Faye Dunaway: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival

Recorded live at the Montalbán Theatre during the 2016 TCM Classic Film Festival, this documentary captures an extended conversation between Oscar winner Faye Dunaway and host Ben Mankiewicz. Rather than a conventional biopic, the program feels like an intimate evening, with Dunaway recounting career milestones, behind the scenes memories, and personal perspectives on acting and fame. She responds to host prompts and audience questions, offering anecdotal snapshots from a long career in film and television. The tone is conversational and reflective, focusing on recollection and context instead of revealing unseen dramatic surprises or reframing familiar stories.

Directed by Anne McGill Wilson and released in 2017, the film is a straight recording of the festival appearance, with no underlying book or dramatized source material. The cast is essentially Dunaway and Mankiewicz, and the production emphasizes the live Q and A setting.

This event-style film did not earn major industry awards or Academy recognition. It wasn't promoted as an awards contender, and its appeal has stayed mainly with viewers who follow festival programming, film historians, and fans of classic Hollywood rather than with mainstream awards bodies.

While it didn’t become a broad pop culture touchstone, the recording has importance as a primary source, preserving Dunaway’s first-person recollections. Film students, archivists, and classic cinema devotees have cited excerpts for research and retrospectives. For viewers interested in Hollywood history, it offers direct access to an influential actor’s memories and observations.

Critical response treated the piece as an archival conversation more than a standalone cinematic statement. Reviewers and attendees noted themes of memory, craft, aging, and the changing studio landscape, praising the candid tone even when the format stayed informal. Overall it’s valued for its testimony, insight into performance, and for documenting a celebrated actress reflecting on her life in front of a live audience.