This list also contains autobiographical and semi-autobiographical films.
| Rank | Title | Year | Director(s) | Subject(s) | Overall Rank |
| 1 | Goodfellas | 1990 | Martin Scorsese | Henry Hill | 17 |
| 2 | Lawrence of Arabia | 1962 | David Lean | T.E. Lawrence | 19 |
| 3 | Schindler's List | 1993 | Steven Spielberg | Oskar Schindler | 28 |
| 4 | Raging Bull | 1980 | Martin Scorsese | Jake La Motta | 29 |
| 5 | Bonnie and Clyde | 1967 | Arthur Penn | Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker | 97 |
| 6 | The Passion of Joan of Arc | 1928 | Carl Theodor Dreyer | Joan of Arc | 123 |
| 7 | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | 1969 | George Roy Hill | Butch Cassidy and Harry Longabaugh | 136 |
| 8 | The Sound of Music | 1965 | Robert Wise | The von Trapp Family | 144 |
| 9 | Aguirre: The Wrath of God | 1972 | Werner Herzog | Lope de Aguirre | 151 |
| 10 | Andrei Rublev | 1966 | Andrei Tarkovsky | Andrei Rublev | 160 |
| 11 | Amadeus | 1984 | Milos Forman | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri | 163 |
| 12 | Braveheart | 1995 | Mel Gibson | William Wallace | 185 |
| 13 | Dog Day Afternoon | 1975 | Sidney Lumet | Sonny Wortzik | 208 |
| 14 | Spartacus | 1960 | Stanley Kubrick | Spartacus | 254 |
| 15 | The Pianist | 2002 | Roman Polanski | Wladyslaw Szpilman | 269 |
| 16 | All the President's Men | 1976 | Alan J. Pakula | Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward | 290 |
| 17 | Patton | 1970 | Franklin J. Schaffner | George S. Patton Jr. | 291 |
| 18 | My Darling Clementine | 1946 | John Ford | Wyatt Earp | 363 |
| 19 | The Elephant Man | 1980 | David Lynch | John Merrick | 368 |
| 20 | Waltz with Bashir | 2008 | Ari Folman | Ari Folman | 400 |
| 21 | Downfall | 2004 | Oliver Hirschbiegel | Adolf Hitler | 424 |
| 22 | Ed Wood | 1994 | Tim Burton | Ed Wood | 435 |
| 23 | Chariots of Fire | 1981 | Hugh Hudson | Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell | 450 |
| 24 | Close-Up | 1990 | Abbas Kiarostami | Hossain Sabzian | 469 |
| 25 | Persepolis | 2007 | Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi | Marjane Satrapi | 472 |
| 26 | Gandhi | 1982 | Richard Attenborough | Mohandas K. Gandhi | 482 |
| 27 | The Mirror | 1975 | Andrei Tarkovsky | Andrei Tarkovsky | 498 |
| 28 | Napoléon | 1927 | Abel Gance | Napoleon Bonaparte | 500 |
| 29 | The Social Network | 2010 | David Fincher | Mark Zuckerberg | 514 |
| 30 | A Beautiful Mind | 2001 | Ron Howard | John Nash | 524 |
| 31 | 12 Years a Slave | 2013 | Steve McQueen | Solomon Northup | 543 |
| 32 | The Gospel According to St. Matthew | 1964 | Pier Paolo Pasolini | Jesus of Nazareth | 557 |
| 33 | The Right Stuff | 1983 | Philip Kaufman | Various People | 603 |
| 34 | Ivan the Terrible | 1944 | Sergei M. Eisenstein | Ivan IV | 618 |
| 35 | Crumb | 1994 | Terry Zwigoff | Robert Crumb | 621 |
| 36 | Glory | 1989 | Edward Zwick | Robert Gould Shaw | 625 |
| 37 | Grizzly Man | 2005 | Werner Herzog | Timothy Treadwell | 629 |
