Film

Film studies is a discipline that takes cinema seriously as both an art form and a cultural institution, examining how films are made, how they generate meaning, and what they reveal about the societies and moments that produced them. It draws on aesthetics, cultural theory, history, and psychoanalysis to develop a sophisticated vocabulary for talking about film, moving beyond the question of whether a film is enjoyable to ask how it works, whose perspectives it privileges, and what it means within its historical and cultural context. At the same time, a film programme rooted in practice gives you the technical understanding of how films are actually made.

At Northumbria University, this three-year full-time programme offers a particularly generous set of experiential features: it includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and work placement opportunities. This combination of academic depth and professional practice, alongside international study, means you graduate with a genuinely distinctive profile. You will develop skills in film analysis, film history, screenwriting, and production, alongside critical and theoretical frameworks that apply to both mainstream and art cinema.

The placement year and work opportunities connect you to the film and television industry, while the year abroad allows you to study cinema in another cultural context. A typical entry tariff of 104 points makes the programme broadly accessible.

Film graduates work in production, development, distribution, exhibition, broadcasting, film criticism and journalism, arts administration, and education. The creative and analytical skills the degree develops are also valued in advertising, marketing, communications, and the broader creative industries. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in film, media, or a production specialism, or pursue professional development through industry routes.

The combination of critical training and practical experience, reinforced by substantial placement exposure, gives Northumbria film graduates a strong start in a highly competitive field.