WAdventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization is a 54-minute color documentary based on the life and thoughts of Nirad C. Chaudhuri. It was made in 1972 and was directed by James Ivory. In this, Chaudhuri expounds his views on culture, history, religion and society from a comparative perspective.
WAgee is a 1980 American documentary film about the writer and film critic James Agee directed and produced by Ross Spears. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
WAlice Walker: Beauty in Truth is a documentary film directed by Pratibha Parmar, made by Kali Films production company. The film follows the life of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, poet and activist Alice Walker. Shooting began in May 2011. It was aired on the BBC on Monday July 8, 2013, and on PBS on February 7, 2014.
WAmerican Anarchist is a 2016 American documentary film written and directed by Charlie Siskel. The film centers on interviews with William Powell, author of the controversial 1971 book The Anarchist Cookbook. The film premiered out of competition at the 73rd edition of the Venice Film Festival.
WAnd Everything Is Going Fine is a 2010 documentary film directed by Steven Soderbergh about the life of monologist Spalding Gray. It premiered on January 23, 2010 at the Slamdance Film Festival and was screened at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival and the 2010 Maryland Film Festival. Soderbergh had earlier directed Gray's filmed monologue, Gray's Anatomy.
WAyn Rand: A Sense of Life is a 1996 American documentary film written, produced, and directed by Michael Paxton. Its focus is on novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, the author of the bestselling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, who promoted her philosophy of Objectivism through her books, articles, speeches, and media appearances.
WBreakfast with Hunter is a 2003 documentary film about the everyday life of gonzo-journalist Hunter S. Thompson by Wayne Ewing.
WBurroughs: The Movie is a 1983 documentary film directed by Howard Brookner about the beat generation writer William S. Burroughs.
WBuy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film is a 2006 documentary about writer Hunter S. Thompson directed by Tom Thurman.
WThe Charles Bukowski Tapes are a collection of short interviews with the American writer/poet Charles Bukowski, filmed and assembled by Barbet Schroeder and first published in 1985. Today, the video documentary is considered a cult classic.
WChris & Don: A Love Story is a 2007 documentary film that chronicles the lifelong relationship between author Christopher Isherwood and his much younger lover, artist Don Bachardy. Chris & Don combines present-day interviews, archival footage shot by the couple from the 1950s, excerpts from Isherwood's diaries, and playful animations to recount their romance. It was directed by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara, and was the centerpiece film at NewFest, the New York LGBTQ Film Festival, in 2008.
WCooper & Hemingway: The True Gen is a 2013 documentary film about the 20-year friendship between writer Ernest Hemingway and film actor Gary Cooper. Written and directed by John Mulholland, it is narrated by actor Sam Waterston with actor Len Cariou as the voice of writer Ernest Hemingway.
WDreams with Sharp Teeth is a 2008 biographical documentary film about writer Harlan Ellison.
WEscapes is a 2017 documentary film about the life of flamenco dancer, actor, and Blade Runner screenwriter Hampton Fancher directed by Michael Almereyda.
WFar Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story is a 2012 documentary film by American director Brad Bernstein. The documentary details the life and times of renegade children's book author and illustrator Tomi Ungerer. Far Out had its North American premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.
WFire and Nothing, is Serbian (feature-documentary), and biographical film produced in 1995. It is written and directed by Marislav Radisavlević, and is being produced by Ivan Zdravković. This film is a story about the famous Serbian poet Branko Miljković.
WForbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives is a 1992 Canadian documentary film about the lives of lesbians and their experiences of lesbian pulp fiction. The film presents the stories of lesbians whose desire for community led them on a search for the few public beer parlours or bars that would tolerate openly queer women in the 1950s and 60s in Canada. It was written and directed by Lynne Fernie and Aerlyn Weissman and featured author Ann Bannon. It premiered at the 1992 Toronto Festival of Festivals and was released in the United States on 4 August 1993. It was produced by Studio D, the women's studio of the National Film Board of Canada.
WFreak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Ajax Phillips and Daniel Joseph Watkins, based on the book Freak Power: Hunter S. Thompson's Campaign for Sheriff written by Watkins. The film follows journalist Hunter S. Thompson and his 1970 campaign for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado, against the incumbent sheriff Carol Whitmire, whose crackdown on marijuana and loitering aimed to incarcerate and intimidate young hippies, or "freaks", into leaving the area. Thompson created and ran under the third party "Freak Power" ticket, with the strategy of registering hundreds of young voters who had never before participated in the democratic process.
WFrom Language to Language is a 55-minute 2004 Belgian-French-German-Israeli Hebrew-language independent underground experimental documentary art film directed by Nurith Aviv.
WGonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is a 2008 documentary film directed by Alex Gibney. It details Hunter S. Thompson's landmark writings on music and politics. Friends and family provide interviews to help describe the mythos of Hunter and his life.
WGore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia is a 2013 documentary film about the life and career of author Gore Vidal. It premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2013.
WGrant Morrison: Talking with Gods is a feature-length documentary that takes an in depth look at the life, career and mind of the Scottish comic book writer Grant Morrison. Talking with Gods features interviews with Morrison and many of his collaborators, such as artists, editors and other industry professionals.
