Barack Obama shares his list of his favourite films of 2023

Barack Obama has published his annual list of his favourite films of 2023 – check out the full list below.

• READ MORE: The 20 best films of 2023

The former president has long been publishing his personal lists of favourite music, films and books at the end of every year.

In a post on X, Obama introduced his list by writing: “Earlier this year, writers and actors went on strike to advocate for better working conditions and protections. It led to important changes that will transform the industry for the better.”

Earlier this year, writers and actors went on strike to advocate for better working conditions and protections. It led to important changes that will transform the industry for the better.

Here are some films that reflect their hard work over the last year — including some like… pic.twitter.com/TMH9LeQgsT

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 27, 2023

Obama included a list of 13 films in total, starting with the three produced by Higher Ground, the production company that he founded alongside his wife Michelle. Those three are apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind, the biopic Rustin and the Jon Batiste documentary American Symphony.

The remainder of the list includes Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, BlackBerry – the film that charts the rise of the mobile phone brand – and the Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall.

Also included are a number of films that are still waiting for their official UK cinema releases: Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster and Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction.

Obama also lists Past Lives, which claimed the top spot on NME’s list of the 20 best films of the year.

Barack Obama’s full list of favourite 2023 films is as follows: 

Rustin
Leave the World Behind
American Symphony
The Holdovers
BlackBerry
Oppenheimer
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Monster
Past Lives
Air
Polite Society
A Thousand and One 

Earlier in 2023, he refuted any suggestion that he does not compile these lists himself. When asked, he said: “I do! Listen, I am so glad that I have this opportunity. People, they believe the books and the movies, but the playlists, they somehow think — and this is mostly coming from young people like you — somehow, y’all think you invented rock ‘n’ roll. You invented hip-hop.”

“And so the fact that my lists are, you know, pretty incredible — people seem to think, well, he must’ve had some 20-year-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut. No, man! It’s on my iPad right now.”

In July, Obama shared his annual summer playlist, which included tracks from Boygenius, Janelle Monaé, Ice Spice, Bob Dylan, SZA and more.

The post Barack Obama shares his list of his favourite films of 2023 appeared first on NME.