Film Studies Research Guide 

What's Here

Raymond Massey in the 1936 film "Things to Come." From the Crawford Collection, Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives.

Bibliographies and filmographies are lists that strive to be comprehensive or even exhaustive.  They can save you an enormous amount of research time -- someone else has already done much of the "gathering work" for you.

• Bibliographies list books, articles and often online resources about a particular topic, such as a film genre, director, portrayals of some social group, movies from a particular country. They typically categorize or annotate the entries. 
• Filmographies list films on a topic, but usually not secondary sources about those films (or only list selected secondary works).
• Some bibliographies also provide a filmography, either explicitly or implicitly.

A bibliography or filmography can help you quickly identify what's most relevant for your own research.

• There are similar resources that aim to cover the major trends, key filmmakers and most important movies -- they don't try to be comprehensive.  For these resources, see:
  • Guides and Companions to Films (similar to introductions)
  • Dictionaries and Encyclopedias (reference sources)
    

This page explains how to find bibliographies and filmographies, and offers examples in various categories.

• How to Find Bibliographies and Filmographies
• General and Multi-Type Bibliographies and Filmographies
  
• Bibliographies and Filmographies on Specific Film Topics and Aspects
  
  • See also the Themes, Subjects and Characters, Social and Other Aspects of Filmmaking, and Directors, Actors, Writers, etc. web pages
• Bibliographies and Filmographies on Particular Places and Periods
  • See also the History and/of Film and International Cinema web pages
    

(As you may realize, most of the pages in this subject guide include bibliographies.)

How to Find Bibliographies and Filmographies

The quickest way to find a bibliography or filmography is to find a bibliography of bibliographies! That way you can page through to find the titles that will help you the most.  A couple of these are listed below under General and Multi-Type resources.

Bibliographies can be located in Orbis by using the following types of Subject searches:

• Motion pictures--Bibliography
• Motion pictures--Poland--Bibliography
• Musical films--Bibliography
• Folklore in motion pictures--Bibliography
• Motion picture industry--Canada--Bibliography

Filmographies can be somewhat harder to locate. Some are given the subject heading "Catalogs," for example:

• Motion pictures--Catalogs
• Motion pictures--India--Catalogs
• African Americans in motion pictures--Catalogs
• Gangster films--Catalogs

However, some filmographies are part of a book, not the whole book. So it's a good idea to try Keyword searches like these:

• "film noir" and catalogs
• "motion pictures" and finland and catalogs
• "welles orson" and filmography
• women and "motion pictures" and filmography

Be aware that Keyword searches are a bit hit or miss, since they might not find some resources and they may produce some irrelevant results.  But they are always worth a try.

General and Multi-Type (selected)

BFI Bibliographies

Annotated links produced by BFI national library on a selection of topics including: Annuals and Directories, Africa: Films and Television, Black Representation in cinema and television, Books about film, Alfred Hitchcock, Horror, Mexican and Chicano cinema, Shakespeare on the screen, Tarantino, Westerns, Women and Film, Women in television and the mass media, Fritz Lang, David Lynch, Free Cinema, and Werner Herzog. Available in PDF file format.

Bibliographies and Full-Text Articles. Media Resource Center, University of California--Berkeley.

This site provides an exceptional set of bibiliographies on various film topics, genres, eras, national cinemas, specific directors, and individual films.

Film: an international bibliography. Malte Hagener, Michael Töteberg. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2002.

SML Stacks, Z5784.M9 H29X 2002 (LC)

A highly comprehensive bibliography of reference material for Film Studies, emphasizing international coverage and including lists of bibliographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, materials on specific countries/regions, and so forth.

Film and television: a guide to the reference literature. Mark Emmons. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited, 2006.

SML Reference, Z5784.M9 E47X 2006 (LC)

This is a great starting point for major research. It's an extremely comprehensive bibliography of the entire scope of reference material for Film Studies, including lists of indexes, bibliographies, filmographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, materials on specific countries/regions, genres, studios, portrayals of social groups, filmmakers, screenplays, the industry and the audience.  All entries are annotated.

