While this year’s crop of Oscar nominations has certainly stirred controversy, one thing is undeniable – Hollywood continues to love a good true story. The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory Of Everything, American Sniper, Foxcatcher, Mr Turner and Unbroken – all feature in the list of nominees, and all are based on real events.
Our love affair with reality has being simmering away for decades, however, and every year brings us more demonstrations of talented storytellers turning their attentions to fact for their fiction. Though such an endeavour is fraught with risk and challenge, these filmmakers do not shrink from their responsibility to the source material, nor their audience, and repeatedly deliver world class cinema that rings resoundingly true.
Inevitably, films based on true stories come under fire for perceived inaccuracies, or the causing of offence. However, the tales that are told are often among the most culturally important and well-observed – particularly when handled by our most talented filmmakers. Before we find out whether yet another giant true story will walk away with the top prize on Oscar Sunday, here is a look at nine of the best true stories on film.