Open Secrets (2004)
• May 24th, 2004 • 0h 52min
Documentary
Overview
This provocative documentary uncovers a lost chapter in Canadian military history: how the Armed Forces dealt with homosexual behaviour among soldiers, during and after World War II. More than 60 years later, a group of five veterans, barely adults when they enlisted, break the silence to talk about how homosexual behaviour "was even more unmentionable than cancer." Yet amidst the brutality of war, instances of sexual awakening among soldiers and officers were occuring. Initially, the Army overlooked it, but as the war advanced, they began to crack down: military tribunals, threats of imprisonment, discharge and public exposure. After the war, officers accused of homosexuality were discharged. Back home in Canada, reputations and careers were ruined. For the young men who had served their country with valour, this final chapter was often too much to bear. Based on the book Courting Homosexuals in the Military by Paul Jackson.
Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!
Trailer
Similar Movies
Pencils Down! The 100 Days of the Writers Guild Strike
Released on: 2014-01-01
Documentary
In 2007, the Writers Guild of America, the Screenwriters Union, hit an impasse in their contract neg...
Tarnation
Released on: 2003-10-19
Documentary, Drama
Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture o...
Don't You Worry, It Will Probably Pass
Released on: 2003-02-28
Documentary
Three Swedish teenagers express their thoughts about bi- and homosexuality while navigating question...
Night and Fog
Released on: 1959-04-27
Documentary, History
Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.
Affirmations
Released on: 1990-06-23
Documentary
A look at what it's like to be gay and black in America.
Operation "Wedding"
Released on: 2017-10-19
Documentary, History
Leningrad, 1970. A group of young Jewish dissidents plot to hijack an empty plane and escape the USS...
The Male Gaze: Fleeting Glances
Released on: 2022-06-03
Drama, Documentary, Romance
A release that features 7 shorts from Italy, Israel, Tunisia, New Zealand, the United States and Fra...
The Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex
Released on: 1992-01-01
Documentary
Instructional documentary produced in association with the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Queer Japan
Released on: 2020-12-11
Documentary
Trailblazing artists, activists, and everyday people from across the spectrum of gender and sexualit...
D-Day to Berlin: A Newsnight Special
Released on: 1985-05-07
Documentary, War
George Stevens's remarkable film is acclaimed by historians as the most important colour footage tak...
The Circle
Released on: 2014-09-18
Drama, Documentary
A young teacher in Zurich in the 1950s falls in love with a transvestite star but is torn between hi...
The Rise & Fall of Penn Station
Released on: 2004-02-18
History, Documentary
In 1910, the Pennsylvania Railroad successfully accomplished the enormous engineering feat of buildi...
Lost Heroes
Released on: 2014-02-28
Documentary
Lost Heroes is the story of Canada's forgotten comic book superheroes and their legendary creators. ...
Deadliest Crash: The Le Mans 1955 Disaster
Released on: 2010-05-16
Documentary
Three years in the making in conjunction with the BBC. Using never seen before home movies, photos a...
Adolf Island
Released on: 2019-06-23
Documentary
Caroline Sturdy Colls, a world leader in the forensic investigation of Nazi crime scenes, is chasing...
Radical Evil
Released on: 2014-01-17
Documentary
Das radikal Böse is a German-Austrian documentary that attempted to explore psychological processes ...
Flying Supersonic
Released on: 2018-05-17
Documentary, TV Movie, History
Thundering across the sky on elegant white wings, the Concorde was an instant legend. But behind the...
D-Day: The Untold Stories
Released on: 2019-06-02
Documentary, History, War
To commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, this special presents the key events of the Allied inv...