Best Portrait Movies & TV Shows

An eight-hour fiction shot for a total of twenty-seven weeks, over a period of fourteen months, in a village population forty-seven in the mountains of Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is a geographic description of the work and non-work of a farmer. A portrait, over five seasons, of a family, of a terrain, of a soundscape, and of duration itself. A film-as-adaptive-landscape. A georgic in five books.

For 200 years, the United States Congress has been one of the country's most important and least understood institutions. In this elegant, thoughtful and often touching portrait, Ken Burns explores the history and promise of this unique American institution. Using historical photographs and newsreels, evocative live footage and interviews with David Broder, Alistair Cooke, Cokie Roberts, Charles McDowell and others, the award-winning film chronicles the personalities, events and issues that have animated the first 200 years of Congress and, in turn, our country.

With unprecedented access and never-before-seen personal archival footage, the docuseries is a revealing portrait of three-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the greatest athletes in two separate sports, snowboarding and skateboarding, Shaun White. It is a story that includes childhood struggles with a congenital heart condition, the development of his unbeatable talent, sacrifices made by his unconventional but remarkably supportive parents, the move into pro-snowboarding at a young age, and of course, his exploits at the Olympics, where he holds the record for most gold medals by a snowboarder.

A young woman's highly ordered and structured life is turned upside-down when she meets a handsome stranger at a party. Friendship soon develops into romance and for the first time in her life she is truly happy. This happiness is short lived, however, as little by little she discovers her partner has been lying to her about his past. It is soon revealed that he and his friends have been planning to rob the auction house that she works for and they require her inside knowledge in order to pull off the crime.

While visiting a museum, two siblings Ben and Kim a fierce electrical storm creates a passage between the real world and worlds within the paintings. They are magically whisked through time to the 1600's and find they must square off against a wicked magician and also locate a valuable jewel in order to return to the present day.

Explore the history of activist Afeni Shakur and hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur, two voices that could not be silenced. Told through the eyes of the people who knew them best, this series is an intimate wide-angle portrait of the most inspiring and dangerous mother-son duo in American history, whose unified message of freedom, equality, persecution and justice are more relevant today than ever.

A celebration of the animals you thought you knew. Primates is the definitive portrait of a hugely charismatic family of animals, to which we all belong.

An intimate portrait of Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee, tracing his remarkable ascent from a young Boston boy stricken with polio to the one of the most pioneering and consequential journalistic figures of the 20th century.

After a break of nine years, David Gilmour steps back into the spotlight with a number one album and world tour. This film is an intimate portrait of one of the greatest guitarists and singers of all time, exploring his past and present. With unprecedented access, the film crew have captured and detailed key moments in David Gilmour's personal and professional life that have shaped him both as a person and a musician.

Pluto lost its status as a planet in 2006. It is no longer the ninth and last planet in the solar system, which greatly annoys Pierre-Olivier. Jérôme wants to reveal his feelings to the one he loves, Nicolas and Steve are looking for a name for their punk band, Émilie is organizing a party despite herself? An almost normal day on this little piece of the planet. Played by young people aged 15 and 16, West of Pluto follows the existence of a dozen teenagers from the suburbs over 24 hours. This crossover which mixes humor and drama reflects their concerns and their way of seeing the world. A disturbingly realistic portrait, the film plunges into the heart of adolescence, this intense and fascinating period when everyone tries to exist among others and tries to make sense of the absurdity of everyday life.

A portrait of singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes' life, chronicling the past few years of his rise and journey.

With humour and compassion, Annie et ses hommes  shows us the ups and downs of a modern family, focusing on the emotions and experiences of a woman in her forties. This dramatic comedy is a subtle portrait of a singular woman, Annie, and her clan. It’s a thought-provoking exploration of family life.

How can a tiny mosquito be such an enormous threat to humankind? And how is it that this once distant threat is now lurking in our own backyards? Filmed on four continents and featuring breathtaking macro photography, Mosquito paints an emotionally charged portrait of the people who are now living with mosquito borne diseases and we in North America who fear their arrival.

In this one-hour documentary, superstar Miley Cyrus allows unprecedented access into her extraordinary life as she rises to the challenge of presenting a new and sometimes controversial persona to the public. As a teenage star, Miley amassed millions of passionate international fans who followed her every move. Three years later, she attempts to shed her previous image while embracing music full time. Whether in the studio, at a performance, or on the set of her latest music video, Miley exudes the confidence of a creative young woman in a period of radical self-discovery who still inspires legions of admirers while confronting her critics. Ultimately, the film is an intimate portrait that captures Miley's exuberantand spirited life, her evolving identity, and her exciting transformation into amusic icon.

An epic portrait of the New York avant-garde art scene of the 60s.

Featuring all-new, original interviews with Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Michelle Phillips, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Roger McGuinn and more, this uniquely immersive and experiential two-part docuseries takes us back in time to a place where a rustic canyon in the heart of Los Angeles became a musical petri dish.

Using previously unreleased archival material in addition to contemporary interviews, this academy award-winning documentary tells the story of the Frank family and presents the first fully-rounded portrait of their brash and free-spirited daughter Anne, perhaps the world's most famous victim of the Holocaust. Written by Dawn M. Barclift

It's 1959 in a seedy bar in Philadelphia, and Billie Holiday is giving one of her last performances interlaced with salty, often humorous, reminiscences to project a riveting portrait of the lady and her music 4 months before her death.

Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.

An intimate portrait of the ingenuity and resilience of three different animal families as they face the seasonal extremes and fierce predators of the Brazilian wilderness.

Follow the officers and recruits of the Navajo Police Department through the rigorous training, the physical challenges, and the self-doubt, delving into their backstories to reveal an overview of life on the reservation and the motivations that drew them to the force. While the turbulent stories of Class 57 unfold in real time, the series provides an ever-widening portrait of the Navajo Nation at large.

A candid, fly-on-the-wall BBC television documentary portrait of Russian Nationalist politician, Vladimir Zhirinovsky. The film shows the leader on a cruise surrounded by two hundred supporters getting plenty of media attention in New York. We are left with the nagging question: to what extent is Zhirinovsky really dangerous? To take that further, to what extent are populist politicians truly dangerous?

The film explores Mauro Ranallo’s career, including his work on the two biggest pay-per-view events in television history, and his relentless pursuit of a childhood dream despite seemingly insurmountable odds. Through this deeply personal portrait, Ranallo hopes that the film might inspire others to persevere in pursuing their dreams despite the challenges of a mental health condition.

A bold portrait of misguided youth as they learn the cruelties of life in the American Midwest.

Over 80 years after her death, Marie Curie remains by far the best-known female scientist. In her lifetime, she became that rare thing - a celebrity scientist, attracting the attention of the news cameras and tabloid gossip. This multi-layered film reveals the real Marie Curie, an extraordinary woman who fell in love three times, had to survive the pain of loss, and the public humiliation of a doomed love affair. It is a riveting portrait of a tenacious mother and scientist, who opened the door on a whole new realm of physics, which she discovered and named - radioactivity.

After being cryogenically frozen for more than 30 years, a woman wakes to find her husband an old man and her children older than she is. Her daughter has also developed a psychotic obsession with her and may be out to kill her.

They started out as average, unexceptional men of their time. Fishermen, farmers, local magistrates. But their dedication to a prophetic Jewish preacher in the backwaters of the Roman Empire transformed them into revolutionaries and, in the process, changed the world itself in ways that would reverberate across time for two thousand years. Now, discover the extraordinary, untold stories of the men chosen by Jesus to bring God’s plan to the world. Among them: Peter, the rock upon which Christ would build His new religion; James and John, the fiery-tempered “sons of thunder”; Matthew, the tax collector later murdered by cannibals; Simon the Zealot, the anti-Roman fanatic eventually “cut to pieces” preaching in Spain; and Judas Iscariot, whose betrayal would be paid for with silver and suicide.

The Universal Language is a new documentary from Academy Award-nominated director Sam Green (The Weather Underground). This 30-minute film traces the history of Esperanto, an artificial language that was created in the late 1800s by a Polish eye doctor who believed that if everyone in the world spoke a common tongue, humanity could overcome racism and war. Fittingly, the word “Esperanto” means “one who hopes.” During the early 20th century, hundreds of thousands of people around the world spoke Esperanto and believed in its ideals. Today, surprisingly, a vibrant Esperanto movement still exists. In this first-ever documentary about Esperanto, Green creates a portrait of the language and those who speak it today that is at once humorous, poignant, stirring, and ultimately hopeful.

This is the story of how a prince became a king, a revealing portrait of our new monarch across the seven decades he spent as heir to the throne. It’s a journey from cradle to crown told almost solely in his own words, from film and television recordings to private home movies and featuring a wealth of material, some of which has never been seen before. As well as drawing on home movies from the Royal Collection, the film-makers were given exclusive access to sequences featuring the prince, shot for the landmark 1969 film Royal Family, including private unseen moments.

An intimate portrait of mothers and daughters and the effects of trauma, Jacinta follows a young woman in and out of prison as she attempts to break free from an inherited cycle of addiction, incarceration, and crime.

