Modern Languages and Film Studies

Modern languages and film studies is a combination that brings together the study of global cinema and the linguistic and cultural competence to engage with it on its own terms. Film studies examines how moving images make meaning, how they are produced and distributed, and what their relationship is to the cultures that create and consume them. Modern languages opens direct access to film traditions in languages other than English, and to the cultural, historical, and social contexts that give those films their specific character and significance.

At Leeds, this four-year programme gives you a unique insight into global film culture alongside the study of a language and its cultural context. You will develop your language skills to an advanced level, engaging with cinema from the countries and cultures where that language is spoken and building the ability to read films in their original linguistic and cultural frame. Film studies teaches you to analyse screen texts closely, to situate them within industrial, historical, and theoretical contexts, and to write with analytical precision about moving images.

A sandwich year in industry and a work placement are built in, providing professional experience in relevant media, cultural, or language-related environments.

Graduates from this combination work in film distribution, exhibition, and programming, in cultural journalism, in international co-production, in subtitling and translation, in arts organisations, in education, and in broadcasting. The combination of language fluency and screen literacy is particularly valuable in international film contexts, including film festivals, international distribution, and cross-cultural media production. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in film, media, or language studies, and some move into academic research in film history or translation studies.