| 38 | The Last Emperor | 1987 | Bernardo Bertolucci | Pu Yi | 651 |
| 39 | The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | 2007 | Andrew Dominik | Jesse James and Robert Ford | 681 |
| 40 | Yankee Doodle Dandy | 1942 | Michael Curtiz | George M. Cohan | 687 |
| 41 | Man on Wire | 2008 | James Marsh | Philippe Petit | 689 |
| 42 | The King's Speech | 2010 | Tom Hooper | George VI | 696 |
| 43 | Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid | 1973 | Sam Peckinpah | William H. Bonney | 712 |
| 44 | Malcolm X | 1992 | Spike Lee | Malcolm X | 746 |
| 45 | Alexander Nevsky | 1938 | Sergei M. Eisenstein and Dmitriy Vasilyev | Alexander Nevsky | 760 |
| 46 | Serpico | 1973 | Sidney Lumet | Frank Serpico | 767 |
| 47 | Hotel Rwanda | 2004 | Terry George | Paul Rusesabagina | 789 |
| 48 | The Intouchables | 2011 | Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano | Abdel Sellou and Philippe Pozzo di Borgo | 802 |
| 49 | Heavenly Creatures | 1994 | Peter Jackson | Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme | 831 |
| 50 | A Man for All Seasons | 1966 | Fred Zinnemann | Sir Thomas More | 838 |
| 51 | Boys Don't Cry | 1999 | Kimberly Peirce | Brandon Teena | 859 |
| 52 | Into the Wild | 2007 | Sean Penn | Christopher McCandless | 870 |
| 53 | Donnie Brasco | 1997 | Mike Newell | Joseph D. Pistone | 878 |
| 54 | Milk | 2008 | Gus Van Sant | Harvey Milk | 886 |
| 55 | The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | 2007 | Julian Schnabel | Jean-Dominique Bauby | 895 |
| 56 | The Last Waltz | 1978 | Martin Scorsese | The Band | 896 |
| 57 | The Straight Story | 1999 | David Lynch | Alvin Straight | 916 |
| 58 | Capturing the Friedmans | 2003 | Andrew Jarecki | The Friedman family | 924 |
| 59 | The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara | 2003 | Errol Morris | Robert S. McNamara | 929 |
| 60 | Out of Africa | 1985 | Sydney Pollack | Isak Dinesen | 930 |
| 61 | Papillon | 1973 | Franklin J. Schaffner | Henri Charriere | 948 |
| 62 | Orlando | 1992 | Sally Potter | 955 | |
| 63 | Henry V | 1944 | Laurence Olivier | Henry V | 960 |
| 64 | Young Mr. Lincoln | 1939 | John Ford | Abraham Lincoln | 975 |
| 65 | Catch Me If You Can | 2002 | Steven Spielberg | Frank Abagnale, Jr. | 988 |
| 66 | The King and I | 1956 | Walter Lang | Anna Leonowens | 997 |
| 67 | The Pride of the Yankees | 1942 | Sam Wood | Lou Gehrig | 1014 |
| 68 | Tombstone | 1993 | George P. Cosmatos | Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday | 1023 |
| 69 | Erin Brockovich | 2000 | Steven Soderbergh | Erin Brockovich | 1046 |
| 70 | Topsy-Turvy | 1999 | Mike Leigh | William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan | 1048 |
| 71 | Remember the Titans | 2000 | Boaz Yakin | Herman Boone | 1053 |
| 72 | The Fighter | 2010 | David O. Russell | Micky Ward | 1063 |
| 73 | Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer | 1986 | John McNaughton | Henry Lee Lucas | 1073 |
| 74 | Mutiny on the Bounty | 1935 | Frank Lloyd | William Bligh and Fletcher Christian | 1074 |
