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Regarding Susan Sontag - Portrait of a Feminist Icon 101 mins An intimate and nuanced investigation into the life of one of the most influential and provocative thinkers of the 20th century. Endlessly curious, passionate and…
Regarding Susan Sontag - Portrait of a Feminist Icon Regarding Susan Sontag - Portrait of a Feminist Icon
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart - The Life and Work of a Treasured American Playwright 118 mins This documentary sheds valuable light on all aspects of Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun, including the daunting challenge of securing investment and…
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart - The Life and Work of a Treasured American Playwright Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart - The Life and Work of a Treasured American Playwright
Paris Was A Woman - A History of Female Artists in Paris 77 mins A film portrait of the creative community of women writers, artists, photographers and editors (including Colette, Djuna Barnes, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas) who…
Paris Was A Woman - A History of Female Artists in Paris Paris Was A Woman - A History of Female Artists in Paris
Rachel Carson - The Woman Who Launched the Modern Environmental Movement 114 mins When Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was published in 1962, the book became a phenomenon. A passionate and eloquent warning about the long-term dangers of pesticides,…
Rachel Carson - The Woman Who Launched the Modern Environmental Movement Rachel Carson - The Woman Who Launched the Modern Environmental Movement
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise - Biography of an Influential Civil Rights Activist and Poet 114 mins Distinctly referred to as "a redwood tree, with deep roots in American culture," Dr. Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928-May 28, 2014) led a prolific life.…
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise - Biography of an Influential Civil Rights Activist and Poet Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise - Biography of an Influential Civil Rights Activist and Poet
Chris & Don - A Love Story 91 mins The true-life story of the passionate three-decade relationship between British writer Christopher Isherwood (whose Berlin Stories was the basis for all incarnations of Cabaret) and…
Chris & Don - A Love Story Chris & Don - A Love Story
Sex In The Comix - The History of Erotic Content in Sequential Art. 55 mins A revealing journey into the heart of erotic comic strips, SEX IN THE COMIX examines the colorful history of a unique and risque art form.…
Sex In The Comix - The History of Erotic Content in Sequential Art. Sex In The Comix - The History of Erotic Content in Sequential Art.
Love Between The Covers - A Look at the Billion Dollar Romance Fiction Industry 86 mins Romance fiction outsells all other genres of writing, from crime to science fiction, combined. So why is the genre so often dismissed as frivolous "scribble"?…
Love Between The Covers - A Look at the Billion Dollar Romance Fiction Industry Love Between The Covers - A Look at the Billion Dollar Romance Fiction Industry
Comic Book Confidential 87 mins Comic Book Confidential is a feature-length documentary that profiles twenty-two of the most significant artists and writers working in comic books, graphic novels and strip-art…
Comic Book Confidential Comic Book Confidential

American Authors

James Thurber: The Life and Hard Times - A Great American Humoristst 58 mins James Thurber: The Life and Hard Times is the first major documentary on the life and work of one of America's greatest humorists. Known for…
James Thurber: The Life and Hard Times - A Great American Humoristst James Thurber: The Life and Hard Times - A Great American Humoristst
Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train 78 mins We mourn the loss of author, activist, historian and beloved folk hero Howard Zinn, who has been an integral part of the First Run legacy…
Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
Poetry in Motion 92 mins Called the "Woodstock of Poetry" by American Film, and "Dazzling" by the Los Angeles Times, Poetry in Motion is an unprecedented anthology of twenty-four leading…
Poetry in Motion Poetry in Motion
Burroughs: The Movie 91 mins Made up of intimate, revelatory footage of the singular author and poet filmed over the course of five years, Howard Brookner's 1983 documentary about William…
Burroughs: The Movie Burroughs: The Movie
Ferlinghetti 80 mins This incisive and entertaining portrait of American poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti explores his vital role as catalyst for numerous literary careers and for the Beat movement…
Ferlinghetti Ferlinghetti
I am Secretly an Important Man - The Life and Work of Poet Steven J. Bernstein 91 mins A portrait of writer and poet Steven J. Bernstein (aka Jesse Bernstein), one of Seattle's most celebrated and troubled voices. His angry, surprisingly fresh and…
I am Secretly an Important Man - The Life and Work of Poet Steven J. Bernstein I am Secretly an Important Man - The Life and Work of Poet Steven J. Bernstein
A Place to Stand - The Story of Author Jimmy Santiago Baca 84 mins This film tells the story of acclaimed author Jimmy Santiago Baca's transformation from a functionally illiterate convict to an award-winning poet, novelist and screenwriter. Based…
A Place to Stand - The Story of Author Jimmy Santiago Baca A Place to Stand - The Story of Author Jimmy Santiago Baca

