Skip to Main Content

Film Genres

This guide highlights library resources for some of the more popular film genres.

A quick definition for historical films

A historical film is a fiction film showing past events or set within a historical period. This extensive genre shares territory with the biopic, costume drama, heritage film, and epic film.

Kuhn, A. and Westwell, G. (2012). "History film." In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 Dec. 2015

Finding library resources for historical films

The Jones Media Center has a collection of historical films for viewing. To find them, you can do a subject search for "historical films." To find books about historical films, look at the subject headings that contain "history and criticism." These books will discuss historical films in general or those produced in different countries. To find film resources on a specific person, you can do a subject search and add "drama" with your other search terms.

Introductory reading(s)

Selected book titles

Finding articles & journals

Articles and other writings about movies can be found in many publications. We don't have any periodicals that look exclusively at historical films in our collections.  You can use Film & Television Literature Index to find articles or use the search box at the top of the page.

Selected list of historical films

To find more historical films, search the library's online catalog.