| 75 | 28 Up | 1984 | Michael Apted | Various People | 1081 |
| 76 | The Devils | 1971 | Ken Russell | Urbain Grandier and Jeanne des Anges | 1082 |
| 77 | The Killing Fields | 1984 | Roland Joffé | Sydney Schanberg and Dith Pran | 1085 |
| 78 | The Insider | 1999 | Michael Mann | Lowell Bergman and Jeffrey Wigand | 1105 |
| 79 | The Color of Pomegranates | 1969 | Sergei Parajanov | Sayat Nova | 1125 |
| 80 | Cinderella Man | 2005 | Ron Howard | James J. Braddock | 1126 |
| 81 | Senna | 2010 | Asif Kapadia | Ayrton Senna | 1127 |
| 82 | Sergeant York | 1941 | Howard Hawks | Alvin York | 1133 |
| 83 | Funny Girl | 1968 | William Wyler | Fanny Brice | 1137 |
| 84 | The Mystery of Kaspar Hausar | 1974 | Werner Herzog | Kaspar Hausar | 1141 |
| 85 | 42 Up | 1998 | Michael Apted | Various People | 1144 |
| 86 | My Left Foot | 1989 | Jim Sheridan | Christy Brown | 1145 |
| 87 | The Wolf of Wall Street | 2013 | Martin Scorsese | Jordan Belfort | 1160 |
| 88 | Walk the Line | 2005 | James Mangold | Johnny Cash | 1171 |
| 89 | Miracle | 2004 | Gavin O'Connor | Herb Brooks | 1172 |
| 90 | Lola Montès | 1955 | Max Ophüls | Lola Montez | 1181 |
| 91 | Monster | 2003 | Patty Jenkins | Aileen Wuornos | 1183 |
| 92 | Rudy | 1993 | David Anspaugh | Rudy Ruettiger | 1194 |
| 93 | Seven Up! | 1964 | Paul Almond | Various People | 1196 |
| 94 | Ali | 2001 | Michael Mann | Muhammad Ali | 1199 |
| 95 | Reds | 1981 | Warren Beatty | Jack Reed | 1204 |
| 96 | La Vie en rose | 2007 | Olivier Dahan | Édith Piaf | 1215 |
| 97 | The Times of Harvey Milk | 1984 | Rob Epstein | Harvey Milk | 1220 |
| 98 | Dersu Uzala | 1975 | Akira Kurosawa | Dersu Uzala | 1224 |
| 99 | The Sea Inside | 2004 | Alejandro Amenábar | Ramón Sampedro | 1232 |
| 100 | Ray | 2004 | Taylor Hackford | Ray Charles | 1239 |
| 101 | Elizabeth | 1998 | Shekhar Kapur | Elizabeth I | 1240 |
| 102 | In Cold Blood | 1967 | Richard Brooks | Perry Smith and Richard Hickock | 1250 |
| 103 | Ivan the Terrible, Part II | 1958 | Sergei M. Eisenstein and M. Filimonova | Ivan IV | 1251 |
| 104 | American Splendor | 2003 | Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini | Harvey Pekar | 1258 |
| 105 | Sherman's March | 1985 | Ross McElwee | Ross McElwee | 1266 |
| 106 | 21 Up | 1977 | Michael Apted | Various People | 1290 |
| 107 | Finding Neverland | 2004 | Marc Forster | J.M. Barrie | 1313 |
| 108 | Hunger | 2008 | Steve McQueen | Bobby Sands | 1321 |
| 109 | 35 Up | 1991 | Michael Apted | Various People | 1322 |
| 110 | Coal Miner's Daughter | 1980 | Michael Apted | Loretta Lynn | 1326 |
| 111 | 49 Up | 2005 | Michael Apted | Various People | 1329 |
| 112 | The Act of Killing | 2012 | Joshua Oppenheimer | Anwar Congo | 1332 |
| 113 | In the Name of the Father | 1993 | Jim Sheridan | Gerry Conlon | 1333 |
| 114 | The Miracle Worker | 1962 | Arthur Penn | Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan | 1368 |
| 115 | Spotlight | 2015 | Tom McCarthy | 1373 | |
| 116 | Capote | 2005 | Bennett Miller | Truman Capote | 1386 |
