David France is an American investigative reporter, non-fiction author, and filmmaker. He is a contributing editor for New York magazine, a former Newsweek senior editor, and has published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, GQ, and others. France is best known for his investigative journalism on LGBT topics.
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Biography from TMDB.
- Director, producer and writer
- 9 on MovieCove · 12 credits in all
Known for
What are David France's films like?
Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Morality.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 8
Light 1 · Serious 1 · Dark 6
Grounded 7 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 1
Gentle 1 · Charged 1 · Intense 6
Steady 6 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 7 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 1
A split, not a type: Slow burn 5 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0
Casual 0 · Engaged 8 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 1 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 6
Resolved 5 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 2
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet7
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch David France's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 7 of their 9 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (3).
Subscription and free streaming for David France's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
12 credits, 9 with a MovieCove page.
Free Leonard Peltier(2025)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
It's Okay (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Queendom(2023)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
Welcome to Chechnya(2020)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Cubby(2019)
Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
AWOL (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
How to Survive a Plague(2012)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
Our Fathers(2005)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films
Storyville (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
Career shape
A full career of 12 titles from 1997 to 2025.
Biggest box office
How to Survive a Plague (2012)
Highest rated
Welcome to Chechnya (2020)
Most popular right now
Cubby (2019)
Film career
- 2000Screen debut· The Bumblebee Flies Anyway
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
a BAFTA Award and 2 other major awards from 11 major nominations, 2012–2021.
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking
- BAFTA Award, won · International
+1 other major body · 1 nomination
- Directors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
- Berlinale award, won · Documentary Film
- Berlinale award, won
- Berlinale award, nominated · Best Documentary Film
- Sundance award, nominated · Documentary
- Oscar, nominated · Best Documentary, Features
+2 other major bodies · 2 nominations
- Directors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Documentary
- Sundance award, nominated · Documentary
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do David France's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 76th percentile, the median of all 9; across their 8 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 81st percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up5
- 50th to 74th2
- Below 25th2
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 9 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved2
- Crowd Pleaser2
- Mixed5
Reviewers score the atmosphere 79/100 and the pacing 55/100 in their films, across 7 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does David France work with?
People who share at least 2 of David France's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Tyler H. Walk shares the most, 4.
Writers
- Tyler H. WalkShared titles: How to Survive a Pandemic (2022), Welcome to Chechnya (2020), The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017), How to Survive a Plague (2012)See all 4 shared titles with Tyler H. Walk
- Mark BlaneShared titles: Cubby (2019), The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Mark Blane
Cinematographers and editors
- Adam EvansShared titles: Free Leonard Peltier (2025), How to Survive a Pandemic (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Adam Evans
- Tom BergmannShared titles: How to Survive a Pandemic (2022), The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Tom Bergmann
- Derek WiesehahnShared titles: Welcome to Chechnya (2020), How to Survive a Plague (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Derek Wiesehahn
Producers
- Joy A. TomchinShared titles: How to Survive a Pandemic (2022), Welcome to Chechnya (2020), The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017), How to Survive a Plague (2012)See all 4 shared titles with Joy A. Tomchin
- James CostaShared titles: Free Leonard Peltier (2025), Queendom (2023), Welcome to Chechnya (2020)See all 3 shared titles with James Costa
- Alice HentyShared titles: Queendom (2023), How to Survive a Pandemic (2022), Welcome to Chechnya (2020)See all 3 shared titles with Alice Henty
- Alan GetzShared titles: Welcome to Chechnya (2020), The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017), How to Survive a Plague (2012)See all 3 shared titles with Alan Getz
Mixed roles
- Jenny RaskinShared titles: How to Survive a Pandemic (2022), How to Survive a Plague (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Jenny Raskin
