The documentary is an eye-opening account of the realities of life during war, not from the flawed lens of politicians and political analysts, but through that of the civilians, soldiers and journalists who lived through the invasion and its aftermath. With no stone left unturned, it offers a first-hand narrative of the conflict in a new light, from the fall of Saddam Hussein, to the subsequent civil war and the rise of the Islamic State group.

Nicknamed the white helmets, the volunteer rescue group seeks to provide medical evacuation, essential service delivery, and search and rescue services in areas afflicted by bombing. Chronicling their work, director Orlando von Einsiedel follows the group as they head into war-torn Syria in the immediate wake of destruction.

In addition to the active work, the documentary also details the training needed to wear one of the white helmets. Following three heroic men within the same unit, the intense training is detailed. Amidst this introduction in Turkey, soon to be white helmets must wrestle with the notion of being a first responder for a region with daily airstrikes and bombings.

The film’s most striking argument is that the American government, under two presidents, is partly responsible for the growth of ISIS. It points out that many important policy makers were warned about the rise in extremism yet they refused to address this situation. A compelling mixture of interviews with government officials, clips of terrorist propaganda, and recently released documents is used to question the ineffectual response of the government during the early years of ISIS.

While Stuxnet was intended to destroy nuclear centrifuges at Iran’s Natanz plant in a military operation known as Olympic , the self-replicating worm inadvertently spread beyond its initial target to other networks across the world. The virus gets its name from a combination of words found within its source code.

Zero Days features interviews with a variety of high-ranking officials and security experts, including researchers from antivirus vendor Symantec, founder and CEO of Kaspersky Labs Eugene Kaspersky, former NSA Deputy Director Chris Inglis, former Cybersecurity Director for the Department of Homeland Security Sean McGurk, Colonel Gary D. Brown of the United States Cyber Command, amongst many others. The film concludes by discussing the development of Nitro Zeus, a sister virus to Stuxnet capable of disabling Iran’s air defences and infrastructure, but was later shelved due to the reaching of the Iran Nuclear Deal.

The documentary follows the same soldiers featured in Restrepo. Rather than focusing on the action and battles experienced by the platoon, the aftermath on the psyche is considered. With hauntingly detached, yet emotional interviews, soldiers from the platoon give their personal account of the war in all its facets. Shot in what’s called extreme closeup, the interviews are meant to physically and emotionally dive into the man under the uniform.

Battle-worn soldiers from the Korengal Valley discuss their experiences: the good, the bad, and what’s leftover. Fear, adrenaline, brotherhood, honour and bravery are some of the topics brought into the full light of the war in these interviews. With a bittersweet note, several soldiers speak longingly for the intense bonds developed with one another.

When describing his actions in the film, Anwar breaks down and shows remorse for his crimes. The director can be heard stating that his victims did not have that luxury to break down before they were murdered. The director even concludes that maybe Anwar is acting and therefore putting on a show for the cameras.

While the film addresses the military applications of drones, such as how the air force is training more ‘desk pilots’ over traditional ones, it also mentions how police forces have started to use them more frequently in order to patrol for criminals. The level of detachment drone operators may feel with respect to their targets is analysed, cautioning that some may see it as nothing more than a computer game behind the safety of a monitor.

The Invisible War features interviews with US military veterans who describe the events surrounding their sexual assaults. Their stories portray some common themes, for instance, the lack of an impartial and unbiased justice system, the absence of sufficient physical and emotional care, reprisals against victims instead of perpetrators, forced expulsion of victims from their military service, and unhindered advancement of perpetrators’ careers etc. The film also reveals footage, often recorded by veterans themselves, showing their lives and personal struggles in the wake of their assaults.

Filmmaker Danfung Dennis follows a United States Marine who is injured in Afghanistan and returns home with post-traumatic stress disorder compounding his injuries. The documentary was filmed over a year, and provides an up-close, unflinchingly real look at the struggles, hardships, and hard-won victories that the modern soldier faces long after the fighting has stopped.

Winner of two awards at the Sundance Film Festival, Hell and Back Again is difficult to watch and even more difficult to truly understand. It is precisely this difficulty, however, that makes it such a powerful examination of modern warfare.

Soviet Storm is unique from most WW2 documentaries in that discuss the war from a Russian perspective. The USSR lost ten times as many soldiers as any of the Western Allies due to engagements like the catastrophic Battle of Kiev and the three-year-long ‘meat-grinder’ siege of Rzhev.