“Seven Hours to Burn” (1999) by Shanti Thakur is a visually expressive personal documentary that explores a family’s history. Thakur mixes richly abstract filmmaking with disturbing archival war footage to narrate the story of her Danish mother’s and Indian father’s experiences. Her mother survived Nazi-occupied Denmark while her father experienced the devastating civil war in India between Hindus and Muslims. Both émigrés to Canada, they meet and marry, linking two parallel wars. Their daughter lyrically turns these two separate histories into a visually rich poem.

“Earl Heck” (1977) by Joe Schumacher follows the daily life and hobbies of Earl Heck, 63-year-old veteran living in Philadelphia.