Film Studies Research Guide 

What's Here

In general (if not always), films are about some theme or topic, and fictional films involve characters and types of characters. There are several complications in researching this topic, in part because sometimes there's a distinction between how the Library describes films vs how it describes books about those films ... and sometimes there doesn't seem to be. Please read the explanations below carefully.

On this page:

• Finding Films on Particular Topics, Themes or Characters
  • Quick and Dirty Indexes of Topics in Films
    
  • Using Orbis to Find Films on Particular Topics, Themes or Characters
• Works About a Topic, Theme or Character as Represented in Films
• Selected Reference Resources

Research into what films are about often overlaps with other topics in Film Studies. The following pages may also be relevant:

• Genres, Styles, Categories and Series
  
• Social and Other Aspects of Filmmaking
• Directors, Actors, Writers, etc.

Finding Films on Particular Topics, Themes or Characters

Quick and Dirty Indexes of Topics in Films

These three sources are very useful, but they are of course limited by their publication dates and the number of films they cover.

American Film Scripts Online

AFSO identifies screenplays' subject(s) and genre, and lets you search by these criteria. Note that AFSO only includes American films. See Screenplays/Filmscripts for more information.

Encyclopedia of film themes, settings and series. Richard B. Armstrong and Mary Willems Armstrong. Jefferson, N.C.; London: McFarland, 2001.

SML Reference, PN1997.8 +A75 2001

This encyclopedia is especially useful for obtaining examples of films with themes like amnesia, deafness, genies, ice skating, mirrors, photographers, sewers, tattos, windmills, etc.

The Ultimate Movie Thesaurus. Christopher Case. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1996.

SML Reference, PN1998 C323X 1996

Consists of two major sections.  The first is a list of films by title, providing a one-sentence synopsis, its genre(s), and its topics or themes. The second section lists the genres and topics, and the films that provide examples.

Using Orbis to Find Films on Particular Topics, Themes or Characters

From the Crawford Collection, Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives

Films on a specific character, character type or group are typically in the form [Character]--Drama or [Character] films. The "--Drama" subheading is the proper one, but the reason there may be two forms is that often these are considered a genre (although sometimes the subject heading is applied by mistake). See also Genres, Styles & Categories.

• In many cases you will need to search both forms.
  
• "Drama" covers fiction movies, plays and TV shows, including fictionalized accounts of real people or events. To some extent you can limit to films by using the strategies described on the Films & Videos page.
• These headings may be used for both fiction and non-fiction (documentary) films. For instance, there may be a non-fiction film about the rise of the vampire movie genre.
  

Films on a theme or event usually have a subject heading taking the form [Topic]--Drama, but there are also related genres (e.g., War films).

Films that are part of a series (or implied series) may receive [Series name] films. A series is usually treated as though it's a genre.

NOTE: Catalogers are not required to apply any headings of this type to films. You may need to supplement searches for films on a particular topic by looking at filmographies and similar sources.

Works About a Topic, Theme or Character as Represented in Films

Critical works, including documentaries, about a topic as seen in motion pictures. (Sometimes these headings are also applied to fiction films.  This is usually an error, but it's appropriate for a film like Hollywood Shuffle, which is in fact about African-American actors in Hollywood.)

• Note that nearly all of these have the form [Topic] in motion pictures, but that's not true for war movies and topics treated as genres. See also Genres, Styles, Categories and Series.
• The lists below are far from exhaustive, but they should indicate the many possibilities.

Selected Reference Resources

General Sources on Film Themes and Topics

Bibliographies concerning the movies, race, ethnicity, and gender (University of California--Berkeley)

Includes bibliographies on film pertrayals of African-American, Arabs, Asians, Latinos/Chicanos, Jews, Indigenous peoples, Italian-Americans, Gay, lesbian, and transgendered People, and Immigrants and outsiders.

Gender, Race and Ethnicity in Media (University of Iowa)

Metasite of collected links includes: African American, Asian American, Latin American, LesBiGay, Native American and other Indigenous Peoples, Advertising, Cyberspace, Television and Film, and Print media links.

Sources for Specific Film Themes and Topics

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

The American Indian in film. Hilger, Michael. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1986.

SML, Reference PN1995.9 I48 H54 1986

The bent lens: a world guide to gay & lesbian film. Edited by Claire Jackson and Peter Tapp. St Kilda, Vic.: Australian Catalogue Company, 1997.

SML Reference, PN1995.9 H55 B38 1997

Blacks in black and white: a source book on Black films. Sampson, Henry T. Edition: 2nd ed. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, c1995.

SML, Reference PN1995.9 N4 S2 1995

The Columbia companion to American history on film: how the movies have portrayed the American past. Ed. Peter C. Rollins.  New York: Columbia University Press, 200c.

SML Reference, PN1995.9 U64 C65 2003

The encyclopedia of ethnic groups in Hollywood. James Robert Parish. Facts on File, Inc. : New York, NY, 2003.

SML Reference, PN1995.9 M56 E63 2003

Encyclopedic dictionary of women in early American films, 1895-1930. Denise Lowe. New York: Haworth Press, 2005.

SML Reference, PN1998.2 .L686X 2005

Midnight Ramble

African Americans in motion pictures.

PlanetOut

A website dedicated to gay and lesbian film.

QCinema

A directory of resources on queer cinema.

Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive

The Spielberg Archive is the world's largest collection of Jewish/Israeli documentary material. This includes extensive holdings covering Israel, both before and after the establishment of the State, the Holocaust and Jewish communities abroad throughout the century. The archive is digitizing films and making them accessible online.

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.