Remarkable "Modern" Women

by Imdbidia | created - 07 Aug 2011 | updated - 2 months ago | Public

Biopics or life recreations about remarkable women in history, who shone because of their artistic, intellectual and scientific achievements, but also because of the way they lived their lives. Great thinkers, great scientists, great writers, great dancers, great actresses, great painters, great singers, great philosophers, great pioneer politicians and human rights fighters.

Bear in mind that this list does not include any biopic re queens or noble women famous just because of their social position. If they did not show any artistic capability or activism of any sort they are not fit for this list.

An ongoing randomly ordered list

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1. Frida (2002)

R | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

61 Metascore

A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.

Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Mía Maestro

Votes: 95,308 | Gross: $25.89M

2. Persepolis (2007)

PG-13 | 96 min | Animation, Biography, Drama

90 Metascore

A precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.

Directors: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi | Stars: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Gena Rowlands, Danielle Darrieux

Votes: 100,153 | Gross: $4.45M

3. Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)

R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

50 Metascore

Turning her back on her wealthy, established family, Diane Arbus falls in love with Lionel Sweeney, an enigmatic mentor who introduces Arbus to the marginalized people who help her become one of the most revered photographers of the twentieth century.

Director: Steven Shainberg | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Robert Downey Jr., Ty Burrell, Harris Yulin

Votes: 16,358 | Gross: $0.22M

4. Camille Claudel (1988)

R | 175 min | Biography, Drama, History

Camille Claude impresses already-famous sculptor Auguste Rodin. He hires her as an assistant, but soon Camille begins to sculpt for herself and she also becomes his mistress. But after a while, she would like to get out of his shadow.

Director: Bruno Nuytten | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Gérard Depardieu, Madeleine Robinson, Laurent Grévill

Votes: 7,395 | Gross: $0.20M

5. Carrington (1995)

R | 121 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

The platonic relationship between artist Dora Carrington (Dame Emma Thompson) and writer Lytton Strachey (Jonathan Pryce) in the early twentieth century.

Director: Christopher Hampton | Stars: Emma Thompson, Jonathan Pryce, Steven Waddington, Samuel West

Votes: 5,775 | Gross: $3.24M

6. Seraphine (2008)

Unrated | 125 min | Biography, Drama

84 Metascore

In 1912 German collector Wilhelm Uhde rents a flat in Senlis to write and take a break from Parisian life. He hires a 48-year old cleaning lady, Séraphine. Some time later, he notices a small painting on wood at a local notable home.

Director: Martin Provost | Stars: Yolande Moreau, Ulrich Tukur, Anne Bennent, Geneviève Mnich

Votes: 6,544 | Gross: $0.88M

7. The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (2010 TV Movie)

TV-14 | 92 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

A look at the life of 19th-century Yorkshire landowner Anne Lister (1791-1840), who lived openly as a lesbian and kept diaries chronicling the details of her daily life.

Director: James Kent | Stars: Maxine Peake, Anna Madeley, Susan Lynch, Christine Bottomley

Votes: 2,243

8. The Karen Carpenter Story (1989 TV Movie)

120 min | Biography, Drama, Music

Story of the meteoric rise and sudden fall of Karen Carpenter, who became a famous singer before battling anorexia and bulimia.

Directors: Joseph Sargent, Richard Carpenter | Stars: Cynthia Gibb, Mitchell Anderson, Peter Michael Goetz, Michael McGuire

Votes: 1,441

9. The Brontës of Haworth (1973– )

60 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

Dramatized biography of the Brontë sisters Charlotte, Anne and Emily.

Stars: Alfred Burke, Vickery Turner, Ann Penfold, Barbara Leigh-Hunt

Votes: 122

10. Rowing with the Wind (1988)

R | 105 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

Lord Byron, poet Percy Shelley, his future wife, Mary Shelley (writing Frankenstein) and others spend the summer of 1816 together.

Director: Gonzalo Suárez | Stars: Hugh Grant, Lizzy McInnerny, Valentine Pelka, Elizabeth Hurley

Votes: 1,138

11. Isadora (1968)

M/PG | 131 min | Biography, Drama, Music

A biography of the 1920s dancer Isadora Duncan, who forever changed people's ideas of ballet. Her nude, semi-nude, and pro-Soviet dance projects as well as her attitude and lifestyle shocked the public of her time.