| 117 | Henry V | 1989 | Kenneth Branagh | Henry V | 1397 |
| 118 | Seven Plus Seven | 1970 | Michael Apted | Various People | 1431 |
| 119 | Queen Christina | 1933 | Rouben Mamoulian | Christina of Sweden | 1462 |
| 120 | Born on the Fourth of July | 1989 | Oliver Stone | Ron Kovic | 1467 |
| 121 | Rush | 2013 | Ron Howard | Niki Lauda and James Hunt | 1487 |
| 122 | The New World | 2005 | Terrence Malick | John Smith and Pocahontas | 1494 |
| 123 | The Queen | 2006 | Stephen Frears | Tony Blair and Elizabeth II | 1498 |
| 124 | Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters | 1985 | Paul Schrader | Yukio Mishima | 1525 |
| 125 | The Revenant | 2015 | Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Hugh Glass | 1550 |
| 126 | The Lion in Winter | 1968 | Anthony Harvey | Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine | 1568 |
| 127 | Selma | 2014 | Ava DuVernay | Martin Luther King Jr. | 1589 |
| 128 | Ip Man | 2008 | Wilson Yip | Ip Man | 1594 |
| 129 | The Aviator | 2004 | Martin Scorsese | Howard Hughes | 1605 |
| 130 | October Sky | 1999 | Joe Johnston | Homer Hickam | 1611 |
| 131 | Good Morning, Vietnam | 1987 | Barry Levinson | Adrian Cronauer | 1629 |
| 132 | The Hurricane | 1999 | Norman Jewison | Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and Lesra Martin | 1646 |
| 133 | Cleopatra | 1963 | Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Cleopatra VII | 1654 |
| 134 | Moneyball | 2011 | Bennett Miller | Billy Beane | 1657 |
| 135 | Argo | 2012 | Ben Affleck | Tony Mendez | 1660 |
| 136 | 24 Hour Party People | 2002 | Michael Winterbottom | Tony Wilson | 1661 |
| 137 | Dallas Buyers Club | 2013 | Jean-Marc Vallée | Ron Woodroof | 1662 |
| 138 | The Puppet Master | 1993 | Hsiao-hsien Hou | Tianlu Li | 1665 |
| 139 | The Imitation Game | 2014 | Morten Tyldum | Alan Turing | 1668 |
| 140 | An Angel at My Table | 1990 | Jane Campion | Janet Frame | 1680 |
| 141 | The Blind Side | 2009 | John Lee Hancock | Leigh Anne Tuohy and Michael Oher | 1681 |
| 142 | American Gangster | 2007 | Ridley Scott | Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts | 1692 |
| 143 | Brian's Song | 1971 | Buzz Kulik | Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo | 1693 |
| 144 | The Long Day Closes | 1992 | Terence Davies | Terence Davies | 1701 |
| 145 | Midnight Express | 1978 | Alan Parker | Billy Hayes | 1703 |
| 146 | The Pursuit of Happyness | 2006 | Gabriele Muccino | Chris Gardner | 1716 |
| 147 | The Time to Live and the Time to Die | 1985 | Hsiao-hsien Hou | Hsiao-hsien Hou | 1725 |
| 148 | Hacksaw Ridge | 2016 | Mel Gibson | Desmond Doss | 1727 |
| 149 | The Motorcycle Diaries | 2004 | Walter Salles | Che Guevara and Alberto Granado | 1733 |
| 150 | 127 Hours | 2010 | Danny Boyle | Aron Ralston | 1738 |
| 151 | The Dream of Light | 1992 | Víctor Erice | Antonio López García | 1742 |
| 152 | The King of Kong | 2007 | Seth Gordon | Steve Wiebe | 1772 |
| 153 | Control | 2007 | Anton Corbijn | Ian Curtis | 1775 |