A funny, intimate and heartbreaking portrait of one of the world’s most beloved and inventive comedians, Robin Williams, told largely through his own words. Celebrates what he brought to comedy and to the culture at large, from the wild days of late-1970s L.A. to his death in 2014.

An in-depth and intimate portrait of Coldplay's spectacular rise from the backrooms of Camden pubs to selling out stadiums across the planet. At the heart of the story is the band's unshakeable brotherhood which has endured through many highs and lows.

While the rest of America slept, DIY filmmaker/musician Giuseppe Andrews has made over 30 experimental features. Set in some demented alternate universe (i.e. Ventura, California), they are populated by real-life alcoholics and drug addicts, trash-talking senior citizens and trailer park residents dressed in cow outfits and costume-shop wigs. Director Adam Rifkin creates a wildly surreal, outrageously funny and strangely touching portrait of a truly Outsider Artist inhabiting a world few of us even know exists.

Cicely Tyson was Emmy-nominated as Outstanding Actress for her portrait of a Chicago schoolteacher whose remarkable achievements with black children labelled "unteachable" were spotlighted in a 1979 "60 Minutes" segment about how she became disillusioned with the traditional school system and decided to work outside of it, transforming her students into young scholars through her unique teaching style.

An intimate portrait of Matthew Shepard, the gay young man murdered in one of the most notorious hate crimes in U.S. history. Framed through a personal lens, it's the story of loss, love, and courage in the face of unspeakable tragedy.

Freddie Mercury (1946-91) was not just a man with one of the most pure and amazing voices the world has heard, but he was also the lead singer for Queen, the most enthusiastic rock band in history.

Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis falls in love with a fishmonger while working for him as a live-in housekeeper.

On the cusp of his 30th birthday, Jonathon Larson, a promising young theater composer, navigates love, friendship, and the pressures of life as an artist in New York City.

A dramatization of the relationship between heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.

Hailed as one of the most innovative and intimate documentaries of all time, experience Kurt Cobain like never before in the only ever fully authorized portrait of the famed music icon. Academy Award nominated filmmaker Brett Morgen expertly blends Cobain's personal archive of art, music, never seen before movies, animation and revelatory interviews from his family and closest friends.

A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.

BREAKFAST: After eating breakfast, a man is transformed into an elaborate dumb-waiter-style breakfast dispenser - and the same fate befalls the man who obtains breakfast from him. LUNCH: After failing to catch the waiter's eye, two would-be diners end up eating everything within reach. DINNER: Portraits of various meals made up of human organs.

The story of Elwood P. Dowd who makes friends with a spirit taking the form of a human-sized rabbit named Harvey that only he sees (and a few privileged others on occasion also.) After his sister tries to commit him to a mental institution, a comedy of errors ensues. Elwood and Harvey become the catalysts for a family mending its wounds and for romance blossoming in unexpected places.

The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems related to casting, tribal struggles and accidents, among many other setbacks; but nothing compared to dragging a huge steamboat up a mountain, while Herzog embraces the path of a certain madness to make his vision come true.

Cashier and part-time starving artist Christopher Cross is absolutely smitten with the beautiful Kitty March. Kitty plays along, but she's really only interested in Johnny, a two-bit crook. When Kitty and Johnny find out that art dealers are interested in Chris's work, they con him into letting Kitty take credit for the paintings. Cross allows it because he is in love with Kitty, but his love will only let her get away with so much.

When Gerda Wegener asks her husband Einar to fill in as a portrait model, Einar discovers the person she's meant to be and begins living her life as Lili Elbe. Having realized her true self and with Gerda's love and support, Lili embarks on a groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.

The extraordinary story of the planet’s most famous contemporary scientist, told in his own words and by those closest to him. Made with unique access to Hawking’s private life, this is an intimate and moving journey into Stephen's world, both past and present.

The lives of a young couple intertwine with a much older man as he reflects back on a lost love while he's trapped in an automobile crash.

At a family reunion, the Cooper clan find that their parents' home is being foreclosed. "Temporarily," Ma moves in with son George's family, Pa with daughter Cora. But the parents are like sand in the gears of their middle-aged children's well regulated households. Can the old folks take matters into their own hands?

The Bletchley Circle follows the journey of four ordinary women with extraordinary skills that helped to end World War II. Set in 1952, Susan, Millie, Lucy and Jean have returned to their normal lives, modestly setting aside the part they played in producing crucial intelligence, which helped the Allies to victory and shortened the war. When Susan discovers a hidden code behind an unsolved murder she is met by skepticism from the police. She quickly realises she can only begin to crack the murders and bring the culprit to justice with her former friends. The Bletchley Circle paints a vivid portrait of post-war Britain in this fictional tale of unsung heroes.