Director: Karel Reisz | Stars: Vanessa Redgrave, James Fox, Jason Robards, John Fraser

Votes: 2,610

12. Henry & June (1990)

NC-17 | 136 min | Biography, Drama

62 Metascore

Anaïs Nin meets American writer Henry Miller in Paris in 1931. She keeps a diary of her sexual awakening, which includes Henry and his wife June.

Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Fred Ward, Uma Thurman, Maria de Medeiros, Richard E. Grant

Votes: 14,188 | Gross: $11.57M

13. The Hours (2002)

PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Romance

80 Metascore

The story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.

Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane

Votes: 138,496 | Gross: $41.68M

14. Sylvia (2003)

R | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

56 Metascore

Story of the relationship between poets Edward James "Ted" Hughes and Sylvia Plath.

Director: Christine Jeffs | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, Daniel Craig, Lucy Davenport, David Birkin

Votes: 11,259 | Gross: $1.30M

15. Becoming Jane (2007)

PG | 120 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

55 Metascore

A biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman.

Director: Julian Jarrold | Stars: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell

Votes: 65,079 | Gross: $18.67M

16. Miss Potter (2006)

PG | 88 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

57 Metascore

The story of Beatrix Potter, the author of the beloved and best-selling children's book, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", and her struggle for love, happiness, and success.

Director: Chris Noonan | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson, Barbara Flynn

Votes: 32,016 | Gross: $2.98M

17. Little Women (1949)

Approved | 122 min | Drama, Family, Romance

61 Metascore

The four daughters of a New England family fight for happiness during and after the Civil War.

Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Margaret O'Brien, Elizabeth Taylor

Votes: 8,232 | Gross: $7.47M

18. Little Women (1994)

PG | 115 min | Drama, Family, Romance

87 Metascore

The March sisters live and grow in post-Civil War America.

Director: Gillian Armstrong | Stars: Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes

Votes: 63,569 | Gross: $50.08M

19. Girl, Interrupted (1999)

R | 127 min | Biography, Drama

51 Metascore

A directionless teenager, Susanna, is rushed to Claymoore, a mental institution, after a supposed suicide attempt. There, she befriends a group of troubled women who deeply influence her life.

Director: James Mangold | Stars: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy

Votes: 211,256 | Gross: $28.87M

20. The Bostonians (1984)

Not Rated | 122 min | Drama, Romance

59 Metascore

A Boston feminist and a conservative Southern lawyer contend for the heart and mind of a beautiful and bright girl unsure of her future.

Director: James Ivory | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Vanessa Redgrave, Jessica Tandy, Madeleine Potter

Votes: 2,440 | Gross: $1.01M

21. Iris (I) (2001)

R | 91 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

76 Metascore

True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Director: Richard Eyre | Stars: Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonneville

Votes: 19,137 | Gross: $1.29M

22. Amelia (2009)

PG | 111 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

37 Metascore

A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.

Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston

Votes: 13,618 | Gross: $14.24M

23. Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)

R | 125 min | Biography, Drama

66 Metascore

Dorothy Parker remembers the heyday of the Algonquin Round Table, a circle of friends whose barbed wit, like hers, was fueled by alcohol and flirted with despair.

Director: Alan Rudolph | Stars: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Campbell Scott, Matthew Broderick, Peter Gallagher

Votes: 4,889 | Gross: $2.14M

24. Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot (2001 TV Movie)

163 min | Biography, Drama

They were more than Washington wives. They were part of an American dream known as Camelot. With strength and cunning they upheld their public image by concealing their private truths. ... See full summary »

Director: Larry Shaw | Stars: Jill Hennessy, Lauren Holly, Leslie Stefanson, Daniel Hugh Kelly

Votes: 462

25. Agora (2009)

R | 127 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

55 Metascore

A historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning a slave who turns to the rising tide of Christianity in the hope of pursuing freedom while falling in love with his mistress, the philosophy and mathematics professor Hypatia of Alexandria.

Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Rachel Weisz, Max Minghella, Oscar Isaac, Ashraf Barhom

Votes: 73,038 | Gross: $0.62M

26. The Josephine Baker Story (1991 TV Movie)

R | 130 min | Biography, Drama, History

Born poor in St. Louis, Missouri, Josephine Baker achieved fame and fortune through her sizzlingly exotic, erotic performances. Starting life on the American Vaudeville circuit, success ... See full summary »

Director: Brian Gibson | Stars: Lynn Whitfield, Rubén Blades, David Dukes, Louis Gossett Jr.

