Together with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, we’ve picked five films for A-level educators, university societies or appropriately aged youth groups who would like to use film to study the Holocaust, or more recent genocides, with their learners, friends or colleagues.
Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) remembers the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution of other groups and during more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
On HMD, we honour the memory of those who were murdered because of their identity. As we see acts of Holocaust and genocide distortion or denial, racism, bigotry and hatred, both in the UK and across the world, in person and online, we are reminded by HMD that we need to learn from genocide to build a better future.
Ahead of HMD on 27 January 2024, we’ve put together some suggested discussion points to kick-start conversation with your class or group when the credits roll.
While these films do explore challenging and emotional themes, they have all been suggested by BBFC Compliance Officers due to the strong educational value of the content. If you’re planning to show any of these films in the classroom, remember to check the age rating first and read our top tips for teachers.
Prior to watching these films, we recommend familiarising yourself with Gregory Stanton’s 10 Stages of Genocide.
These films are just a starting point. If you would like to continue your journey learning about the Holocaust or more recent genocides with your class, then the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust website is packed full of free, educational resources.
Films about the Holocaust
Defiance (2009)
Classification: 15 – contains strong language and violence
Three Jewish brothers escape a Nazi massacre and build a small community in the Belorussian forest in this inspiring US drama. Battle scenes are fast-paced, but with moments of more personalised, brutal violence.
You can stream this film on Amazon Video, Google Play, Microsoft or Apple TV.
Violence
During battles, there are strong scenes of sustained fighting in which blood is visible after impacts and on characters' hands and clothes.
Language
There is strong language (‘f**k’), accompanied by other milder terms (‘bitch’ and ‘shit’).
Sexual violence and sexual threat
There are verbal references to rape.
- What important choices do the Jews who fled to the forest make in the film?
- How does this film portray resistance?
- What did you learn about the causes, process or human experience of those persecuted and murdered during the Holocaust by watching this film?
- How has seeing this film made you think or feel differently?
- Was there anything in this film that challenged or surprised you about the Holocaust?
- Do you agree with the BBFC age rating? Why? Why not? Do you agree with the content advice that comes along with the film - would you add or remove anything?
- How does the film conjure up a sense of place?
- Why do you think it’s helpful to know what topics or issues a film might contain before you watch it? Who do you think the content advice is aimed at?
Denial (2017)
Classification: 12 – infrequent strong and racist language
Acclaimed writer Deborah Lipstadt fights for historical accuracy against Holocaust denial in this moving drama, based on true events. References to genocide are discreet, but might be upsetting for some viewers.
You can stream this film on Prime Video, Google Play, Microsoft or Apple TV.
Threat and horror
A character imagines people clamouring around in panic inside a gas chamber, but is brief and impressionistic. There are also verbal references to the Holocaust, specifically to the procedure used in the gas chambers of concentration camps. Such references occur in the context of a legal case.
Language
There is infrequent use of strong language ('f**k'). Milder terms include 'shit', ‘God’ and 'hell'.
Discrimination
A racist rhyme is recited in a courtroom. A crowd shout at a character, calling her a 'dirty Jew' and 'Jewish scum'. However, racism is not condoned by the work as a whole. A male character makes sexist comments about women working for him.
- How does the film depict the difference between opinion, fact and truth?
- In what ways does the film encourage the viewer to consider the debate between freedom of speech and Holocaust denialism?
- What did you learn about the causes, process or human experience of those persecuted and murdered during the Holocaust by watching this film?
- How has seeing this film made you think or feel differently?
- Was there anything in this film that challenged or surprised you about the Holocaust?
- How does the courtroom context impact how you feel about the film’s theme?
- Do you agree with the BBFC age rating? Why? Why not? Do you agree with the content advice that comes along with the film - would you add or remove anything?
- Why do you think it’s helpful to know what topics or issues a film might contain before you watch it? Who do you think the content advice is aimed at?
Film about genocide in Bosnia
Quo Vadis, Aida? (2021)
Classification: 15 – strong language, threat, brief sexual threat
A UN translator fights to save her family in this harrowing Bosnian war drama, based on the historical events in Srebrenica in 1995. The film is emotional and intense, with a sense of impending threat throughout.
You can stream this film on Netflix, Prime Video, Google Play or Sky Store.
Threat and horror
There are scenes of strong threat as families are forced apart by soldiers and rounded up to be evacuated. Men are taken to a town hall and it is implied that they are slaughtered by Serbian soldiers.
Language
There is strong language (‘f**k’, ‘motherf**ker’), accompanied by milder terms, including ‘pussy’, ‘shit’, ‘piss’ and ‘hell’.
Discrimination
There is discriminatory language as a soldier referring to civilians as ‘Muslim motherf**kers’. Such attitudes, however, are not endorsed by the film as a whole.
