Biography
This documentary sub-heading is one of the most popular forms of non-fiction film. The biography details the lives - usually the achievements and faults of - noted or notorious public figures. Also included, alongside other movie types, are profiles of everyday people and their human interest stories.
Mao Tse Tung: China's Peasant Emperor (1998)
6.9/10
For 25 years Mao Tse Tung ruled one quarter of the world's population. Presiding over one of the most radical experiments in social reform ever seen... Read more
Arguing the World (1998)
7/10
Director: Joseph Dorman
A celebration of ideas, debate and the courage of one's convictions, this lively and thought-provoking documentary explores the heyday of New York's J... Read more
Little Dieter Needs To Fly (1998)
8.1/10
Director: Werner Herzog
Starring: Werner Herzog, Dieter Dengler
A fascinating documentary about Dieter Dengler, born in the Black Forest of Germany. As a child, he watched his village destroyed by American warplane... Read more
42 Up (1998)
8.3/10
Director: Michael Apted
Starring: Bruce Balden, Jacqueline Bassett, Symon Basterfield, Andrew Brackfield
In 1964, director Michael Apted interviewed a group of seven year old children for the documentary '7 Up'. He's been back to film them every seven yea... Read more
Kurt and Courtney (1998)
Director: Nick Broomfield
Starring: Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love
Nick Broomfield's muckraking documentary profiles indie-rock stars Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. Love objected to a one-sided, possibly slanderous po... Read more
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life (1997)
6.7/10
Director: Michael Paxton
Starring: Ayn Rand
The incredible (often controversial) life of the writer and champion of objectivism is surveyed in this Award Winning documentary, from her early days... Read more
No More to Say & Nothing to Weep For: An Elegy for Allen Ginsberg (1997)
6.4/10
Director: Colin Still
Starring: Dick Cavett, Allen Ginsberg, Paul McCartney
Witness the last days of the Beat poet whose works would capture the very essence of the 1960 counter-cultural movement in an informative documentary... Read more
El Che: Investigating a Legend (1997)
8.4/10
Director: Maurice Dugowson
Ernesto 'Che' Guevara de la Serna represents one of the most enduring images of a political leader. His legendary character has been an inspiration fo... Read more
Fast, Cheap and Out Of Control (1997)
Director: Errol Morris
Acclaimed film-maker Errol Morris ("The Thin Blue Line", "A Brief History of Time") paints a fascinating portrait of four obsessed eccentrics - a topi... Read more
Abraham Lincoln: Preserving the Union (1996)
5.8/10
Honest, eloquent, and courageous, he risked everything to save a young America from self-destruction - and paid the ultimate price. "Abraham Lincoln:... Read more