European Authors

Chris & Don - A Love Story 91 mins The true-life story of the passionate three-decade relationship between British writer Christopher Isherwood (whose Berlin Stories was the basis for all incarnations of Cabaret) and…
Chris & Don - A Love Story Chris & Don - A Love Story
Naples ’44 - A Re-Imagining of a British Soldier's Memoirs 89 mins In 1943 a young British officer, Norman Lewis, entered a war-torn Naples with the American Fifth Army. Lewis began writing down everything that happened to…
Naples ’44 - A Re-Imagining of a British Soldier's Memoirs Naples ’44 - A Re-Imagining of a British Soldier's Memoirs
The Seagull - From Moscow’s Satirikon Theatre 216 mins Anton Chekhov's first of four major plays dramatizes the romantic and artistic conflicts between its four main characters: Boris Trigorin, a well-known writer, the ingenue…
The Seagull - From Moscow’s Satirikon Theatre The Seagull - From Moscow’s Satirikon Theatre
Dante - The Life and Work of Dante Alighieri 81 mins Most notable for his vast poem, The Divine Comedy, Dante's work continues to resonate with audiences today. Filmmaker Malcolm Hossick uncovers the Italian poet's background…
Dante - The Life and Work of Dante Alighieri Dante - The Life and Work of Dante Alighieri
The Real Middle Earth - Creating the Lord of the Rings 59 mins J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is the most popular work of fiction ever created. It is a tale of epic proportions held together…
The Real Middle Earth - Creating the Lord of the Rings The Real Middle Earth - Creating the Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter--Whistle-Blower Hero 33 mins Finish your course with one of the most unexpected hits of our time--and a smash hit at that. What can the surprising success of Harry…
Harry Potter--Whistle-Blower Hero Harry Potter--Whistle-Blower Hero
Anna Akhmatova: The Life of a Poet - Russia's Great and Beautiful Muse 59 mins "You will hear thunder and remember me, and think: she wanted storms..." -- Anna Akhmatova Fate granted Anna Akhmatova immense poetic talent, beauty, fame and…
Anna Akhmatova: The Life of a Poet - Russia's Great and Beautiful Muse Anna Akhmatova: The Life of a Poet - Russia's Great and Beautiful Muse

Female Authors

Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart - The Life and Work of a Treasured American Playwright 118 mins This documentary sheds valuable light on all aspects of Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun, including the daunting challenge of securing investment and…
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart - The Life and Work of a Treasured American Playwright Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart - The Life and Work of a Treasured American Playwright
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise - Biography of an Influential Civil Rights Activist and Poet 114 mins Distinctly referred to as "a redwood tree, with deep roots in American culture," Dr. Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928-May 28, 2014) led a prolific life.…
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise - Biography of an Influential Civil Rights Activist and Poet Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise - Biography of an Influential Civil Rights Activist and Poet
Love Between The Covers - A Look at the Billion Dollar Romance Fiction Industry 86 mins Romance fiction outsells all other genres of writing, from crime to science fiction, combined. So why is the genre so often dismissed as frivolous "scribble"?…
Love Between The Covers - A Look at the Billion Dollar Romance Fiction Industry Love Between The Covers - A Look at the Billion Dollar Romance Fiction Industry
Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger 73 mins Transgender-dyke. Reluctant-Polyamorist. Sadomasochist. Recovering-Scientologist. Pioneering Gender Outlaw. - Meet Auntie Kate. Trailblazing performance artist-theorist-activist, Kate Bornstein, takes us on a mind-bending quest through her world…
Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life 144 mins This Academy Award nominated documentary is the first authorized film look at the life and work of the controversial Russian-born author Ayn Rand. The writer…
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life
My Letter To The World - A Journey through the Life of Emily Dickinson 81 mins Poet Emily Dickinson, pigeonholed as the strange recluse since her death, takes you on a journey through the seasons of her life amid 1800s New…
My Letter To The World - A Journey through the Life of Emily Dickinson My Letter To The World - A Journey through the Life of Emily Dickinson
Austen - The Life and Work of Jane Austen 36 mins Jane Austen produced some of the finest novels in English literature. The film covers her life and ends with an overview of her work.
Austen - The Life and Work of Jane Austen Austen - The Life and Work of Jane Austen

