Film Studies and Politics

Film studies and politics is a pairing that foregrounds the relationship between cinema and power. Films are never politically neutral: they encode assumptions about race, gender, class, national identity, and political authority; they can sustain dominant ideologies or subvert them; they shape how audiences understand history, war, governance, and social conflict. Film studies approaches cinema as a significant intellectual and cultural form, examining how films are made, how they create meaning, and how different cinematic traditions have developed across the globe.

Politics examines the structures of power, the making of policy, and the organisation of collective life in societies.

At the School of Oriental and African Studies, this three-year full-time programme approaches both disciplines with a distinctive emphasis on traditions beyond the Western mainstream, examining cinema from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East alongside political systems and movements in these regions and globally. A foundation year is available for students who want additional preparation before entering the main degree. You will study film history, theory, and analysis alongside political theory, international relations, comparative politics, and the politics of specific regions, developing both close analytical attention to individual films and an understanding of the broader political contexts in which cinema is produced and consumed.

With a typical entry tariff of 136 UCAS points, this degree suits students who combine an interest in cinema with a commitment to understanding politics in its global dimensions. Graduates move into careers in journalism, broadcasting, cultural policy, NGOs, the civil service, arts programming, documentary production, film curation, international organisations, and education. The ability to analyse visual culture through a political lens is increasingly valued across the creative industries and the third sector.

Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in film studies, politics, international relations, or media and communication.