Drugs
There is also a scene in which people smoke a marijuana joint.
Sexual violence and sexual threat
A woman is groped and leered at by soldiers during a weapon search.
Injury detail
There are scenes containing blood in the aftermath of violence.
- How does the film portray the role of international actors in the fall of Srebrenica?
- Does the end of the film offer a closure to the events?
- What did you learn about the causes, process or human experience of those persecuted and murdered during genocide in Bosnia by watching this film?
- How has seeing this film made you think or feel differently?
- Was there anything in this film that challenged or surprised you about the genocide?
- What do we learn by seeing the story unfold through the eyes of a translator?
- Do you agree with the BBFC age rating? What about the content advice that comes along with the film - would you add or remove anything?
- Why do you think it’s helpful to know what topics or issues a film might contain before you watch it? Who do you think the content advice is aimed at?
Film about the Cambodian genocide
The Missing Picture (2013)
Classification: 12 – contains references to killings and atrocities
This Cambodian-French documentary utilises clay figures, archival footage and narration to give an insight into the atrocities inflicted by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, without dwelling on strong details.
Disturbing images
There is also brief archive footage showing animals being experimented upon, including the body of a small animal with its skin pinned back to reveal internal organs. In brief black and white footage, there is the sight of human skeletal remains being dug up.
Theme
There are references to people being executed and dying of starvation, as well as references to torture and other forms of abuse. The use of models to illustrate scenes of suffering ensures that the visuals are discreet and the detail is limited.
- How does the film convey the significance of images to memory and remembering?
- How does the perspective of a 13-year old child shape how we receive the film?
- What did you learn about the causes, process or human experience of those persecuted and murdered during the Cambodian genocide by watching this film?
- How has seeing this film made you think or feel differently?
- Was there anything in this film that challenged or surprised you about the genocide?
- What impact does the film’s multimedia form have on its storytelling?
- Do you agree with the BBFC age rating? What about the content advice that comes along with the film - would you add or remove anything?
- Why do you think it’s helpful to know what topics or issues a film might contain before you watch it? Who do you think the content advice is aimed at?
Film about the Rwandan genocide
Sometimes in April (2005)
Classification: 15 – contains moderate violence and strong language
A Hutu soldier tries to get his family to safety during the genocide against the Tutsi in this intense US drama, based on events in Rwanda in 1994, which sometimes depicts genocide in distressing detail.
You can stream this film on Apple TV, or purchase the DVD on Amazon.
Violence
Racially motivated violence includes the massacre of Tutsi people in numerous scenes, sometimes accompanied with bloody detail. In one sequence, soldiers slaughter a class of schoolgirls. Some shootings also take place off-screen.
Threat and horror
There are scenes in which people, including women and children, are threatened by soldiers with guns and knives. A woman begs for the lives of her children. Houses and other property are set on fire and destroyed. Scenes in a courtroom involve witnesses recalling harrowing and traumatic experiences. People are distressed when seeing dead loved ones.
Language
There is use of strong language (‘f**k’), accompanied by other milder terms (‘screw’, ‘God’, ‘damn’ and ‘hell’).
Discrimination
‘Cockroach’ and other racist slurs are used during an anti-Tutsi propaganda radio broadcast. In another scene, a man inspects the face of an African man in an attempt to classify his race.
Sexual violence and sexual threat
There are verbal references to sexual violence when a witness gives evidence in court.
Injury detail
Scenes feature sometimes lingering shots of bloody corpses, for example, littering the roadside or on the back of trucks.
- What do the characters do in the present of the film to continue living with the legacies of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda?
- How does the film depict the role of the international actors, such as the US Department of State and President Clinton, during and after the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda?
- How has seeing this film made you think or feel differently?
- Was there anything in this film that challenged or surprised you about the genocide?
- What does the interweaving of past and present teach us about the atrocities and the impact on family across generations?
- Do you agree with the BBFC age rating? What about the content advice that comes along with the film - would you add or remove anything?
- Why do you think it’s helpful to know what topics or issues a film might contain before you watch it? Who do you think the content advice is aimed at?
HMDT is the charity established and primarily funded by the UK Government to promote and support Holocaust Memorial Day. We promote and support HMD as the UK’s national day to commemorate the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of people killed under Nazi persecution of other groups and in more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur; to encourage people to learn lessons from the past and take steps to challenge hatred and persecution. To find out more go to hmd.org.uk.
HMD is the international day on 27 January to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of people killed under Nazi persecution of other groups, and in more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. HMD is for everyone. Each year across the UK, thousands of people come together to learn more about the past and take action to create a safer future. Together we bear witness for those who endured genocide, and honour the survivors and all those whose lives were changed beyond recognition.