Votes: 1,587

27. Artemisia (1997)

R | 98 min | Biography, Drama, History

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) was one of the first well-known female painters. The movie tells the story of her youth, when she was guided and protected by her father, the painter ... See full summary »

Director: Agnès Merlet | Stars: Valentina Cervi, Michel Serrault, Predrag 'Miki' Manojlovic, Luca Zingaretti

Votes: 2,206 | Gross: $0.38M

28. Children of the Century (1999)

135 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

59 Metascore

A story of doomed passion between two genius writers of the 19th century - novelist George Sand and poet Alfred de Musset.

Director: Diane Kurys | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel, Stefano Dionisi, Robin Renucci

Votes: 2,022 | Gross: $0.05M

29. La Vie En Rose (2007)

PG-13 | 140 min | Biography, Drama, Music

66 Metascore

Biopic of the iconic French singer Édith Piaf. Raised by her grandmother in a brothel, she was discovered while singing on a street corner at the age of 19. Despite her success, Piaf's life was filled with tragedy.

Director: Olivier Dahan | Stars: Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanuelle Seigner

Votes: 90,736 | Gross: $10.30M

30. Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996 TV Movie)

R | 139 min | Biography, Drama

This film follows Norma Jean from her simple, ambitious youth to her superstar pinnacle and back down. She moves from lover to lover in order to further her career. She finds fame but never happiness, only knowing seduction but not love.

Director: Tim Fywell | Stars: Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, Josh Charles, Ron Rifkin

Votes: 2,814

31. Vision - Aus dem Leben der Hildegard von Bingen (2009)

Unrated | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History

68 Metascore

The life story of the multi-talented German nun Hildegard von Bingen. The film portrays an original woman - best known as a composer and religious visionary - whose grand claims often run ... See full summary »

Director: Margarethe von Trotta | Stars: Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, Hannah Herzsprung, Lena Stolze

Votes: 1,304 | Gross: $0.43M

32. Coco Before Chanel (2009)

PG-13 | 105 min | Biography, Drama

65 Metascore

The story of Coco Chanel's rise from obscure beginnings to the heights of the fashion world.

Director: Anne Fontaine | Stars: Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Marie Gillain

Votes: 42,099 | Gross: $6.11M

33. Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009)

R | 119 min | Drama, Music, Romance

56 Metascore

Paris 1913. Coco Chanel is infatuated with the rich and handsome Boy Capel, but she is also compelled by her work. Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is about to be performed. The ... See full summary »

Director: Jan Kounen | Stars: Anna Mouglalis, Mads Mikkelsen, Elena Morozova, Natacha Lindinger

Votes: 7,032 | Gross: $1.72M

34. Coco Chanel (2008 TV Movie)

PG | 139 min | Biography, Drama

The life story of legendary fashion designer Coco Chanel.

Director: Christian Duguay | Stars: Barbora Bobulova, Shirley MacLaine, Olivier Sitruk, Valentina Lodovini

Votes: 3,815

35. Frances (1982)

R | 140 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

48 Metascore

The story of Frances Farmer's meteoric rise to fame in Hollywood and the tragic turn her life took when she was blacklisted.

Director: Graeme Clifford | Stars: Jessica Lange, Jonathan Banks, Bonnie Bartlett, James Brodhead

Votes: 8,566 | Gross: $5.00M

36. The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)

Approved | 180 min | Biography, Drama, Family

59 Metascore

During World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.

Director: George Stevens | Stars: Millie Perkins, Shelley Winters, Joseph Schildkraut, Richard Beymer

Votes: 13,686 | Gross: $5.01M

37. Heartburn (1986)

R | 108 min | Comedy, Drama

49 Metascore

She's a magazine writer who gives up her career for love and family. He's a playboy newspaper columnist who can't quite give up his old tricks. And if that combination doesn't give a relationship Heartburn, nothing will.

Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, Maureen Stapleton

Votes: 12,555 | Gross: $25.31M

38. Out of Africa (1985)

PG | 161 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

69 Metascore

In 20th-century colonial Kenya, a Danish baroness/plantation owner has a passionate love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter.

Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen

Votes: 86,331 | Gross: $87.10M

39. Lady Sings the Blues (1972)

R | 144 min | Biography, Drama, Music

The story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.

