Best History Movies of 2017

Members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots battle deadly wildfires to save an Arizona town.

A thrilling and inspiring true story begins on the eve of World War II as, within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.

A police raid in Detroit in 1967 results in one of the largest citizens' uprisings in the history of the United States.

Henri “Papillon” Charrière, a safecracker from the Parisian underworld, is wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, where he forges a strong friendship with Louis Dega, a counterfeiter who needs his protection.

The account of keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, Jan and Antonina Zabinski, who helped save hundreds of people and animals during the Nazi invasion.

A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between journalist and government. Inspired by true events.

A legendary Native American-hating Army captain nearing retirement in 1892 is given one last assignment: to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory back to his Montana reservation.

When dictator Joseph Stalin dies, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to become the next Soviet leader. As they bumble, brawl and back-stab their way to the top, the question remains — just who is running the government?

Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.

The true story of the 1973 tennis match between World number one Billie Jean King and ex-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs.

The story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom.

A true-life drama in the 1920s, centering on British explorer Col. Percy Fawcett, who discovered evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization in the Amazon and disappeared whilst searching for it.

A 5-year-old girl embarks on a harrowing quest for survival amid the sudden rise and terrifying reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

The behind the scenes story of the life of A.A. Milne and the creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories inspired by his son Christopher Robin.

In 1843, despite the fact that Dickens is a successful writer, the failure of his latest book puts his career at a crossroads, until the moment when, struggling with inspiration and confronting reality with his childhood memories, a new character is born in the depths of his troubled mind; an old, lonely, embittered man, so vivid, so human, that a whole world grows around him, a story so inspiring that changed the meaning of Christmas forever.

A simple yet proud rancher conspires to murder his wife for financial gain, convincing his teenage son to participate.

A look behind the scenes at Bernie Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme, how it was perpetrated on the public and the trail of destruction it left in its wake, both for the victims and Madoff's family.

With the Third Reich at its peak in 1942, the Czech resistance in London plans the most ambitious military operation of WWII – Anthropoid. Two young recruits are sent to Prague to assassinate the most ruthless Nazi leader – Reinhardt Heydrich, head of the SS, the Gestapo and the architect of the Final Solution.

Jeffrey Dahmer struggles with a difficult family life as a young boy. During his teenage years he slowly transforms, edging closer to the serial killer he was to become.

The story of Mark Felt, who under the name "Deep Throat" helped journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the Watergate scandal in 1974.

From his days of testifying at the Watergate hearings to advising recent presidential candidate Donald Trump, Roger Stone has long offended people on both sides of the political fence as a force in conservative America. Outspoken author, pundit, ahead of his time election strategist, this is his story.

London, England, April 1980. Six terrorists assault the Embassy of Iran and take hostages. For six days, tense negotiations are held while the authorities decide whether a military squad should intervene.

A ticking-clock thriller following Winston Churchill in the 24 hours before D-Day.

The rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenaged 'newsies,' who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. When publishing titans raise distribution prices at the newsboys' expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to strike and take a stand for what's right.

In 1947, Lord Mountbatten assumes the post of last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people, living upstairs at the house which was the home of British rulers, whilst 500 Hindu, Muslim and Sikh servants lived downstairs.

Twenty-five years after the verdict in the Rodney King trial sparked several days of protests, violence and looting in Los Angeles, LA 92 immerses viewers in that tumultuous period through stunning and rarely seen archival footage.

The story of U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson from his young days in West Texas to the White House.

Paris, 1964. The Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti, one of the most accomplished and respected artists of his generation, asks his friend, the American writer James Lord, to sit for a portrait, assuring him that it will take no longer than two or three hours, an afternoon at the most.

After 500 years, Martin Luther finally gets his own animated film. A completely and utterly accurate history lesson about Martin Luther.

The Repair Shop is decked with holly, and a dedicated team of Britain's most passionate and skilled crafts people are beavering away like busy Christmas elves repairing and rescuing beloved festive treasures. A Victorian version of a jukebox called a Polyphon, that has rusted into silence, moves sisters Ann and Kathryn to tears when they hear it play the family's favourite carol for the first time in decades. Meanwhile, the only Christmas present received by evacuee Patricia in 1939, Betty Doll, is lovingly brought back to life; while a rustic but rickety Nordic sleigh, a battered 100 year-old school Nativity, and an 18th century Madonna and Child painting all bring unique restoration challenges for the team of experts. Celebrating the season of joy and giving, The Repair Shop at Christmas is the festive fairy tale that will transform broken treasures into beautiful gifts, proving that 'make do and mend' is still a philosophy to live by.

This is not the story of O. J. Simpson, but a clip by JAY-Z. An animated one, that takes inspiration on some old cartoon’s, criticizes some, and above all tells a message against racism while putting in lyric some facts about Jay life.

A woman moves to live with her new husband in 17th century Amsterdam, but soon discovers that not everything is what it seems.

The vivid and inspiring story of British film icon Michael Caine's personal journey through 1960s swinging London.

Known for his mournful "Adagio for Strings," Samuel Barber was never quite fashionable. This acclaimed film is a probing exploration of his music and melancholia. Performance, oral history, musicology, and biography combine to explore the life and music of one of America’s greatest composers. Features Thomas Hampson, Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop and many more of the world's leading experts on Barber's music, with tributes from composers Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and William Schuman. The film was broadcast on PBS, and screened at nine film festivals internationally, with three best-of awards. It was named a Recording of the Year 2017 by MusicWeb International.

