Films & Events tagged with biography

9.79*

Filmmaker Daniel Gordon investigates the 1988 Olympic race that resulted in disgrace for Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, a gold medal for the USA’s Carl Lewis, and major controversy over drug testing.

American Masters Inventing David Geffen

David Geffen and director Susan Lacy join us onstage for a live conversation after the world premiere screening of this new film, which traces the mogul's impact on the worlds of music, film, philanthropy and beyond.

Artifact

Telling harsh truths about the modern music business, Artifact gives intimate access to singer/actor Jared Leto and his band Thirty Seconds to Mars as they battle their label in a brutal lawsuit and record their album This Is War. The film is a true artifact of our times, as its subjects struggle with big questions over art, money and integrity.

Casting By

This essential new documentary pays tribute to the legacy of the late, legendary casting director Marion Dougherty and shines a light on one of the most overlooked and least understood crafts in filmmaking. Packed with interviews with a "who's who" of top stars and filmmakers, this world premiere screening will be followed by a live, onstage discussion with people who were deeply affected by Dougherty, including some of the participants in the film.

Far Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story

Far Out Isn't Far Enough follows the multiple careers of the artist Tomi Ungerer, who had stints as a bestselling children's book author, an illustrator of 1960s protest posters, and a creator of explicit erotica until he found himself shunned from the American publishing industry.

Greetings from Tim Buckley

A young Jeff Buckley (Penn Badgley) struggles to make peace with his late father Tim's legacy while preparing to perform at a tribute concert to the late singer-songwriter, in this stirring drama about the prelude to the tragically short-lived singer's creation of his monumental album Grace.

Hannah Arendt

The great Barbara Sukowa stars in Margarethe von Trotta's fascinating biography of the influential philosopher and political theorist, whose reporting on the 1961 trial of ex-Nazi Adolf Eichmann led to her famous concept of the "banality of evil."

Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp

Director Jorge Hinojosa blends pulp fiction imagery with ambitious biographical digging to tell the story of legendary pimp/author Iceberg Slim, whose gritty and poetic books about ghetto life gave birth to Street Lit. Interviews include Chris Rock, Ice-T, Snoop Dogg and Quincy Jones.

The Iceman

Academy Award® nominee Michael Shannon stars alongside a stellar supporting cast — including Winona Ryder, Ray Liotta and Chris Evans — in the story of real-life mob hit-man Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski, who was reportedly responsible for over 200 murders.

Keep A Modest Head

Jean Benoît, the last official member of the French Surrealist group, receives Deco Dawson's signature visual treatment in this biographical documentary that fantastically illustrates the artist's formative (and highly sexual) childhood memories.

Let the Daylight into the Swamp

With a mix of animation, re-enactments and archival evidence Jeffrey St. Jules assembles a three part 3-D documentary collage that explores his family history, and the consequences of parents who make the difficult decision to give up their children.

A Liar's Autobiography -- The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman

John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam pay tribute to their late Monty Python colleague Graham Chapman in this hilarious, 3-D animated adaptation of Chapman's brazenly fictionalized life story.

Love, Marilyn

Love, Marilyn takes an intimate look into the never-before-seen letters, diaries and notebooks of Marilyn Monroe. Appearing on screen to perform Marilyn’s words are renowned contemporary actresses, including Marisa Tomei, Uma Thurman, and Glenn Close.

No Place on Earth

This extraordinary testament to survival from Emmy-winning producer/director Janet Tobias brings to light a story that remained untold for decades: that of thirty-eight Ukrainian Jews who survived World War II by living in caves for eighteen months.

Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out

Marina Zenovich dives into the mysterious details of Roman Polanski's arrest in Switzerland in 2009, which came suspiciously soon after the release of her ground-breaking 2008 documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired. In this follow-up investigation, Zenovich raises fresh questions about legal manipulation, media distortion and power politics.

Shepard & Dark

Director Treva Wurmfeld captures an indelible portrait of the complex relationship between playwright/actor Sam Shepard and his close friend Johnny Dark as they prepare forty years of their correspondence for publication, stirring up old memories both good and bad.

Short Cuts Canada: Programme #1

A biography of French surrealist Jean Benoît and an animated plea to free Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi anchor a profoundly cinematic programme of shorts-tied together with incredible art direction, masterful mise-en-scène and imaginative storytelling.

Short Cuts Canada: Programme #5

The perennial theme of family is spotlighted in this programme, linking stories of a father seeking to reconnect with his son through antiquated technology, a young Cree girl planning to be a mother, and a 3-D animated documentary about a woman's decision to give up her children.

Show Stopper: The Theatrical Life of Garth Drabinsky

Barry Avrich (Unauthorized: The Harvey Weinstein Project) recounts the life and troubled times of controversial Cineplex and Live Ent founder Garth Drabinsky, whose daring innovations and flamboyant personal style reshaped the Canadian entertainment industry.

Venus and Serena

An intimate documentary that takes us inside the lives of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams, during a year when debilitating injuries and life-threatening illness threatened to take them out of the game once and for all.