Film Studies

Entry requirements

We normally require an upper second class honours degree or equivalent in film or a relevant subject (such as English, history, media or modern languages).

IELTS 7.0 overall including 7.0 in Writing, and 5.5 in Reading, Listening and Speaking.

Months of entry

September

Course content

This MA offers you the opportunity to explore key aspects of film analysis, theory, history and practice. Through a range of different approaches to the study of film, including genre and textual analysis, audience studies, and media archaeology, you will be exposed to some of the most pressing debates about film in the current moment. Questions of ethics and whether we can consider film as a document, of how film works on our bodies as an affective medium, the reasons for film's close affinity to urban, cosmopolitan and diasporic cultures, and the historical legacy of film as an international, and now transnational medium, are all central to the course. In exploring these questions, you will be introduced to some of the liveliest and most important chapters in the history of cinema.

The MA is both a valuable qualification in its own right and a pathway if you wish to study subsequently for a PhD in Film Studies.

This programme will:

• Allow you to explore key aspects of film analysis, theory, history and practice.
• Give you the opportunity to develop practical film making, scriptwriting, and directing skills, as well as study theoretical modules.
• Offer you the chance to debate cutting edge issues in Film Studies. Compared to other Film Studies departments, Queen Mary has particular strengths in new areas of research in Film Philosophy, in Ecocinema and Screening Nature, and in film outside the cinema – in art galleries, on public screens, across social media.

This MA places you at the cutting-edge of film studies. You'll explore a range of different approaches to the study of film, including genre and textual analysis, audience studies, and media archaeology. You'll consider some of the most significant issues in film today: how does film affect our bodies? Why is film so drawn to urban, cosmopolitan and diasporic cultures?

You'll also explore the international language of film, examining shot composition, editing and sound, as well as considering a range of film theorists and philosophers from Giorgio Agamben to Vivian Sobchack. You'll be taught by experienced filmmakers and by leading academics.

On our core course, you'll visit a museum or gallery* to look at film in institutional contexts beyond the cinema. Our workshops will help you develop your particular approach to researching and writing about film.

You’ll also be studying film in one of the great cinematic capitals of the world: London was the location of most British studios and it remains the centre of the UK film industry. We’re a short tube ride away from the British Film Institute (BFI), the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and the film archives at the Imperial War Museum.

Information for international students

Please see here for more information.

Fees and funding

Please see here for more information.