WHarto The Borges is a documentary film by Eduardo Montes-Bradley. Harto The Borges explores the narcissistic side of Jorge Luis Borges, the author of El Aleph, his frequent and often criticized comments to the press, his distinctive and gentle ironies. Harto The Borges had a theatrical release in Buenos Aires in September 2000, and was well received by the critics. Since then has been frequently exhibited at forums, campuses, and film festivals. On October 4, 2011, Harto The Borges was presented at the University of Salamanca, and made available to the general audience in Argentina through the On Line version of Revista Cultura Ñ, in Buenos Aires. The film was released alongside an article in which the director views the film ten years after its premier at the Cine Cosmos. The film is currently available in Vimeo. Harto The Borges was presented at the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, Havana, Cuba, 2000 and nominated for Premio Cóndor de Plata.
WJosé and Pilar is a Portuguese documentary directed by Miguel Gonçalves Mendes following the last years of the Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, chiefly through his relationship with his devoted wife, Pilar del Río. Highly praised by the critics and the audience, the film succeeds in portraying the tenderness, the genuine integrity and the deep humanity between the controversial writer and his wife. It gathers sequences from Madrid to Helsinki to Rio de Janeiro. It includes sequences life in Lanzarote, and during trips around the world as well as their simple, transient and quotidian moments during the period José writes his "The Elephant's Journey". The film was produced by Miguel Mendes' JumpCut (Portugal), Fernando Meirelles's O2 and Pedro Almodóvar's El Deseo.
WLemebel is a Chilean documentary film, directed by Joanna Reposi Garibaldi and released in 2019. The film is a portrait of influential Chilean writer Pedro Lemebel.
WLife Itself is a 2014 American biographical documentary film about Chicago film critic Roger Ebert, directed by Steve James and produced by Zak Piper, James and Garrett Basch. The film is based on Ebert's 2011 memoir of the same name. It premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at the 67th Cannes Film Festival. The 41st Telluride Film Festival hosted a special screening of the film on August 28, 2014. Magnolia Pictures released the film theatrically in the United States and simultaneously via video on demand platforms on July 4, 2014.
WLooking for Richard is a 1996 American documentary film directed by Al Pacino. The film is Pacino's directorial debut. It is both a performance of selected scenes of William Shakespeare's Richard III and a broader examination of Shakespeare's continuing role and relevance in popular culture. The film was featured at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1996 and it was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. Al Pacino won Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Documentaries.
WLove Always, Carolyn is a 2011 English-language Swedish documentary film written and directed by Malin Korkeasalo and Maria Ramström. The film is about Carolyn Cassady's recollection of life with husband Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac, and her concern that the truth about these men is being lost in their mythos. It features interviews with Carolyn Cassady and her children as well as archive footage. The film premiered at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.
WLovecraft: Fear of the Unknown is a 2008 documentary film that examines the life, work, and mind of American writer H. P. Lovecraft, creator of the Cthulhu Mythos.
WMan from Plains is a 2007 American documentary film written and directed by Jonathan Demme, which chronicles former President of the United States Jimmy Carter's book tour across America to publicize his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. For the book promotion, Carter grants interviews to selected newspapers, magazines, and television shows, such as CNN, PBS, Air America Radio, NPR, Chicago Life, Los Angeles Times, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
WManufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media is a 1992 documentary film that explores the political life and ideas of linguist, intellectual, and political activist Noam Chomsky. Canadian filmmakers Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick expand the analysis of political economy and mass media presented in Manufacturing Consent, a 1988 book Chomsky wrote with Edward S. Herman.
WMère-Bi is a 2008 documentary film about Annette Mbaye d'Erneville by her son, director Ousmane William Mbaye. The first Senegalese female journalist, she was deeply involved in the development of her country. Both an activist and a non-conformist, she fought for the emancipation of women from the beginning. She divided her life between France, where she studied, and Senegal, where she returned in 1957, sensing that independence was on its way.
WNo Maps for These Territories is an independent documentary film made by Mark Neale focusing on the speculative fiction author William Gibson. It features appearances by Jack Womack, Bruce Sterling, Bono, and The Edge and was released by Docurama. The film had its world premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival in October 2000.
WNomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin is a 2019 British documentary film by German director Werner Herzog. It chronicles the life of British travel writer Bruce Chatwin and includes interviews with Chatwin's widow, Elizabeth Chatwin, and biographer Nicholas Shakespeare, as well as detailing Herzog's own friendship and collaboration with the man.
WA Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin is a 2005 documentary short subject about writer Norman Corwin. In addition to Corwin, the cast includes Robert Altman, Norman Lear, Walter Cronkite, Studs Terkel, and radio historians Timothy Troy and Norman Gilliland.
WPatti Smith: Dream of Life is a 2008 documentary film about Patti Smith directed by Steven Sebring. It was presented at Berlin International Film Festival. The movie won the "Excellence in Cinematography Award: Documentary" at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and aired on the PBS series P.O.V. on December 30, 2009.
WPaul Goodman Changed My Life is a 2011 documentary film directed by Jonathan Lee and distributed by Zeitgeist Films.
WPlimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself is a 2013 American documentary film directed by Tom Bean and Luke Poling about the writer George Plimpton, who was a co-founder of The Paris Review and contributor to the participatory journalism genre.
WPublic Speaking is a 2010 HBO documentary film directed by Martin Scorsese, about the American author Fran Lebowitz, containing interviews and clips from speaking engagements.
WRabindranath Tagore is a 1961 Indian documentary film written and directed by Satyajit Ray about the life and works of noted Bengali author Rabindranath Tagore. Ray started working on the documentary in early 1958. Shot in black-and-white, the finished film was released during the birth centenary year of Rabindranath Tagore, who was born on 7 May 1861. Ray avoided the controversial aspects of Tagore's life in order to make it as an official portrait of the poet. Though Tagore was known as a poet, Ray did not use any of Tagore's poetry as he was not happy with the English translation and believed that "it would not make the right impression if recited" and people would not consider Tagore "a very great poet", based on those translations. Satyajit Ray has been reported to have said about the documentary Rabindranath Tagore in his biography Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye by W. Andrew Robinson that, "Ten or twelve minutes of it are among the most moving and powerful things that I have produced".
WSalinger is a 2013 documentary film about the reclusive writer J. D. Salinger directed and produced by Shane Salerno. The film tells the story of Salinger's life through interviews with friends, historians, and journalists. The film premiered at the 40th annual Telluride Film Festival and had a second premiere on the opening night of the Toronto International Film Festival.
WSholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness is an American biographical documentary film about Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem, who is best known for his stories about Tevye the Dairyman, the basis for the musical Fiddler on the Roof. The film uses historical photographs, film, and audio, as well as analysis by scholars and excerpts from his work read in Yiddish, to document the writer's life and the shtetl and Lower East Side lifestyles that influenced him. It was released on 8 July 2011 to positive reviews, and is one of only a small number of works with a 100% rating at the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
WSick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist is a 1997 documentary film directed by Kirby Dick about Bob Flanagan, a Los Angeles writer, poet, performance artist, comic, and BDSM celebrity, who suffered from and later died of cystic fibrosis. The film premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, where it was awarded a Special Jury Prize.
WSoriano is a biographical documentary by Eduardo Montes-Bradley exploring the life and works of Osvaldo Soriano, author of Funny Dirty Little War through testimonies of friends and family in Argentina, France, Belgium, Germany, and Italy. The documentary includes rare 16mm footage filmed by Soriano and friends in his hometown of Tandil in the early 1960s. Part of this original footage was used by the director to reconstruct a short film as it was scripted by a young Osvaldo Soriano. The show film is now on the permanent collection of several university libraries.
WStan Lee's Mutants, Monsters & Marvels is a 2002 American documentary film produced by Creative Light Entertainment consisting of an interview of Marvel Comics publisher Stan Lee by film director Kevin Smith. The two talk about Lee's life, his marriage with Joan Lee, the 2002 Spider-Man film, and Spider-Man comics. Lee refers to Marvel Comics character J. Jonah Jameson as "the version so many people had of me." The interview was filmed in February 2002 in Santa Monica, California at a comic book store. The result was a nearly two-hour-long film. The documentary was included in a four-disc release of the 2002 Spider-Man film.
WSukumar Ray is a 1987 Bengali short documentary film made by Satyajit Ray on his father, Sukumar Ray. It was released during the birth centenary year of Sukumar Ray, who was born on 30 October 1887. The thirty minutes documentary features the life and some of the works by Sukumar Ray in the form of paintings, photographs and readings.
WTell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak is a 2009 television documentary film directed by Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze about children's author Maurice Sendak.
WThe Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table is a 1987 American documentary film about the Algonquin Round Table, a floating group of writers and actors in the "Roaring Twenties" in New York City, which included great names such as Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, George S. Kaufman, Edna Ferber, Marc Connelly, Harold Ross and Harpo Marx. It was produced and directed by Aviva Slesin and narrated by Heywood Hale Broun.
WTrumbo is a 2007 American documentary film directed by Peter Askin, produced by Will Battersby, Tory Tunnell, and Alan Klingenstein, and written by Christopher Trumbo. It is based on the letters of Trumbo's father, Dalton Trumbo, an Oscar-winning screenwriter who was imprisoned and blacklisted as a member of the Hollywood Ten, ten screenwriters, directors and producers who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the Hollywood film industry.
WVolcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry is a 1976 Canadian documentary film about writer Malcolm Lowry. Written and directed by Donald Brittain and John Kramer, it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, and won the Canadian Film Award for Best Documentary Over 30 Minutes.
WWilliam S. Burroughs: A Man Within is a 2010 independent American documentary film directed by Yony Leyser about William S. Burroughs, featuring previously unreleased footage and interviews with his friends and colleagues.
WWords of Advice: William S. Burroughs on the Road, is a 2007 documentary about William S. Burroughs directed by Lars Movin and Steen Møller Rasmussen and produced in Denmark. The documentary is based on never-before-seen footage from his visit to Denmark in October 1983, and from his later years in Lawrence, Kansas.