Film Studies
Top 10 for Film in the Russell Group for student satisfaction*
*in all seven themes (National Student Survey 2024)
2nd for Drama, Dance and Cinematics in the Complete University Guide 2025
World-class film research resources, including The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum – the largest university library collection in the UK
Access to internationally acclaimed actors, directors and film critics via events such as our ‘Creative Dialogues’ lecture series
Degrees at Streatham Campus, Exeter
Film Studies at Exeter
Based in one of the leading English departments in the UK, with major strengths in both teaching and research, the dedicated and supportive Film Studies team have a wide range of expertise across American, Asian, European and African cinemas from the 19th century to the present day.
As a student of Film Studies you will gain a rich and comprehensive knowledge of film as a cultural, social, industrial and global phenomenon. You will be equipped with the skills and concepts to enable you to understand how and why cinema developed as it did and how new moving image forms are shaping and defining film in the 21st century.
You will be taught by highly qualified and experienced staff with a commitment to research-inspired teaching. Your studies will encompass the distinctive features and contexts of national and transnational film genres, movements and styles, from German expressionism to contemporary American independent cinema. You will explore the aesthetics and technologies of the moving image, from pre and silent cinema, through Hollywood classics, the special effects of blockbusters and the forms of avant-garde film, as well as the features of cross-cultural cinema and contemporary digital screen media. Concepts such as cinematic space, place and time and questions of gender, sexuality and identity will be covered and you will gain an understanding of the interaction between different film making contexts and industries and the directors, filmmakers and stars that worked in them.
Throughout your studies, you will also have access to outstanding resources, including the extensive holdings of the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, the largest library on the moving image in any British university.
The lecturers have been amazing. They’re all very approachable and willing to discuss readings and go through work in office hours.
The course has been fantastic. It has introduced me to a lot of critical theory. The film modules also rely on the materials of The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, so you get a chance to interact with ephemera and touch some valuable film memorabilia! My essay writing skills have improved greatly (and hopefully continue to improve!).
Richard
BA Film & Television Studies
