Small Hands in a Big War

Season 1

Small Hands In A Big War is the first docudrama bringing WWI to a young audience. In each episode we visit a different child, in a different country. We experience what the war was like for him or her related with one big topic: propaganda, revolution, honour etc.

Where to Watch Small Hands in a Big War • Season 1

8 Episodes

The Attack
E1
The AttackAn underage French schoolboy is full of patriotic enthusiasm at the start of the war. Against the will of his parents he signs up. His romantic dreams of honour soon give way to disillusionment with modern warfare.
The Escape
E2
The EscapeA poor Flemish girl is caught stealing. The German occupying forces punish her severely: four months in prison or an impossibly large fine. She flees in secret and passes an electrified security fence at the Belgian border.
The Pain
E3
The PainA German girl helps her older sister, who is taking care of wounded soldiers. When the senior doctor refuses to treat a poison-gas victim, she decides to help the soldier on her own in secret and manages to save him.
The Lie
E4
The LieA shepherd from South Tyrol is forced to guide Italian soldiers, who are attacking his homeland, through the Alps. With talent, luck and teamwork they survive the dangers of the high mountains and even an avalanche.
The Mountain
E5
The MountainAlthough Italy was Austria-Hungary's sworn ally before the war, it soon switched to the Allied side, hoping it could quickly steal grab part of the Alpine border lands, notably Souther Tyrol, while the Hapsburg troops were occupied fighting Russians and Serbians. But the 'civilian' locals put up a stern defense, making best use of superior knowledge of the merciless mountains. The Italians get pinned down and are forced to destroy the villages they wanted to annex. Austrian boy Tobias Klein is seized with his beloved donkey, forced at gunpoint to guide Italian lieutenant Lorenzo Durante's troops, but is at least as desperate not to help them kill his family and friends. Cold, avalanches and fighting, including tunnels to plant explosives, exact an even worse toll then the trenches war.
The Odyssey
E6
The OdysseyA twelve-year old American girl flees with her parents from the war in Europe. They board a Dutch freighter which is to bring them to America. On board, the girl discovers a stowaway. The captain wants to catch him.
The Revolution
E7
The RevolutionAfter the Austrian troops wrecked his home and killed his family, orphan Misha Pterowski happily volunteers in the czar's army, a common practice. the war goes terribly, yet he can't understand that adult soldiers applaud the republican revolution and peace with the axis powers. He gets caught in conflicting loyalties with most terrible consequences after the Bolshevik second revolution overturns the social and military order.
The Punishment
E8
The PunishmentAfter losing her husband in the Great War, a French mother finds she can no longer cope with the family farm. She only manages to do so when a German prisoner-of-war is assigned to her as a labourer.