Czar Nicholas II of Russia

Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Iceland, July 9, 2016. The surprising discovery of a canister —containing four reels of The Village Detective (Деревенский детектив), a 1969 Soviet film—, caught in the nets of an Icelandic trawler, is the first step in a fascinating journey through the artistic life of film and stage actor Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (1899-1981), icon and star of an entire era of Russian cinema.

St. Petersburg, Russia, December 30th, 1916. Grigori Rasputin is assassinated. The story of the humble peasant who became the most influential adviser to czarina Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of the last czar, Nicholas II Romanov.

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, is remembered as the instigator of the October Revolution of 1917 and, therefore, as one of the men who changed the shape of the world at that time and forever, but perhaps the actual events happened in a way different from that narrated in the history books…

Yekaterinburg, Russia, July 17th, 1917. Czar Nicholas II Romanov and his entire family are brutally murdered by the Bolsheviks. This tragic event puts an end to the long dynasty that had ruled the country with an iron hand since the coronation of Michael I Romanov in 1613.

Documentary exploring the parallels between 'The Return of the King' and real events and people in history.

To create the utopian world he envisioned, Lenin did what he thought he had to. His violent seizure of power -- and the harsh measures he took to hold onto it -- inspired generations of revolutionaries, and dictators. Brilliant and driven, Lenin wanted to change history. He did, but not in the way he expected. Made by JAK Documentary for The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones on DVD, 2007.

The Island of the Dead is a film about the demise of the Russian Epocha Modern. The symbol of this culture was the legendary Russian film star Vera Kholodnaya, who evoked a poetic image of the young urban woman on the silver screen. Her death in 1919, shrouded in tragedy and mystery, put a symbolic end to the pre-Revolutionary period. The Island of the Dead is composed of fragments from numerous films from this period, juxtaposed with other contemporary artistic expressions such as music and painting. Kovalov shows convincingly how the fragile beauty of the Russian Epocha Modern had to make way for the pressure of Futurism, Constructivism and other 'progressive trends', and how these '-isms' were then also relegated to the melting pot to be remoulded by totalitarian norms.

The documentary film dedicated to the life of Nicholas II and his family was edited from chronicle of 1896-1916 from the funds of The Russian State Documentary Film & Photo Archive.

A satire on Soviet propaganda based on Mayakovsky's poems.

A young American soldier, rendered in pseudocoma from an artillery shell from WWI, recalls his life leading up to that point.

The adventures of Hergé, or how Georges Remi created The Adventures of Tintin. Interviews, archive footage and animation clips tell the story of Tintin, which is the history of the 20th century.

Traces the origins and actions of World War I, from the funeral of Britain's King Edward VII to the Versailles Treaty.

Documentary of war atrocities with newsreel footage of concentration camps.

Nicole Védrès' chronicle of Paris from 1900 to 1914 is brought to life through the use of original material, all authentic, secured from more then 700 films belonging to public and private collections. A few of the celebrities of the time shown are Enrico Caruso, Sarah Bernhardt, and Maurice Chevalier.

A documentary about the threat of war breaking out in Europe, focusing on Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini.

Built from 1928 newsreels—the year 60 nations vowed to outlaw war—Storck’s razor-edged montage mocks the era’s self-congratulation by cross-cutting speeches and parades with portents of renewed violence: nationalism, colonial repression, police brutality. Slow-motion collapsing chimneys and the exhumation of an “unknown soldier” give the satire its sting.

A documentary film account of the Russian Revolution, based on archival footage.

A compilation of newsreels shot between 1913 and 1917 - the years leading up to the Russian Revolution.

Visit of Russian Emperor Nicholas II to Helsinki on March 10, 1915: including arrival and reception at Helsinki railway station, visit to Uspenski and Nikolai churches, drive to the castle, visit to Suomenlinna.

Glimpses of Russia's doomed aristocracy - walking tall, before revolution brought them low. This World War I news item features both Tsar Nicholas himself and wartime general Grand Duke Nicholas, his first cousin once removed. Neither, in truth, was the idol of all Russia. The former would later be killed by Bolsheviks, while the latter escaped into exile - fates unknown and unknowable in 1915.

Actuality footage of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II during their August 1907 meeting at Swinemünde (today Świnoujście), showing the monarchs coming aboard the German battleship SMS Deutschland and observing naval manoeuvres. A brief record of imperial pageantry in the Baltic, typical of pre-newsreel royal “actualities.”

Nikolai II (1868-1918), the last Russian czar, son of Alexander III and Dagmar. He had been in Denmark on vacation with his parents several times. The royal houses usually met in September to celebrate Queen Louise's birthday. Even after Queen Louise's death, the families still kept the tradition.

Troops parade past the camera.

Wilhelm II and Nicholas II, on horseback, parade in front of the cheering crowd, during the inauguration ceremony of William I's monument in Breslau, Germany (nowadays Wroclaw, Poland).

The Czar in France - Procession of the troops.

Footage of the visit of Tsar Nicholas II to Paris, shot with the Cinématographe Joly-Normandin

The German infantry parades in front of Nicholas II and Wilhelm II.

Filmed during the coronation ceremonies of Nicholas II in Moscow in 1896, this short by Lumière operator Francis Doublier shows the imperial procession approaching the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Kremlin. As the crowd advances, a company of guards escorts the imperial dais while the Tsar and Tsarina make their way into the church. An early actuality offering rare moving-image documentation of a major royal ritual.

Sovereign Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna and President Félix Faure, walking by, followed by their respective escorts.

Sovereign Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna and their suite slowly walk down a staircase, preceded by a company of cuirassiers.

The Tsar visits the Russian embassy

Russian sovereign Nicholas II and Alexandra Fiodorovna, and President Felix Faure, parading down the Champs-Elysées in a carriage, followed by horsemen.

100 seconds-long six-scene footage consisting of selected coronation ceremonies of the Russian Tsar (Emperor) Nicholas II. Shows distinguished guests entering a carriage, parade of troops and carriages, Nicholas II and his wife empress Alexandra Feodorovna descending the Kremlin Red Staircase, procession of the newly crowned Emperor and his wife under the baldacchino, guests from the Asian parts of the Russian Empire.

The Tsar travels to Paris.

Queen Victoria and family experience the new 'cinematograph process'.

Tsar Nicholas II arrives in Paris.