Film

Film as an academic subject takes seriously the medium that has shaped visual culture for over a century. To study film is to examine how moving images create meaning, how narrative and form work together, and how cinema reflects and reshapes the societies that produce it. From the earliest silent films to contemporary digital productions, from Hollywood mainstream cinema to avant-garde and experimental work, from European art cinema to the rich traditions of African, Asian and Latin American filmmaking, the discipline asks you to look carefully and to think precisely about what you see.

At Anglia Ruskin University, the three-year full-time degree develops your knowledge of global cinema history alongside the critical and analytical skills needed to engage with films across different genres, traditions and periods. You will study how cinema has functioned as an art form and as an industry, how it has been shaped by technology and transformed by digital production, and how it connects to politics, ideology and social change. You will learn to apply a range of theoretical frameworks to film texts and to write about them with clarity and precision.

The degree develops transferable skills in research, analysis and communication that are applicable well beyond the screen industries.

Film studies graduates move into careers across the creative industries, including development, distribution, film programming, exhibition, archiving and cultural journalism. Journalism, broadcasting, education, publishing and marketing are also common destinations for graduates whose skills in critical analysis and written communication are broadly valued. Many go on to postgraduate study in film studies, cultural studies, media or creative writing, and some move into practice-based programmes in filmmaking.