World War II was one of the most important events, not only in American history, but in the overall record of human events. Hollywood has not been shy about using the medium of film to tell the innumerable great stories of WWII and the ones we know well have had more than their fair share of cinematic interpretations: the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Holocaust, and the Normandy Invasion, just to name a few. However, there are quite a few stories that go largely overlooked and this week, one film being released in theaters strives to change that.

David Oyelowo

If you were among those lucky enough to experience the surprise hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes in theaters last summer, then you’ll probably have no problem recognizing David Oyelowo. He played the treacherous Jacobs, the head of the company handling the drug tests on the apes. Oyelowo also appeared in 2011’s runaway hit The Help, which has already won a number of awards, the riveting BBC mini-series Five Days, and will next appear in Lee Daniel’s The Paperboy alongside Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman.