Many of the films on these lists are sourced from the Ten AFI Top 10 lists, where you
will find additional information and resources. Please note, though, that the
different AFI Top 10 lists include films that are not approved.
Drama
Drama can be defined as a category of narrative film intended to be more serious
than humorous in tone, however, drama is often qualified with additional genre-
defining terms that specify its particular sub-genre.
Film Year
Imitation of Life 1959
Shadows 1959
A Raisin in the Sun 1961
Guess Whos Coming to
Dinner 1967
Wanda 1970
Do the Right Thing 1989
Boyz N the Hood 1991
Daughters of the Dust 1991
Mississippi Masala 1991
Winters Bone 2010
Dear White People 2014
Chi-Raq 2015
Tangerine 2015
Moonlight 2016
Beatriz at Dinner 2017
The Hate U Give 2018
Blindspotting 2018
If Beale Street Could
Talk 2018
Film Year
Clemency 2019
Biographical Drama
A biographical drama is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or
historically-based person or group of people.
Film Year
Malcom X 1992
Milk 2008
Fruitvale Station 2013
Dallas Buyers Club 2013
12 Years a Slave 2013
The Wolf of Wall Street 2013
Selma 2014
Hidden Figures 2016
Loving 2016
BlacKkKlansman 2018
Harriet 2019
Courtroom drama
AFI defines “courtroom drama” as a genre of film in which a system of justice plays a
critical role in the film’s narrative.
Film Year
To Kill a Mockingbird 1962
12 Angry Men 1957
Kramer vs. Kramer 1979
The Verdict 1982
A Few Good Men 1992
Witness for the
Prosecution 1957
Anatomy of a Murder 1959
In Cold Blood 1967
A Cry in the Dark (Evil
Angels) 1988
Judgment at Nuremberg 1961
Film Year
Just Mercy 2019
Epic
AFI defines “epic” as a genre of large-scale films set in a cinematic interpretation of
the past.
Film Year
Lawrence of Arabia 1962
Ben-Hur 1959
Schindler’s List 1993
Gone with the Wind 1939
Spartacus 1960
Titanic 1997
All Quiet on the Western
Front 1930
Saving Private Ryan 1998
Reds 1981
The Ten
Commandments 1956
Fantasy
AFI defines “fantasy” as a genre in which live-action characters inhabit imagined
settings and/or experience situations that transcend the rules of the natural world.
Film Year
The Lord of the Rings:
The Fellowship of the
Ring
2001
It’s a Wonderful Life
