List of World War II short films
Below is an incomplete list of short films or animated cartoons that pertain to World War II, or the years leading up to it.
Restrictions
- The film must be concerned with Hitler's rise, the Spanish Civil War, the Sino-Japanese War, or World War II itself.
- Feature-length live-action films are excluded.
- For documentaries, see: List of World War II documentary films.
Films made before the war
1930s
Year undetermined
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
Films made after the war
1940s">1940s in film">1940s
1950s">1950s in film">1950s
1960s">1960s in film">1960s
1970s">1970s in film">1970s
1980s">1980s in film">1980s
1990s">1990s in film">1990s
2000s">2000s in film">2000s
Year | Country | Title | Director | Events depicted | View online |
2003 | France | The Release | Sebastien Laban | Animated film. | |
2003 | United States Japan | ' | Romanov Higa | Anime in which the Nazi Party discovers a marooned spaceship capable of time travel when the war is going badly for them. | |
2004 | New Zealand | Tama Tū | Taika Waititi | Six Māori Battalion soldiers camped in Italian ruins wait for night to fall. In the silence the bros-in-arms distract themselves with jokes. A tohu brings them back to reality and they gather to say a karakia before returning to the fray. | |
2005 | Germany France | The Colonial Friend | Rachid Bouchareb | Animated film. | |
2005 | Romania France | Tertium non-datur | Lucian Pintilie | ||
2007 | United States | ' | A Nazi prisoner faces ghosts from his past before meeting his end. Based on the short story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." | ||
2008 | United States | The Bridge | Sheldon Schwartz | Film where a Japanese-American soldier in Italy embarks on a dangerous mission. | |
2008 | United Kingdom | Red Letter | Edilberto Restino | Drama where a German soldier tries to kill Hitler in Paris, 1942. Followed by Brunette Kiss. | |
2008 | Canada | Servants of War | Gillian MacLeod | Drama depicting lives of sisters torn apart by Imperial Japanese Army soldiers invading their home | |
2009 | Spain | Campás | :es:Jairo Iglesias|Jairo Iglesias | Spanish Civil War. | |
2009 | Philippines | Pedro | Regeene Ho | Drama. A man, who refuse to surrender to Japanese soldiers, on his journey to go back to his wife & daughter after escaping from hanging execution. |
2010s">2010s in film">2010s
Year | Country | Title | Director | Events depicted | View online |
2010 | United States | The Bridge | Marlon Torres | Drama in which a deceased US Army medic meets soldiers from his past. | |
2010 | Brazil | Brunette Kiss | Edilberto Restino | Drama in which a German soldier tells his life story to his grandson, a boy with Down syndrome and a prodigious memory. Sequel to Red Letter. | |
2010 | Canada | I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors | Ann Marie Fleming | Animated film. | |
2010 | Serbia Switzerland | X & O | Acim Vasic | Short film. In the depths of a snowy forest in an unknown wartime, two soldiers from opposing armies try to outwit each other in a perilous game of cat and mouse - until they find themselves outplayed by destiny. | |
2011 | United States | Breakdown | Thomas Lynskey | Short film. A vignette driven film about a Soviet trap against a squad of German soldiers. | |
2011 | United States | Courage Too Late | Thomas Lynskey | Short film. A romance brews between a male and female Soviet soldier while their platoon is sent to capture a German colonel. | |
2012 | Turkey | Biomen Shampoo commercial | Ad featuring film clip from Triumph of the Will | ||
2013 | Japan | 舰队これくしょん | Kusakawa Keizou | Anime which describes IJN warship to girls. | |
2016 | United Kingdom | Our Father | Calum Rhys | Short film. The Second World War is experienced through the journey of Private Cole - an odyssey of friendship, innocence and adventure set against a canvas of war-torn France. | |
2016 | Finland | Radio Dolores | Katariina Lillqvist | Stop motion puppet film of a Finnish volunteer of the Spanish Civil War. | |
2017 | United States | Freund | Nathan Cragun | A German sniper questions the morality of his actions after coming face to face with his enemy. | |
2017 | United States | Esperanca | Nathan Cragun | After being separated from his unit during the battle for Montese, a Brazilian soldier fights a battle with himself to continue on. He must see if he has the hope and will to move on. | |
2017 | Australia | Daily Bread | Ruby Challenger | In a WWII internment camp in Indonesia, Jeanne and a group of Dutch women and children face a daily struggle against abuse, disease, and starvation. Meanwhile, the Camp Commandant's beloved white fluffy cat is fed fresh juicy meat. | |
2019 | United States | Minor Accident of War | Diane Fredel-Weis | In 1945, WWll veteran Edward Field, now 95 years of age, flew 27 missions over Germany during the war. On his 3rd mission, his plane was hit by flak and crash landed in the North sea. This is the story of Field's survival. |