Literary Documentary

Dear Mr. Watterson - The Era of Calvin & Hobbes 91 mins Calvin & Hobbes dominated the Sunday comics in thousands of newspapers for over 10 years, having a profound effect on millions of readers across the…
Dear Mr. Watterson - The Era of Calvin & Hobbes Dear Mr. Watterson - The Era of Calvin & Hobbes
Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train 78 mins We mourn the loss of author, activist, historian and beloved folk hero Howard Zinn, who has been an integral part of the First Run legacy…
Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life 144 mins This Academy Award nominated documentary is the first authorized film look at the life and work of the controversial Russian-born author Ayn Rand. The writer…
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life
Write Down, I am an Arab 73 mins "Write Down, I am an Arab" tells the story of Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian national poet and one of the most influential writers of the…
Write Down, I am an Arab Write Down, I am an Arab
Burroughs: The Movie 91 mins Made up of intimate, revelatory footage of the singular author and poet filmed over the course of five years, Howard Brookner's 1983 documentary about William…
Burroughs: The Movie Burroughs: The Movie
Ferlinghetti 80 mins This incisive and entertaining portrait of American poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti explores his vital role as catalyst for numerous literary careers and for the Beat movement…
Ferlinghetti Ferlinghetti
My Letter To The World - A Journey through the Life of Emily Dickinson 81 mins Poet Emily Dickinson, pigeonholed as the strange recluse since her death, takes you on a journey through the seasons of her life amid 1800s New…
My Letter To The World - A Journey through the Life of Emily Dickinson My Letter To The World - A Journey through the Life of Emily Dickinson

Shakespeare

Macbeth 4 videos Starring Sir Patrick Stewart as Macbeth and Kate Fleetwood as Lady Macbeth, Rupert Goold's immediate and visceral film is set in an undefined and threatening…
Macbeth Macbeth
Romeo and Juliet 139 mins Director Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version of Shakespeare's ROMEO AND JULIET, an iconic box-office record shattering adaptation, stars seventeen-year-old Leonard Whiting as Romeo and fifteen-year-old Olivia…
Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet
Richard III 159 mins Director, producer, and star Laurence Olivier brings Shakespeare's masterpiece of Machiavellian villainy to ravishing cinematic life. Olivier is diabolically captivating as Richard, Duke of Gloucester,…
Richard III Richard III
Hamlet 135 mins Mel Gibson plays the title role of a young Danish prince coming to terms with his adulthood in this film adaptation of Shakespeare's classic play.…
Hamlet Hamlet
A Midsummer Night's Dream 106 mins One of Shakespeare's most beloved creations, this frolicking tale of lovesick young aristocrats, energetic but inept rustics, and mischievous woodland spirits is a staple of…
A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream
Hamlet 217 mins This production is part of a famous series produced by BBC of all of William Shakespeare's plays. The resulting films, renowned for their loyalty to…
Hamlet Hamlet
Hamlet 193 mins A film of the ground-breaking Royal Exchange Theater production of Hamlet, with renowned British actress Maxine Peake in the title role. "Peake's delicate ferocity, her…
Hamlet Hamlet

