explosion 1812 looks at the Battle of York and unearths new evidence around this lesser-known event from the War of 1812.
The Fear (2015)
The Fear (2015)
Gabriel, a young soldier, is sent to the Western Front in 1914. He experiences the hell of the trenches and the devastating effects that fear has on all the troops. He comes out alive after this horrendous experience, full of rage and fire, and discovers his own humanity.
Mansfeld (2006)
Mansfeld (2006)
At 15 he and his family became victims of state terror. At 16 he became a freedom fighter to participate in the 1956 Revolution against Soviet oppression. At 17 he is betrayed and arrested by the dreaded Secret Police (AVH). Now he has to spend the remainder of his life in a political prison, called Hell's Hallway, to reach the legal age of 18 before his death penalty can be carried out. Peter Mansfeld was 18 when he was unjustly executed by the totalitarian regime of Hungary. Today he is remembered as one of the national heroes of Hungary.
Newfoundland at Armageddon (2016)
Newfoundland at Armageddon (2016)
On July 1st, 1916, the Newfoundland Regiment took part in a massive First World War offensive on the Somme, led by the British. At Beaumont Hamel the regiment was nearly wiped out, as only 110 of 780 soldiers survived the day. To commemorate its 100th anniversary, Brian McKenna’s documentary film tells the story of this epic tragedy. Using a technique that brings new meaning to reenactment, McKenna recruits descendants of soldiers who fought this battle, offering them a unique opportunity to relive the experience of their ancestors in trenches built specifically for the film.
Kosovo: A Moment in Civilization (2017)
Kosovo: A Moment in Civilization (2017)
Many are aware of the heinous crimes against civilizational heritage in the Middle East committed by ISIS. But do people know that this kind of terror is happening in the very heart of Europe? Over 150 Christian churches and monasteries have been destroyed in Serbia's province of Kosovo since 1999. 4 monasteries are part of UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger.
Hunger for Truth (2017)
Hunger for Truth (2017)
In an age when disinformation muddles the truth, a newly discovered voice cuts through the historical haze. She is Rhea Clyman, a young Canadian reporter who traversed the starving Soviet heartland when Stalin’s man made famine was just beginning in Ukraine. Clyman’s newly discovered newspaper articles for Toronto and London newspapers in 1932 show her remarkable resourcefulness and courage. After she was banished from the USSR for writing about the Holodomor and the Gulag, this brave woman went on to cover Hitler’s early lethal years in power.
21 Brothers (2011)
21 Brothers (2011)
21 Brothers tells the story of the Canadian 21st Battalion as they prepare for the battle of Courcellette in WWI. Taking place in real time, the film follows Sgt. Reid as he must get his men ready for the impending battle. Not only must he prep his battalion Sgt. Reid must also deal with the day to day difficulties of Life in the trenches, including injuries to his men, supply issues, and an underage recruit who has recently been sent into the front lines.
The French Revolution: Years of Hope (1989)
The French Revolution: Years of Hope (1989)
First part that includes the beginnings of the French Revolution. The film begins by recounting the events that led to the convocation of the States General in 1789 and ends with the assault on the Tuileries Palace, which occurred on August 10, 1792.
Rescuers: Stories of Courage - Two Couples (1998)
Rescuers: Stories of Courage - Two Couples (1998)
Two fact-based tales about citizens who risked everything, including their lives, to save Holocaust victims.
The Girl King (2015)
The Girl King (2015)
A portrait of the brilliant, extravagant Kristina of Sweden, queen from age six, who fights the conservative forces that are against her ideas to modernize Sweden and who have no tolerance for her awakening sexuality.
The Bang Bang Club (2011)
The Bang Bang Club (2011)
In the early to mid '90s, when the South African system of apartheid was in its death throes, four photographers - Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and João Silva - bonded by their friendship and a sense of purpose, worked together to chronicle the violence and upheaval leading up to the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela as president. Their work is risky and dangerous, potentially fatally so, as they thrust themselves into the middle of chaotic clashes between forces backed by the government (including Inkatha Zulu warriors) and those in support of Mandela's African National Congress.
Shake Hands with the Devil (2007)
Shake Hands with the Devil (2007)
In 1993, Canadian Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire was sent by the United Nations to Rwanda as commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). Its mission, to ensure the ceasefire, is underfunded, excessively bureaucratized and made up of military units which come from dozens of countries and which each have a very different program... These are Lt Gen Dallaire's efforts to stop the madness of the Rwandan Genocide, despite the complete indifference of his superiors.
Nightwatching (2007)
Nightwatching (2007)
An extravagant, exotic and moving look at Rembrandt's romantic and professional life, and the controversy he created by the identification of a murderer in the painting The Night Watch.
Earth (1998)
Earth (1998)
It's 1947 and the borderlines between India and Pakistan are being drawn. A young girl bears witnesses to tragedy as her ayah is caught between the love of two men and the rising tide of political and religious violence.
Bones of Crows (2023)
Bones of Crows (2023)
Cree matriarch Aline Spears survives a childhood in Canada’s residential school system to continue her family’s generational fight in the face of systemic starvation, racism, and sexual abuse. She uses her uncanny ability to understand and translate codes into working for a special division of the Canadian Air Force as a Cree code talker in World War II. The story unfolds over 100 years with a cumulative force that propels us into the future.