Since the mid-20th century, the world has only ever heard one side of the most horrific war in human history. During the 75 years that have now passed, only a single narrative of the great conflict has been heard. After World War Two, the victors of the war not only went on to write our history books, infiltrate our media and public education but even going so far as to criminalize the mere questioning of the official story's orthodoxy. The truth is, that our world today can only be understood through a correct understanding of World War II, the architects of it and the conflicts between Globalism and Nationalism.

The electrifying special was taped at the legendary Apollo Theater in New York City, where Mars kicks off the primetime special in spectacular style, with an epic performance atop the Apollo’s landmark marquee.

"Elizabeth Smart: Autobiography," Smart explains her story in her own words and provides previously untold details about her infamous abduction and nine-month nightmare in the grasps of her cruel captors. Now 29 years old, she shares the perspective she gained through the ordeal and how she has moved past it to focus on marriage, motherhood and advocating for others. Smart's family, along with law enforcement involved with investigating the disappearance and eyewitnesses, reveal new information about the case and reflect on her remarkable recovery and perseverance.

On the 8th September 1943, thousands of allied prisoners of war escaped into the Italian countryside following the country's surrender. The occupying Germans hunted these escapers who were helped and sheltered by the brave and kind Italian Contadini, farmers who put their families and homes at great risk by doing so. Made by a crew of students in Leeds, England with very limited resources and funds, it is based on the director's great-grandfather and his experiences as an escaped British POW in Italy during WWII.

A sweeping chronicle of the entire exclusion era - the latter part of the 1800s, when anti-Chinese agitation led to federal laws targeting Chinese abroad and those already in the country. Go far beyond the legislation with the survival and growth of Chinese American communities in the face of prejudice and outright violence, the “paper” sons and daughters who emigrated despite the seemingly impassable barriers, and the legal challenges that produced some of the most momentous decisions in Supreme Court history.

EXHIBITION ON SCREEN open its fifth season with Canaletto & the Art of Venice, an immersive journey into the life and art of Venice’s famous view-painter. No artist better captures the essence and allure of Venice than Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known as Canaletto. The remarkable group of over 200 paintings, drawings and prints on display offer unparalleled insight into the artistry of Canaletto and his contemporaries, and the city he became a master at capturing. The film also offers the chance to step inside two official royal residences - Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle – to learn more about the artist, and Joseph Smith, the man who introduced Canaletto to Britain.

The story of communist show-trial victim Milada Horáková. Horáková was one of the first victims of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. She opposed the communist coup in 1948 but did not leave the country. She was arrested and tried for treason on fabricated charges in a show trial that was broadcast on the radio and shown in film clips. The film focuses on the time from 1945 to 1950 when the communists took over, but also goes back a little further in Horáková's life into the late 1930s

Archival footage of an American Nazi rally that attracted 20,000 people at Madison Square Garden in 1939, shortly before the beginning of World War II.

A happy family in the suburbs of London enjoy an afternoon around the kitchen table when a knock is heard at the front door. A government official wants the family's help to assist a homeless family - but are they after more? The film puts on view the tragic fallouts of the Balfour Declaration (1917), in which the British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour signalled the go-ahead for the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine.

Two love stories, sixty years apart, charting the challenges and huge change to gay lives with Michael and Thomas from WW2 to Adam and Steve to the present day.

On the 29th September 1945, the incomplete rough cut of a brilliant documentary about concentration camps was viewed at the MOI in London. For five months, Sidney Bernstein had led a small team – which included Stewart McAllister, Richard Crossman and Alfred Hitchcock – to complete the film from hours of shocking footage. Unfortunately, this ambitious Allied project to create a feature-length visual report that would damn the Nazi regime and shame the German people into acceptance of Allied occupation had missed its moment. Even in its incomplete form (available since 1984) the film was immensely powerful, generating an awed hush among audiences. But now, complete to six reels, this faithfully restored and definitive version produced by IWM, is being compared with Alain Resnais’ Night and Fog (1955).

Nine / 10 movie is about Che Guevara's end days. It's directed by Rohan Raj Edited by Vishnu Venugopal

Historian Lucy Worsley visits the places and houses in England where Jane Austen spent time and which served as inspiration for the settings of her novels.

1967, the height of the Red Scare. Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt is embroiled in a power struggle after discovering his spymaster has illegally investigated and exposed Red sympathisers embedded within Holt's administration.

"Man in Red Bandana" is about Welles Remy Crowther, an extraordinary 9/11 hero. However, how his heroics became known is even more remarkable. Eight months after the disaster, his parents learned about how their son spent his last hour due to an ordinary object ... a red bandana. This revelation dramatically shifts their perspective on their loss. After hearing his remarkable story and how it unfolds, viewers will see how the actions of one man have touched 1,000s. This inspirational segment of the film depicts the unique, diverse and folklore ways that Welles is honored throughout the United States including in art, sports and song. Even President Barack Obama pays homage to this young man in the film. Our uplifting ending culminates in the revelation of a secret about Welles that can only be described as "perfect".