Heroes and Legends: The Most Influential Characters of Literature

Frodo Baggins--A Reluctant Hero 33 mins What makes certain characters successful? Begin your study with a look at Frodo Baggins, the hobbit-hero from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In considering…
Frodo Baggins--A Reluctant Hero Frodo Baggins--A Reluctant Hero
Odysseus--The Trickster Hero 32 mins Go back to the beginning of world literature to explore what made Homer's traveling hero such a powerful figure. Odysseus's story set the model for…
Odysseus--The Trickster Hero Odysseus--The Trickster Hero
Aeneas--The Straight Arrow 33 mins Turn now to the Roman straight arrow. Aeneas's story takes him from the Trojan War to the courtship of Queen Dido and on to the…
Aeneas--The Straight Arrow Aeneas--The Straight Arrow
Guinevere--A Heroine with Many Faces 31 mins Trace Guinevere's adulterous affair with Lancelot and consider what effects it had on cultural values and Western history. As a powerful woman in the heart…
Guinevere--A Heroine with Many Faces Guinevere--A Heroine with Many Faces
The Wife of Bath--An Independent Woman 31 mins Chaucer worked harder on the Wife of Bath than on any other character in The Canterbury Tales, leaving us not one but four separate perspectives…
The Wife of Bath--An Independent Woman The Wife of Bath--An Independent Woman
Cressida--A Love Betrayed 32 mins Cressida is an archetypal femme fatale, embroiled in a love triangle between her true love, Troilus, and the bad boy, Diomedes. Through the lens of…
Cressida--A Love Betrayed Cressida--A Love Betrayed
Beowulf--A Hero with Hidden Depths 32 mins Beowulf is not an easy poem to understand, but Beowulf is not an easy character to understand. Here, analyze how this classic male hero--a big,…
Beowulf--A Hero with Hidden Depths Beowulf--A Hero with Hidden Depths

Classical and Medieval Literature

The Titans in Greek Mythology 34 mins Welcome to the ancient Greek myths: some of the most popular, well-known stories in Western civilization. When did these tales emerge, and what are our…
The Titans in Greek Mythology The Titans in Greek Mythology
Odysseus--The Trickster Hero 32 mins Go back to the beginning of world literature to explore what made Homer's traveling hero such a powerful figure. Odysseus's story set the model for…
Odysseus--The Trickster Hero Odysseus--The Trickster Hero
Mythology: Gods And Goddesses 44 mins This program provides an informative and memorable introduction, lavishly illustrated with photographs, reproductions and original art. The program introduces the "senior" gods and goddesses and…
Mythology: Gods And Goddesses Mythology: Gods And Goddesses
Don Quixote--The First of the Wannabes 31 mins Turn next to Don Quixote, a wannabe knight-errant whose infamous exploits mark a pivotal moment in the history of literature. Explore his fantastic adventures and…
Don Quixote--The First of the Wannabes Don Quixote--The First of the Wannabes
Homer's Mythology - Tracing A Tradition 47 mins A complete discussion of the Homeric legend as the first significant record of Greek mythology. The program emphasizes Homer's relevance to modern literature, psychology, scholarship…
Homer's Mythology - Tracing A Tradition Homer's Mythology - Tracing A Tradition
Odysseus, Master of Schemes 34 mins Turn now to the hero of Homer's celebrated Odyssey: Odysseus. From his plans for the Trojan horse to his tricking of a murderous cyclops to…
Odysseus, Master of Schemes Odysseus, Master of Schemes
Aeneas--The Straight Arrow 33 mins Turn now to the Roman straight arrow. Aeneas's story takes him from the Trojan War to the courtship of Queen Dido and on to the…
Aeneas--The Straight Arrow Aeneas--The Straight Arrow
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627 Videos in Literature