Director: Sidney J. Furie | Stars: Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James T. Callahan

Votes: 4,844 | Gross: $6.03M

41. Marie Curie: The Woman Behind the Mind (2002)

Not Rated | 56 min | Biography

An inspiring portrait of Marie Curie, the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize, and one of very few people to win two Nobel Prizes. This documentary gives a glimpse into the personal life... See full summary »

Director: Alana Cash

42. Madame Curie (1943)

Passed | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

Despite himself, accomplished physicist and avowed bachelor Pierre Curie falls for brilliant student Marie, and together they embark on the discovery of radium.

Directors: Mervyn LeRoy, Albert Lewin | Stars: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Henry Travers, Albert Bassermann

Votes: 3,190

43. A League of Their Own (1992)

PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport

69 Metascore

Two sisters join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amid their own growing rivalry.

Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna

Votes: 121,010 | Gross: $107.53M

44. An Angel at My Table (1990)

R | 158 min | Biography, Drama

79 Metascore

Janet Frame was a brilliant child who, as a teen, was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia. Explore Janet's discovery of the world and her life in Europe as her books are published to acclaim.

Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Kerry Fox, Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson, Iris Churn

Votes: 8,681 | Gross: $1.05M

45. Bread & Roses (1993)

PG-13 | 92 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

Summarises the early life of politician Sonja Davies. Sonja is a young independent socialist embarking on a career in nursing during World War 2.

Director: Gaylene Preston | Stars: Geneviève Picot, Mick Rose, Perry Piercy, Ingrid Prosser

Votes: 59

46. I, the Worst of All (1990)

R | 105 min | Biography, Drama, History

This fact-based film examines the life of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Assumpta Serna), a Roman Catholic nun from Mexico City who, in the midst of the Spanish Inquisition, established herself... See full summary »

Director: María Luisa Bemberg | Stars: Assumpta Serna, Dominique Sanda, Héctor Alterio, Lautaro Murúa

Votes: 719 | Gross: $0.05M

47. Teresa de Jesús (1984)

270 min | Drama

St. Teresa de Jesús struggles against all odds to reform the Order of Carmelites in the sixteenth century Spain.

Stars: Concha Velasco, María Massip, Antonio Canal, Alicia Sánchez

Votes: 139

48. Rosa Luxemburg (1986)

Not Rated | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History

After years of political agitation, Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, and Leo Jogiches form a revolutionary German party, the Spartacists.

Director: Margarethe von Trotta | Stars: Barbara Sukowa, Daniel Olbrychski, Otto Sander, Adelheid Arndt

Votes: 1,922

49. Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures (2004 TV Movie)

90 min | Drama

Late in 1926 acclaimed mystery writer Agatha Christie disappears after marital problems and creates a media frenzy.

Director: Richard Curson Smith | Stars: Olivia Williams, Anna Massey, Raymond Coulthard, Stephen Boxer

Votes: 249

50. Hilary and Jackie (1998)

R | 121 min | Biography, Drama, Music

78 Metascore

The tragic story of world renowned classic cellist Jacqueline du Pré, as told from the point of view of her sister, flautist Hilary du Pré-Finzi.

Director: Anand Tucker | Stars: Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths, James Frain, David Morrissey

Votes: 10,738 | Gross: $4.87M

51. Mommie Dearest (1981)

R | 129 min | Biography, Drama

55 Metascore

The abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother, screen queen Joan Crawford, is depicted.

Director: Frank Perry | Stars: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest, Howard Da Silva

Votes: 18,332 | Gross: $19.03M

52. The Seventh Room (1995)

108 min | Biography, Drama, War

This movie is based on the life of Saint Edith Stein. She was a German nun of Jewish descent who had converted to Catholicism. Much of her early life was spent as an outspoken academic. ... See full summary »

Director: Márta Mészáros | Stars: Maia Morgenstern, Elide Melli, Jan Nowicki, Anna Polony

Votes: 235

53. Les amants du Flore (2006 TV Movie)

104 min | Biography, Drama

Biographical film about French writers Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre and their relationship.

Director: Ilan Duran Cohen | Stars: Anna Mouglalis, Lorànt Deutsch, Caroline Silhol, Kal Weber

Votes: 639

On Simone de Beauvoir

54. The Lover (1992)

R | 115 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

59 Metascore

In 1929 French Indochina, a French teenage girl embarks on a reckless and forbidden romance with a wealthy, older Chinese man, each knowing that knowledge of their affair will bring drastic consequences to each other.

Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Jane March, Tony Ka Fai Leung, Jeanne Moreau, Frédérique Meininger

Votes: 23,495 | Gross: $4.90M

On Marguerite Duras young

55. Cet amour-là (2001)

Unrated | 100 min | Drama

57 Metascore

Cet Amour-là is an intimate portrait of a legendary love affair. Set against the beauty of the Breton seaside, it is also a film that revels in the insights that Marguerite Duras' writing affords.

Director: Josée Dayan | Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Aymeric Demarigny, Christiane Rorato, Sophie Milleron

Votes: 370 | Gross: $0.07M

on Marguerite Duras old

56. The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999 TV Movie)

TV-MA | 104 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

The rather eccentric (especially in her thinking) author of "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged" becomes involved with a much younger, and married man, to the dismay of those close to her.

Director: Christopher Menaul | Stars: Helen Mirren, Eric Stoltz, Julie Delpy, Peter Fonda

Votes: 1,652

57. Julia (1977)

PG | 117 min | Drama

58 Metascore

At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.

Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Maximilian Schell

Votes: 10,410

58. Selena (1997)

PG | 127 min | Biography, Drama, Music

67 Metascore

The true story of Selena, a Texas-born Tejano singer who rose from cult status to performing at the Astrodome, as well as having chart-topping albums on the Latin music charts.

Director: Gregory Nava | Stars: Jennifer Lopez, Edward James Olmos, Jon Seda, Jackie Guerra

Votes: 31,624 | Gross: $35.42M

59. Impromptu (1991)

PG-13 | 107 min | Biography, Comedy, Music

In 1830s France, pianist/composer Frédéric Chopin is pursued romantically by the determined, individualistic woman who uses the name George Sand.

Director: James Lapine | Stars: Judy Davis, Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters

Votes: 5,510 | Gross: $4.08M

60. What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)

R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, Music

76 Metascore

The story of singer Tina Turner's rise to stardom and how she gained the courage to break free from her abusive husband, Ike Turner.

Director: Brian Gibson | Stars: Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, RaéVen Kelly, Virginia Capers

Votes: 24,575 | Gross: $39.10M

61. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)

PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Music

84 Metascore

The fictionalized life of singer Loretta Lynn, a girl who rose from humble beginnings to become a country music star in the 1960s/70s.

Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Levon Helm, Phyllis Boyens

Votes: 20,502 | Gross: $67.18M

62. Georgia O'Keeffe (2009 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 89 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

Biopic of American artist Georgia O'Keeffe and her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz.

Director: Bob Balaban | Stars: Joan Allen, Jeremy Irons, Ed Begley Jr., Kathleen Chalfant

Votes: 965

63. A Marriage: Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz (1991 TV Movie)

90 min | Drama

A drama exploring Thee stormy relationship between two fiercely independent artists: Georgia O'Keefe who needs the serene simplicity of New Mexico to paint and photographer Alfred Stieglitz... See full summary »

Director: Edwin Sherin | Stars: Jane Alexander, Michael Allison, Rachel Aviva, Vernel Bagneris

Votes: 37

64. Factory Girl (2006)

R | 90 min | Biography, Drama

45 Metascore

Based on the rise and fall of socialite Edie Sedgwick, concentrating on her relationships with Andy Warhol and a folk singer.

Director: George Hickenlooper | Stars: Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Hayden Christensen, Jimmy Fallon

Votes: 22,330 | Gross: $1.66M

65. Pericles and Aspasia

Drama, Romance | Announced

Pericles, the ruler of Athens, falls for a girl half his age.

Director: Julio Medem

66. Funny Girl (1968)

G | 151 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

89 Metascore

The life of Fanny Brice, famed comedienne and entertainer of the early 1900s. We see her rise to fame as a Ziegfeld girl, subsequent career, and her personal life, particularly her relationship with Nick Arnstein.

Director: William Wyler | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Kay Medford, Anne Francis

Votes: 25,149 | Gross: $58.50M

67. Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

PG-13 | 129 min | Biography, Drama

The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.

Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, Julie Harris, John Omirah Miluwi

Votes: 29,188 | Gross: $24.72M

68. Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999 TV Movie)

R | 120 min | Biography, Drama, Music

Dorothy Dandridge's way to fame and fortune as a dancer, singer and actress.

