The link between cinema and history is a strong one. Ask me what I remember most about both my AP US and AP European history classes, in high school and my answer without a doubt would be the movies. More than that, I remember the time periods associated with the movies better than any other lessons.On that note, any student (or person who enjoys learning for that matter) living in the New York City area, should get to The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Spanish Cinema Now series, which features the first stateside screening of The War on Film / La Guerra filmada, a 8 part series that aired in Spain and dealt with the Spanish Civil War. The interesting thing is that both sides of fight edited and shot the footage that appeared in the series. What you end up getting is an honest look at war and one of the most influential time periods of the 20th Century. The first episodes air on Sunday and it will be the first time all 8 episodes will appear altogether outside of Spain. Imagine, in this world of cover-ups and media mayhem, if we could get an honest and thoughtful examination of both sides of the Iraq war… With the CIA destroying evidence these days, it seems such a thing would never be possible.For a more objective look at the Iraq war, I recommend picking up a copy of James Longley’s Iraq in Fragments - he lets the images and people speak for themselves and leave the politics aside :