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Regarding Susan Sontag - Portrait of a Feminist Icon
Regarding Susan Sontag - Portrait of a Feminist Icon
Women Make Movies
An intimate and nuanced investigation into the life of one of the most influential and provocative thinkers of the 20th century. Endlessly curious, passionate and gracefully outspoken throughout her career, Susan Sontag became one of the most important literary, political…
Dear Mr. Watterson - The Era of Calvin & Hobbes
Dear Mr. Watterson - The Era of Calvin & Hobbes
Fingerprint Films
Calvin & Hobbes dominated the Sunday comics in thousands of newspapers for over 10 years, having a profound effect on millions of readers across the globe. When the strip's creator, Bill Watterson, retired the strip on New Year's Eve in…
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart - The Life and Work of a Treasured American Playwright
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart - The Life and Work of a Treasured American Playwright
California Newsreel
This documentary sheds valuable light on all aspects of Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun , including the daunting challenge of securing investment and a venue for this production about a working class Black family, the casting process,…
Tokyo Fiancée
Tokyo Fiancée
First Run Features
Based on Amelie Nothomb's bestselling novel, Tokyo Fiancee is an entertaining romantic comedy that will appeal to fans of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie and Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation. The young, pixie-like Amelie is in love with all things Japanese, which…
Paris Was A Woman - A History of Female Artists in Paris
Paris Was A Woman - A History of Female Artists in Paris
Zeitgeist Films
A film portrait of the creative community of women writers, artists, photographers and editors (including Colette, Djuna Barnes, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas) who flocked to the Left Bank of Paris in the early decades of the 20th century.…
All Quiet On the Western Front
All Quiet On the Western Front
Shout Factory
Richard Thomas ( The Waltons ) stars in a powerful and dramatic adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's acclaimed novel, All Quiet On the Western Front . At the rise of World War I, German patriot Paul Baumer (Thomas) and his…
Rachel Carson - The Woman Who Launched the Modern Environmental Movement
Rachel Carson - The Woman Who Launched the Modern Environmental Movement
PBS
When Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was published in 1962, the book became a phenomenon. A passionate and eloquent warning about the long-term dangers of pesticides, the book unleashed an extraordinary national debate and was greeted by vigorous attacks from the…
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise - Biography of an Influential Civil Rights Activist and Poet
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise - Biography of an Influential Civil Rights Activist and Poet
PBS
Distinctly referred to as "a redwood tree, with deep roots in American culture," Dr. Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928-May 28, 2014) led a prolific life. As a singer, dancer, activist, poet and writer, she inspired generations with lyrical modern African-American…
Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman
Shout Factory
During the post-war boom period of the late '40s, Willy Loman is an aging, traveling salesman, who despairs that his life his been lived in vain. Facing dispensability and insignificance in a heated, youthful economy, Willy is not ready to…
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Oscilloscope Pictures
Andrea Arnold's WUTHERING HEIGHTS is an excitingly fresh and distinct take on the classic novel by Emily Bronte. An epic love story that spans childhood well into the young adult years, the film follows Heathcliff, a boy taken in by…
Hamlet
Hamlet
Ambrose Video
This production is part of a famous series produced by BBC of all of William Shakespeare's plays. The resulting films, renowned for their loyalty to the text, utilized the best theatrical and television directors and brought highly praised performances from…
Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun
Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun
California Newsreel
Zora Neale Hurston, path-breaking novelist, pioneering anthropologist and one of the first black women to enter the American literary canon ( Their Eyes Were Watching God ), established the African American vernacular as one of the most vital, inventive voices…
Hamlet
Hamlet
Film Movement
A film of the ground-breaking Royal Exchange Theater production of Hamlet, with renowned British actress Maxine Peake in the title role. "Peake's delicate ferocity, her particular mixture of concentration and lightness, ensure that you to follow her whenever she appears."…
Chris & Don - A Love Story
Chris & Don - A Love Story
Zeitgeist Films
The true-life story of the passionate three-decade relationship between British writer Christopher Isherwood (whose Berlin Stories was the basis for all incarnations of Cabaret ) and American portrait painter Don Bachardy, thirty years his junior. From Isherwood's Kit-Kat-Club years in…
Sex In The Comix - The History of Erotic Content in Sequential Art.
Sex In The Comix - The History of Erotic Content in Sequential Art.
Music Box Films
A revealing journey into the heart of erotic comic strips, SEX IN THE COMIX examines the colorful history of a unique and risque art form. With New York comic artist and burlesque performer Molly Crabapple as our guide, this documentary…
Love Between The Covers - A Look at the Billion Dollar Romance Fiction Industry
Love Between The Covers - A Look at the Billion Dollar Romance Fiction Industry
Women Make Movies
Romance fiction outsells all other genres of writing, from crime to science fiction, combined. So why is the genre so often dismissed as frivolous "scribble"? Could it be that it's because the overwhelming majority of writers and readers are women?…
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Illuminations Media
A fast-moving thriller about a struggle for democracy, William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is also a love story between two men united by an explosive act of political violence. Based on the Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed stage production, Gregory Doran's film…
King Lear
King Lear
Ambrose Video
This production is part of a famous series produced by BBC of all of William Shakespeare's plays. The resulting films, renowned for their loyalty to the text, utilized the best theatrical and television directors and brought highly praised performances from…
The Winter's Tale
The Winter's Tale
Ambrose Video
This production is part of a famous series produced by BBC of all of William Shakespeare's plays. The resulting films, renowned for their loyalty to the text, utilized the best theatrical and television directors and brought highly praised performances from…
Comic Book Confidential
Comic Book Confidential
Films We Like
Comic Book Confidential is a feature-length documentary that profiles twenty-two of the most significant artists and writers working in comic books, graphic novels and strip-art in North America today. In an entertaining and informative combination of interviews, historical footage and…