Filmographies and Guides (Duke University Library)

A miscellaneous assortment of filmographies, including ones on various countries, African-American and Asian-American films, experimental film, film noir, gay & lesbian films, psychology, and more.

Filmography Search (University of North Carolina)

Allows searches by genre, director, year, national origin, and title keyword.

Film Topics and Aspects (selected)

Filmography of social issues: a reference guide. Charles P. Mitchell. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2004.

SML Stacks, PN1995.9.S62 M58X 2004

Frame by frame: a Black filmography. Phyllis Rauch Klotman. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1979.

SML Reference, PN1995.9 N4 K57

Frame by frame II: a filmography of the African American image, 1978-1994. Phyllis Rauch Klotman and Gloria J. Gibson. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.

SML Reference, PN1995.9.N4 K58X 1997

Frame by frame III: a filmography of the African diasporan image, 1994-2004. Ed. Audrey Thomas McCluskey. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007

SML Reference, PN1995.9.N4 F73X 2007

A Guide to Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Made Film and Video. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1998.

SML Reference, PN1995.9 L37 +G85X 1998 (LC)

Haven't I seen you somewhere before?: remakes, sequels, and series in motion pictures, videos, and television, 1896-1990. James L. Limbacher. Ann Arbor, MI: Pierian Press, c1991.

SML Reference, PN1995.9 R45 +L5 1991

Images of American Indians on Film: An Annotated Bibliography. Gretchen M. Bataille. New York: Garland, 1985.

SML Reference, Z5784 M9 B388 1985 (LC)

Motion Picture Directors: A Bibliography of Magazine and Periodical Articles, 1900-1972. Mel Schuster. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1973.

SML Reference, Z5784 M9 S39 (LC)

Projecting ethnicity and race: an annotated bibliography of studies on imagery in American film. Marsha J. Hamilton and Eleanor S. Block. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2003.

SML Reference, Z5784.M9 H34X 2003

Reel women: an international directory of contemporary feature films about women. Jane Sloan. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2007.

SML Reference, PN1995.9.W6 S63X 2007

Science fiction, fantasy, and horror film sequels, series, and remakes : an illustrated filmography, with plot synopses and critical commentary. Kim R. Holston and Tom Winchester. Jefferson, N.C. ; London : McFarland, 1997.

SML Reference, PN1995.9 S26 H59X 1997

Places and Periods (selected)

American film-index 1908-1915: motion pictures, July 1908-December 1915. Einar Lauritzen & Gunnar Lundquist. Stockholm : Film-Index: distributed by Akademibokhandeln, University of Stockholm, 1976.

SML Reference, PN1998 L26+ (LC)

American film-index 1916-1920: motion pictures, January 1916-December 1920. Einar Lauritzen & Gunnar Lundquist. Stockholm, Sweden: Film-Index; Huddinge, Sweden: Distributed by Tonnheims, c1984

SML Reference, PN1998 L262 1984+ (LC)

An annotated bibliography for Chinese film studies. Jim Cheng. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2004.

SML Reference, Z5784.M9 C46 2004

Australian film: a bibliography. Brian Reis. London; New York: Mansell, 1997

SML Reference, Z5784 M9 R45X 1997 (LC)+

Bibliography of national filmographies. Dorothea Gebauer et al. Bruxelles: FIAF, 1985.

SML Reference, Z5784 M9 G42X 1985 (LC)+

The Complete Index to British Sound Film Since 1928. Alan Goble. London; New Providence, NJ: Bowker Saur, 1999.

SML Reference, PN1993.5 G7 +G63X 1999 (LC)

The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997. John Charles. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2000.

Bass Stacks, PN1993.5 C4 +C425X 2000 (LC)

National Filmographies

Sources of information about world cinema.

Sub-Saharan African films and filmmakers, 1987-1992: an annotated bibliography. Nancy J. Schmidt. London; New Jersey: Hans Zell Publishers, 1994.

SML Reference, Z5784 M9 S32X 1994 (LC)