Film genres

Films are often divided into genres, which describe the typical subject matter -- what the film is about. This is distinct from film styles, which describes filmic conventions which can be applied to any genre. Of course, the more that genres are defined, the more likely that a filmmaker will try to combine, transcend and evade categories, so not every film can be neatly labeled.

Some of the most common film genres are:

3-D film

Action film

Adventure film[?]

Animation

Art film[?]

Blaxploitation

Comedy film

Disaster film

Documentary film

Dogme 95

Drama film

Ephemeral film

Family film

Fantasy film

Film noir

Historical drama film

Horror film

Martial arts film

Musical film

Newsreel

Pornographic film

Propaganda film

Romantic comedy film

Science fiction film

Short film[?] (duration approximately in the range 1-30 minutes)

Silent film

Spy film

Surrealist film[?]

Sword and sandal

Thriller film

War film

Western film

Wu Xia film

Post-hoc descriptions

Cult film

Other related terms

genre film theory