Ellen Cheshire

I’ve always been fascinated by bio-pics, so much so that I wrote a book about them! Seeing Blue Moon (2025, Richard Linklater) at the London Film Festival reminded me exactly why. Opening in the UK this Friday, it is a gorgeous example of how a short window in someone’s life can illuminate an entire world. Richard Linklater’s latest unfolds over a single night in lyricist Lorenz Hart’s life in 1943, at the opening night of his former writing partner Richard Rodgers’ Oklahoma

A few weeks ago, I had a 45-minute conversation with Hendrik Warnke from the German radio station Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR) about the popularity of bio-pics. About 30 seconds of the interview is featured in a 5-minute segment on bio-pics as part of their Crash Course in World Cinema feature. Luckily, you don’t have to listen to me struggle with my one year of secondary school German, as they dubbed over me in German. However, you can still hear me in the background! If yo

Well, that was a bit of a mad dash, but I managed to watch 35 out of the 50 nominated films before the Oscars! With the big night approaching, here are my predictions for who I think will win and who should win in each category. After the ceremony, I’ll update this post with the actual winners—let’s see how many I get right! In 2024, I correctly predicted 16 winners , and in 2023, I only got 12 right . Updated on 3 March 2025 with those who did win. I predicted 15 of 23,

Royal bio-pics have been a mainstay of commercial cinema since its inception. Historians fear them, as ultimately, they are seen as a...