| 154 | Girl, Interrupted | 1999 | James Mangold | Susanna Kaysen | 1781 |
| 155 | Edvard Munch | 1974 | Peter Watkins | Edvard Munch | 1787 |
| 156 | Lincoln | 2012 | Steven Spielberg | Abraham Lincoln | 1814 |
| 157 | Shine | 1996 | Scott Hicks | David Helfgott | 1838 |
| 158 | Changeling | 2008 | Clint Eastwood | Christine Collins | 1848 |
| 159 | Good Night, and Good Luck. | 2005 | George Clooney | Edward R. Murrow | 1854 |
| 160 | Inherit the Wind | 1960 | Stanley Kramer | 1859 | |
| 161 | Sid and Nancy | 1986 | Alex Cox | Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen | 1889 |
| 162 | Awakenings | 1990 | Penny Marshall | Oliver Sacks | 1902 |
| 163 | Searching for Sugar Man | 2012 | Malik Mendjelloul | Sixto Rodriguez | 1905 |
| 164 | Witchfinder General | 1968 | Michael Reeves | Matthew Hopkins | 1910 |
| 165 | Anvil! The Story of Anvil | 2008 | Sacha Gervasi | Anvil | 1912 |
| 166 | Silkwood | 1983 | Mike Nichols | Karen Silkwood | 1924 |
| 167 | The Life of Emile Zola | 1937 | William Dieterle | Emile Zola | 1936 |
| 168 | The Long Riders | 1980 | Walter Hill | 1944 | |
| 169 | Nixon | 1995 | Oliver Stone | Richard M. Nixon | 1946 |
| 170 | The World's Fastest Indian | 2005 | Roger Donaldson | Burt Munro | 1957 |
| 171 | My Dinner with Andre | 1981 | Louis Malle | 1996 | |
| 172 | I'm Not There. | 2007 | Todd Haynes | Bob Dylan | 2008 |
| 173 | Gunfight at the O.K. Corral | 1957 | John Sturges | Wyatt Earp | 2026 |
| 174 | Frida | 2002 | Julie Taymor | Frida Kahlo | 2031 |
| 175 | The Look of Silence | 2014 | Joshua Oppenheimer | Anonymous | 2057 |
| 176 | Evita | 1996 | Alan Parker | Eva Perón | 2058 |
| 177 | Escape from Alcatraz | 1979 | Don Siegel | Frank Morris | 2107 |
| 178 | Lenny | 1974 | Bob Fosse | Lenny Bruce | 2114 |
| 179 | The Last King of Scotland | 2006 | Kevin Macdonald | Idi Amin | 2128 |
| 180 | Captain Phillips | 2013 | Paul Greengrass | Richard Phillips | 2181 |
| 181 | Lust for Life | 1956 | Vincente Minnelli | Vincent Van Gogh | 2182 |
| 182 | Invictus | 2009 | Clint Eastwood | Nelson Mandela and François Pienaar | 2215 |
| 183 | Bloodsport | 1988 | Newt Arnold | Frank Dux | 2228 |
| 184 | The Damned United | 2009 | Tom Hooper | Brian Clough | 2245 |
| 185 | My Brilliant Career | 1979 | Gillian Armstrong | Sybylla Melvyn | 2251 |
| 186 | Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids | 2004 | Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman | 2255 | |
| 187 | Quiz Show | 1994 | Robert Redford | Herb Stempel and Charles Van Doren | 2265 |
| 188 | American Sniper | 2014 | Clint Eastwood | Chris Kyle | 2281 |
| 189 | Missing | 1982 | Costa-Gavras | Edmund and Beth Horman | 2295 |
| 190 | Blue | 1993 | Derek Jarman | Derek Jarman | 2296 |
| 191 | Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about His Father | 2008 | Kurt Kuenne | Andrew Bagby | 2310 |
| 192 | Little Dieter Needs to Fly | 1997 | Werner Herzog | Dieter Dengler | 2340 |
| 193 | Il Postino | 1994 | Michael Radford | Pablo Neruda | 2353 |