Director: Martha Coolidge | Stars: Halle Berry, Brent Spiner, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Obba Babatundé

Votes: 3,917

69. The Rosa Parks Story (2002 TV Movie)

TV-PG | 97 min | Biography, Drama

A seamstress recalls events leading to her act of peaceful defiance that prompted the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.

Director: Julie Dash | Stars: Angela Bassett, Peter Francis James, Tonea Stewart, Von Coulter

Votes: 1,024

70. Temple Grandin (2010 TV Movie)

TV-PG | 107 min | Biography, Drama

A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who has become one of the top scientists in the humane livestock handling industry.

Director: Mick Jackson | Stars: Claire Danes, Julia Ormond, David Strathairn, Catherine O'Hara

Votes: 32,569

71. Made in Dagenham (2010)

R | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, History

65 Metascore

A dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination.

Director: Nigel Cole | Stars: Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Andrea Riseborough, Jaime Winstone

Votes: 16,068 | Gross: $1.09M

72. The Iron Lady (2011)

PG-13 | 105 min | Biography, Drama

52 Metascore

An elderly Margaret Thatcher talks to the imagined presence of her recently deceased husband as she struggles to come to terms with his death while scenes from her past life, from girlhood to British prime minister, intervene.

Director: Phyllida Lloyd | Stars: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Richard E. Grant, Susan Brown

Votes: 113,615 | Gross: $30.02M

73. Albert Nobbs (2011)

R | 113 min | Drama, Romance

57 Metascore

Albert Nobbs struggles to survive in late 19th-century Ireland, where women aren't encouraged to be independent. Posing as a man so she can work as a butler in Dublin's most elegant hotel, Albert meets a handsome painter and looks to escape the lie she has been living.

Director: Rodrigo García | Stars: Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Antonia Campbell-Hughes

Votes: 25,585 | Gross: $3.01M

74. Maria Montessori: una vita per i bambini (2007 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 200 min | Drama

The story of Maria Montessori the most famous pedagogue of the world. She spent all her life to make her "metodo" (method) accepted in the archaic Italian school system, while the rest of ... See full summary »

Director: Gianluca Maria Tavarelli | Stars: Paola Cortellesi, Massimo Poggio, Gianmarco Tognazzi, Alberto Cracco

Votes: 353

75. Erin Brockovich (2000)

R | 131 min | Biography, Drama

73 Metascore

An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.

Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, David Brisbin, Dawn Didawick

Votes: 221,207 | Gross: $125.60M

76. The Miracle Worker (1962)

Approved | 106 min | Biography, Drama

83 Metascore

The story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.

Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke, Victor Jory, Inga Swenson

Votes: 20,498 | Gross: $5.45M

77. Suffragette (2015)

PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, History

64 Metascore

In 1912 London, a young working mother is galvanized into radical political activism supporting the right for women to vote, and is willing to meet violence with violence to achieve this end.

Director: Sarah Gavron | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep

Votes: 44,742 | Gross: $4.69M

78. Queen of the Desert (2015)

PG-13 | 128 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

39 Metascore

A chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century.

Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, Damian Lewis

Votes: 12,577

80. Horizon (1964– )
Episode: The Race for the Double Helix (1987)

97 min | Documentary

Watson and Crick race to find the structure of DNA before Linus Pauling, Maurice Wilkins, or Rosalind Franklin can find the key to unlocking the secret.

Director: Mick Jackson | Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Tim Pigott-Smith, Alan Howard, Juliet Stevenson

Votes: 716

82. Death by Design: Where Parallel Worlds Meet (1997)

70 min | Documentary

A guided tour into the invisible world of cells, told through a collage of metaphors. Discusses and portrays the invisible world of cells, how they communicate with each other, work ... See full summary »

Directors: Jean-François Brunet, Peter Friedman | Stars: Klaus-Michael Debatin, Pierre Golstein, Robert Horvitz, Rita Levi-Montalcini

Votes: 69

83. Me & Isaac Newton (1999)

Documentary

71 Metascore

Seven of today's top scientist/researchers are the subject of this humourous exploration of real people behind the white lab coats; more about what makes the tick than what they have per-se... See full summary »

Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Karol Sikora, Ashok Gadgil, Paul Allen, Gertrude Elion

Votes: 176 | Gross: $0.03M

85. He Named Me Malala (2015)

PG-13 | 88 min | Documentary, Biography

61 Metascore

A look at the events leading up to the Taliban's attack on Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai for speaking out on girls' education, followed by the aftermath, including her speech to the United Nations.

