Film Studies Research Guide 

What's Here

Laurel and Hardy in "The Bohemian Girl." From the Crawford Collection, Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives.

Films are made by individuals, who are members of social groups. Their membership in a social group may have little impact on their filmmaking, however. This page addresses ways to get critical analyses on directors, producers, actors, screenwriters and other people involved in filmmaking.

• Books on individual people
• Books on positions within filmmaking and on social groups
• Reference and online resources
• Websites on individuals
  

See also:

• Themes, Subjects & Characters (what or who a film is about)
• Filmmaking, Producing, etc (the roles and working methods)
  
• Movie Business & Studios (the filmmaking companies)

Many resources on films and social groups concerns films that are by and about that group. This page focuses on films by members of that group but includes some resources that cover both. (For resources on how films represent a social group -- the about -- see the Themes, Subjects & Characters page.)

Books on Individuals

Works by a particular director: Author = welles, orson
Works about a particular director: Subject = welles, orson
Works by a particular actor: Author = yeoh, michelle

You can conduct similar searches for writers and other people.

See also Biographies, Credits and Plots and Movie Guides and Credits.

Books on Filmmaking Positions and Social Groups

Here are some selected subject headings for searching Orbis:

NOTE: These subject headings are about the actual people -- not about films about these groups of people.  For example, Spike Lee is an African American director, but not all of his films are about African Americans.  Nevertheless sometimes there may be overlap with Themes, Subjects & Characters.

See also Filmmaking & Producing.

Reference and Online Resources

Be sure to look at the Bibliographies & Filmographies page for more resources on particular social groups!

Black Film Center/Archive (Indiana University)

A repository of films and related materials by and about African Americans. Included are films which have substantial participation by African Americans as writers, actors, producers, directors, musicians, and consultants, as well as those which depict some aspect of black experience.

Black Film Research Online (University of Chicago)

A resource guide covering the works of Black filmmakers from across the African Diaspora; the production, distribution, and exhibition of films by, for and about Blacks; issues of Black spectatorship and reception; and images of Black people in film from the invention of the medium in the late 19th century to the present.

Cinenova On-line

A distributor for films by women. Useful if you are looking for primary resources.

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers

Profiles of actors, actresses, directors, writers and other production artists.

MoviesByWomen

An outgrowth of the 50/50 Women Filmmaker's Summit, site includes information on historical women directors, statistics on women directors, and director interviews.

The St. James women filmmakers encyclopedia: women on the other side of the camera. Edited by Amy L. Unterburger. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, c1999.

SML Reference, PN1998.2 S683X 1999

SAWNET: South Asian Women's Cinema

Profiles South Asian women filmmakers, their works, reviews, and other films related to South Asian women's topics.

Separate Cinema Archive

An archive dedicated to the history of African-Americans in film. The archive of over 25,000 posters, lobby cards, stills and assorted ephemera spans the past century of important and historic black cinema.

Third World Newsreel

Founded in 1967, Third World Newsreel is one of the oldest alternative media arts organizations in the United States. Focuses on the creation and appreciation of independent and social issue media by and about people of color, and the peoples of developing countries around the world.

Women in Cinema: A Reference Guide

Created and maintained by Philip McEldowney, University of Virginia. Reference guide for the study of women in film. Includes bibliographies, anthologies and collections, biographical sources, reviews and filmographies, and electronic sources. Not updated but useful.

Women Make Movies

The largest distributor of women's media in North America. Includes links to research resources on women in film and video. Useful if you are looking for primary resources.

Websites on Individuals

Here are some example websites on particular directors, writers, etc.  Some contain articles, bibliographies or other scholarly resources, but be aware that as with any website, information in these sites may or may not be authoritative.  Some have not been recently updated, but may retain their usefulness (if any).

Alfred Hitchcock Scholars/'MacGuffin' Web Site

Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense

The Hollywood Ten

Leni [Riefenstahl's] Rising Star

Leni Riefenstahl-Rezeption nach 1945