| 194 | Gods and Monsters | 1998 | Bill Condon | James Whale | 2365 |
| 195 | Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story | 1988 | Todd Haynes | Karen Carpenter | 2374 |
| 196 | Green Book | 2018 | Peter Farrelly | Tony Lip and Don Shirley | 2390 |
| 197 | Coach Carter | 2005 | Thomas Carter | Ken Carter | 2407 |
| 198 | Becket | 1964 | Peter Glenville | Thomas Becket | 2409 |
| 199 | The Wind Rises | 2013 | Hayao Miyazaki | Jiro Horikoshi | 2422 |
| 200 | The Private Life of Henry VIII | 1933 | Alexander Korda | Henry VIII | 2445 |
| 201 | Caro Diario | 1993 | Nanni Moretti | Nanni Moretti | 2446 |
| 202 | The People vs. Larry Flynt | 1996 | Milos Forman | Larry Flynt | 2459 |
| 203 | The Rise of Louis XIV | 1966 | Roberto Rossellini | Louis XIV | 2477 |
| 204 | Marie Antoinette | 2006 | Sofia Coppola | Marie Antoinette | 2479 |
| 205 | They Died with Their Boots on | 1941 | Raoul Walsh | George Armstrong Custer | 2487 |
| 206 | Portrait of Jason | 1967 | Shirley Clarke | Jason Holliday | 2496 |
| 207 | Rabbit-Proof Fence | 2002 | Phillip Noyce | Molly and Daisy Craig | 2510 |
| 208 | Before Night Falls | 2000 | Julian Schnabel | Reinaldo Arenas | 2519 |
| 209 | Reversal of Fortune | 1990 | Barbet Schroeder | Claus von Bülow | 2538 |
| 210 | El Cid | 1961 | Anthony Mann | Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar | 2544 |
| 211 | Blow | 2001 | Ted Demme | George Jung | 2553 |
| 212 | Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie | 1988 | Marcel Ophüls | Klaus Barbie | 2610 |
| 213 | Van Gogh | 1991 | Maurice Pialat | Vincent Van Gogh | 2619 |
| 214 | Knute Rockne, All American | 1940 | Lloyd Bacon | Knute Rockne | 2630 |
| 215 | 61* | 2001 | Billy Crystal | Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle | 2638 |
| 216 | Caravaggio | 1986 | Derek Jarman | Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio | 2663 |
| 217 | Carlos | 2010 | Olivier Assayas | Carlos the Jackal | 2666 |
| 218 | Frost/Nixon | 2008 | Ron Howard | David Frost and Richard Nixon | 2692 |
| 219 | A Night to Remember | 1958 | Roy Ward Baker | 2697 | |
| 220 | Mommie Dearest | 1981 | Frank Perry | Joan and Christina Crawford | 2702 |
| 221 | Bright Star | 2009 | Jane Campion | Fanny Brawne | 2710 |
| 222 | Glory Road | 2006 | James Gartner | Don Haskins | 2727 |
| 223 | The Beaches of Agnès | 2008 | Agnès Varda | Agnès Varda | 2735 |
| 224 | Man on the Moon | 1999 | Milos Forman | Andy Kaufman | 2742 |
| 225 | The Imposter | 2012 | Bart Layton | Frédéric Bourdin | 2747 |
| 226 | Shut Up & Sing | 2006 | Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck | Dixie Chicks | 2751 |
| 227 | Citizenfour | 2014 | Laura Poitras | Edward Snowden | 2764 |
| 228 | Chaplin | 1992 | Richard Attenborough | Charles Chaplin | 2770 |
| 229 | O.J.: Made in America | 2016 | Ezra Edelman | O.J. Simpson | 2780 |
| 230 | The Ten Commandments | 1923 | Cecil B. DeMille | Moses | 2796 |
| 231 | The Doors | 1991 | Oliver Stone | Jim Morrison | 2805 |