"Based on a True Story": Authors, Journalists, and Publishers
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- DirectorLaurence DunmoreStarsJohnny DeppSamantha MortonJohn MalkovichThe story of John Wilmot, a.k.a. the Earl of Rochester, a 17th century poet who famously drank and debauched his way to an early grave, only to earn posthumous critical acclaim for his life's work.
- 1986–199330m6.7 (26)TV EpisodeDirectorJohn ByrneStarsRobbie ColtraneJohn SessionsCelia ImrieIn the autumn of 1773, the English writer Samuel Johnson visits the Hebrides, or Western Isles, off the North-West coast of Scotland. With him are his friend, the Scotsman James Boswell, and his black servant Francis Barber. Staying with a series of hosts, including elderly Jacobite heroine Flora McDonald, Johnson and Boswell encounter traditional Scottish hospitality at first-hand, all the time arguing about politics (and in Boswell's case losing his head over every pretty woman he meets). Meanwhile, Francis and another black servant they encounter provide evidence of the new consciousness emerging in Britain's soon-to-be-independent American colonies.
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsGeoffrey RushKate WinsletJoaquin PhoenixIn a Napoleonic era insane asylum, an inmate, the irrepressible Marquis De Sade, fights a battle of wills against a tyrannically prudish doctor.
- DirectorMary DownesStarsRobert WinstonDavid SchofieldLucy DavenportA drama telling the story of the life of the writer of Frankenstein. Telling of her influences, her writing and her personal life.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsGabriel ByrneJulian SandsNatasha RichardsonThe Shelleys visit Lord Byron and compete to write a horror story.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsAbbie CornishBen WhishawPaul SchneiderThe three-year romance between 19th-century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne near the end of his life.
- DirectorSally WainwrightStarsFinn AtkinsCharlie MurphyChloe PirrieA chronicle of the Brontë sisters' battle to overcome obstacles and publish their novels, which would become some of the greatest in the English language.
- DirectorDiane KurysStarsJuliette BinocheBenoît MagimelStefano DionisiA story of doomed passion between two genius writers of the 19th century - novelist George Sand and poet Alfred de Musset.
- DirectorRalph FiennesStarsRalph FiennesFelicity JonesKristin Scott ThomasAt the height of his career, Charles Dickens meets a younger woman who becomes his secret lover until his death.
- DirectorJon JonesStarsAnna MadeleyJJ FeildJim CarterIn 19th century Victorian England, Mrs. Isabella Beeton produced what became an essential book for housewives of the day. She was married at a relatively young age to Sam Beeton, a publisher of books and magazines on a variety of subjects. Not someone to sit at home in the traditional role of a housewife, Mrs. Beeton started work in her husband's business, initially as an editor correcting English but then writing some of the columns herself. It as at this point that she developed an idea for a cookbook and Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management was born. Her life was not an easy one however. The publishing business went bankrupt, she lost two children at a young age and had several miscarriages. She died at the age of 28.
- DirectorMarc ForsterStarsJohnny DeppKate WinsletJulie ChristieThe story of Sir J.M. Barrie's friendship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan.
- DirectorWash WestmorelandStarsKeira KnightleyFiona ShawDominic WestColette is pushed by her husband to write novels under his name. Upon their success, she fights to make her talents known, challenging gender norms.
- DirectorGavin MillarStarsCoral BrowneIan HolmPeter GallagherIan Holm is children's author Lewis Carroll in this poignant fantasy-drama set in 1930s New York and populated by the fabulous special effects creatures of Muppet master Jim Henson.
- DirectorGregory RatoffStarsRobert MorleyPhyllis CalvertRalph RichardsonPlaywright Oscar Wilde's homosexuality is exposed when he brings a libel action against his lover's father, leading to his own prosecution.
- DirectorBrian GilbertStarsStephen FryJude LawVanessa RedgraveThe turmoil in poet/playwright Oscar Wilde's life after he discovers his homosexuality.
- DirectorMichael HoffmanStarsHelen MirrenJames McAvoyChristopher PlummerA historical drama that illustrates Russian author Leo Tolstoy's (Christopher Plummer's) struggle to balance fame and wealth with his commitment to a life devoid of material things.
- DirectorDan ZeffStarsJodie WhittakerDaniel MaysPatrick KennedyThree intertwined stories to celebrate the the centenary of romance-publishing house Mills and Boon. The first, concerning Charles Boon's tempestuous relationship with his wife Mary, is complemented by storylines set in the 1970s and the present day.
- DirectorBrian KirkStarsDavid HaigDaniel RadcliffeKim CattrallAuthor Rudyard Kipling and his wife search for their 18-year-old son after he goes missing during World War I.
- DirectorWarren BeattyStarsWarren BeattyDiane KeatonEdward HerrmannA radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.
- DirectorPat MurphyStarsEwan McGregorSusan LynchAndrew ScottDublin, 1904, James Joyce chats up Nora Barnacle, a hotel maid recently come from Galway. She enchants him with her frank, uninhibited manner, and before long, he's convinced her to come with him to Trieste.
- DirectorDan IrelandStarsVincent D'OnofrioRenée ZellwegerAnn WedgeworthIn 1933 Texas, a schoolteacher and aspiring writer meets a pulp fiction writer, and a relationship soon develops between the two, but it is doomed by his slavishly devotion to his ailing mother and insistence on his freedom.
- DirectorJames KentStarsMichael SheenSally HawkinsSarah WinmanDrawing upon H.G. Wells' An Experiment in Autobiography and framed by his 1934 visit to the Soviet Union to interview its leader Joseph Stalin, the movie follows Wells' transformation from self-confident womanizer, socialist radical and young literary prophet to a journalistic missionary, dedicated to the creation of a World State.
- DirectorGeoffrey SaxStarsMatt SmithImogen PootsLindsay DuncanHow real-life British-American author Christopher Isherwood and his German boyfriend Heinz met and fell in love during the 1930s and the rise of Nazism.
- DirectorZaida BergrothStarsAlma PöystiKrista KosonenShanti RoneyDepiction on the life of Tove Jansson, showing both her personal relationships, and the creation of the popular Moomin books.