Documentaries About Writers

Agee is the only film biography of a major American writer to be nominated for and Academy Award. Ever.

A look at the art of Spalding Gray who drew from real life experience to create a compelling and deeply personal series of monologues.

This film tells the compelling story of an extraordinary woman's journey from her birth in a paper thin shack in the cotton fields of Georgia to her recognition as a key writer of the twentieth Century.Walker made history as the first black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for her groundbreaking novel, The Color Purple. A universal story of triumph against all odds not that different from Walker's own. Born, the eight child of sharecroppers, her early life unfolded in the midst of violent racism and poverty during some of the most turbulent years of social/political changes in the U.S. The film offers a penetrating look at the life and art of an artist, a self confessed renegade and human rights activist.

A documentary focusing on the life of novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, the author of the bestselling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and originator of the Objectivist philosophy.

In this extraordinary film shot on the rugged North Cornwall coast, director Jane Darke starts recording her husband Nick's life as a fisherman, beachcomber and playwright. Already recovering from a stroke, Nick is then unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer. From that moment forward, Jane's film captures Nick's attempts to pass on knowledge and experience to his sons, and becomes in the process a profoundly moving and honest account of loss, grief and hope. The Art of Catching Lobsters follows on from the huge success of Nick and Jane's previous film, the award-winning The Wrecking Season. Written and directed by Jane Darke, the film was co-produced by Boatshed Films and Sevenstones Media and received its world premiere on BBC4. Since its initial broadcast, the film has screened at several film festivals and received huge praise from critics and audiences alike. Check out what other people had to say about the film in the Reviews section. 'A simple touching insight into love and grief' - Daily Telegraph 'Raw warm and powerful...a remarkable video diary, part love letter and part epitaph, punctuated with wry humour...' - Time Out 'One of the most heartbreaking and uplifting programmes of the year' - Daily Mail

A documentary on the infamous gonzo journalist, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.

The film looks at the places Charles Dickens lived and worked and how he used them in his novels and stories.

A biography of Poet Norman Corwin, and the events surrounding his powerful radio broadcast commemorating VE Day on May 8, 1945.

Barbet Schroeder interviews Bukowski.

Hollywood outcast, best-selling author and chronicler of the rich and famous, Dominick Dunne was one of the world's leading journalists and society commentators. This is his story.

A documentary on speculative fiction writer and essayist Harlan Ellison.

When Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison set out to retrace the literary footsteps of Farley Mowat they meant it literally. Their 5000KM trip -trekking, sailing, portaging and paddling from the Prairies to the Maritimes - is captured in the documentary Finding Farley.

A portrait of the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.

A television program celebrating Jorge Luis Borge's 80th birthday serves Montes-Bradley to amplify the dialogue with others, including those who, like Mick Jagger, Héctor Babenco, Humberto Ecco, and Bernardo Bertolucci, has delved into Borges's imagination to create their masterpieces on the screen. Particularly relevant are here the interventions of Franco Lucentini and Martin Caparrós. The result is highly entertaining and thought-provoking, leaving the audience with a much deeper understanding of Jorge Luis Borges and the literature. Whether you're a passionate reader or an avid admirer of Borges, this early, and awarded documentary by Montes-Bradley, promises to be a captivating experience.

An exploration into the life and art of the renowned author of "Last Exit To Brooklyn" and "Requiem For A Dream." Hubert Selby Jr., a self-described "scream looking for a mouth," against all odds, reached international acclaim with his controversial novels. His is a classic story of the great American novelist, overcoming tuberculosis, drug addiction and financial ruin, Selby eventually triumphed in his life and penned seven of the most remarkable and distinctly American books ever written.

This movie captures the unlikely connection of three men. An ex-con biographer, a janitor turned publisher and U.S. President George W. Bush whose paths to power and popularity become tangled in the controversial book Fortunate Son.

Joseph Campbell discusses the nature of the hero in mythology.

National Film Board of Canada Donald Owen teamed with NFB producer Donald Brittain for an imaginative profile of Montreal poet Leonard Cohen.

A documentary on Nobel Prize Winner José Saramago and his feelings over his wife, his country and life, as a whole.

On the eve of her 70th birthday, Canadian writer Margaret Atwood set out on an international tour criss-crossing the British Isles and North America to celebrate the publication of her new dystopian novel, The Year of the Flood. But rather than mount a traditional tour to promote a book's publication, Atwood conceived and executed something far more ambitious and revelatory-a theatrical version of her novel. Along the way she reinvented what a book tour could be. But Atwood wasn't selling books as much as advocating an idea. Her primary concern was to do what she could to ensure the continued life of the birds of the skies-especially song birds. Atwood's odyssey is now captured in Ron Mann's new film, In The Wake of the Flood. Rendered as a fly-on-the-wall film verite, In The Wake of the Flood mixes new footage, archival materials and evocative CGI in featuring Atwood on the road and at home as an aging but buoyant literary rock star spreading a message of warning and hope as she staged and participated in the novel production. Margaret Atwood is, of course, one of the most acclaimed literary voices of this generation. The author of more than a dozen novels, numerous collections of poetry, children's books, and countless essays, Atwood's triumphs have been lauded on the highest levels throughout the world. In each community she visited, Atwood joined volunteer performers in a loose-knit, grass roots production drawn from the text of her novel. With its mystical, Blakean overtones, Atwood's theatrical version of The Year of the Flood acts as a song cycle that seeks to shake the human race into an awareness of the fragility of the natural world and our vital connection to it. To bring her novel into a live setting, Atwood teamed with Los Angeles composer Orville Stoeber to write a new style of devotional music influenced by the related genres of country ballads, gospel, jazz and folk. Each performance included a cast of local readers and singers taking the roles of different characters in key scenes from the novel. The events were primarily staged in cathedrals, adding a grand visual element to the proceedings and a layer of ceremonial gravitas. From Edinburgh and London to New York City, Toronto and Vancouver, Atwood emerges as a wizened elf whose rare sensibility is always in the foreground: a life and art coalesced into a unity of medium and message.

Documentary profile of actor Sterling Hayden .