Director: Davis Guggenheim | Stars: Malala Yousafzai, Ziauddin Yousafzai, Toor Pekai Yousafzai, Khushal Yousafzai

Votes: 4,793 | Gross: $2.64M

86. Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life (1996)

Not Rated | 145 min | Documentary, Biography

A documentary focusing on the life of novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, the author of the bestselling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and originator of the Objectivist philosophy.

Director: Michael Paxton | Stars: Sharon Gless, Michael S. Berliner, Harry Binswanger, Sylvia Bokor

Votes: 649 | Gross: $0.21M

87. The Eleanor Roosevelt Story (1965)

Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, History

Richard Kaplan documents the life of one of America's most influential first ladies. Orphaned at age 10, Eleanor Roosevelt marries her fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1905. His ... See full summary »

Director: Richard Kaplan | Stars: Archibald Macleish, Eric Sevareid, Corinne Alsop Cole, Hillary Clinton

Votes: 208

90. Confirmation (2016 TV Movie)

TV-14 | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History

Judge Clarence Thomas' nomination to the United States Supreme Court is called into question when Anita Hill, a former colleague, testifies that he sexually harassed her.

Director: Rick Famuyiwa | Stars: Kerry Washington, Wendell Pierce, Greg Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright

Votes: 5,601

91. Queen of Katwe (2016)

PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Sport

73 Metascore

A Ugandan girl sees her world rapidly change after being introduced to the game of chess.

Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, Martin Kabanza

Votes: 18,676 | Gross: $8.81M

92. RBG (2018)

PG | 98 min | Documentary, Biography

71 Metascore

The exceptional life and career of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has developed a breathtaking legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon.

Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West | Stars: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ann Kittner, Harryette Helsel, Nina Totenberg

Votes: 15,059 | Gross: $14.02M

93. Hidden Figures (2016)

PG | 127 min | Biography, Drama, History

74 Metascore

The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.

Director: Theodore Melfi | Stars: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner

Votes: 255,181 | Gross: $169.61M

94. Becoming Astrid (2018)

123 min | Biography, Drama, History

71 Metascore

Biopic of Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren, the author of numerous children's books and creator of Pippi Longstocking.

Director: Pernille Fischer Christensen | Stars: Alba August, Maria Bonnevie, Trine Dyrholm, Henrik Rafaelsen

Votes: 7,349 | Gross: $0.12M

95. On the Basis of Sex (2018)

PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Drama

59 Metascore

The true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her struggles for equal rights, and the early cases of a historic career that lead to her nomination and confirmation as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.

Director: Mimi Leder | Stars: Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Sam Waterston

Votes: 38,326 | Gross: $24.62M

96. Radioactive (2019)

PG-13 | 109 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

56 Metascore

The incredible true story of Marie Sklodowska-Curie and her Nobel Prize-winning work that changed the world.

Director: Marjane Satrapi | Stars: Rosamund Pike, Yvette Feuer, Mirjam Novak, Ralph Berkin

Votes: 21,717

97. Mrs. America (2020)

TV-MA | 51 min | Biography, Drama, History

Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly leads an unexpected fight against the Equal Rights Amendment movement during the 1970s.

Stars: Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Elizabeth Banks, Uzo Aduba

Votes: 13,547

98. Bone Wind Fire (2011)

30 min | Documentary, Short

An intimate and evocative journey into the hearts, minds and eyes of Georgia O'Keeffe, Emily Carr and Frida Kahlo - 3 of the 20th century's most remarkable artists.

Director: Jill Sharpe | Stars: Rebecca Jenkins, Shirley Broderick, Tabitha St. Germain, Jeanne Hertz

Votes: 14

99. Bombshell (I) (2019)

R | 109 min | Biography, Drama

64 Metascore

A group of women take on Fox News head Roger Ailes and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network.

Director: Jay Roach | Stars: Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, John Lithgow

Votes: 126,849

100. Conceiving Ada (1997)

Not Rated | 85 min | Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Emmy Coer, a computer genius, devises a method of communicating with the past by tapping into undying information waves. She manages to reach the world of Ada Lovelace, founder of the idea ... See full summary »

Director: Lynn Hershman Leeson | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Francesca Faridany, Timothy Leary, Karen Black

Votes: 534



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