Program Overview

Film Studies

Overview

Join a vibrant, rich and varied Film and Television Studies research culture at Exeter

Our main areas of research specialism are:

• History and theory of American cinema
• War and visual media
• Film and television archives
• Queer film and television
• British and European cinemas
• Transnational and world cinemas (African, East Asian, Latin American and diasporic cinemas and filmmakers)
• Early and silent cinema
• British and American TV
• Film technologies and special effects
• Gender and sexuality
• Cinema audiences
• Film and literature
• Stars, acting and performance
• Adaptation studies
• Genre studies
• Sound

Research Overview

Research Centres and Groups

• Interdisciplinary Film Research
  • The Centre for Interdisciplinary Film Research (CIFR) provides a lively interdisciplinary research forum for research staff, academics, postgraduates and film practitioners.
  • It encourages intellectual exchange between film theory, history and practice and regularly hosts external speakers from academia and the creative industries.

Recent Theses

• The wide range of expertise in film studies is reflected in the diverse range research projects that our current PhD students are working on.
• These projects include:
  • Fairytale films and ageing female characters
  • Orphans in Spanish cinema
  • Girlhood in contemporary French cinema
  • American independent cinema
  • Cinema and the city
  • "Chineseness" in Spanish cinema
  • Muslim representation in post 9/11 cinema
  • The historical epic on film
  • Digital cinematography
  • Video games and literature
  • Gender and screenplays
  • South African documentary cinema
  • Post-1987 South Korean cinema

Research Culture

• Film Studies’ postgraduates are part of a vibrant research culture at Exeter.
• Staff and research students regularly present their research in the Centre for Research into Film Studies forum, which also hosts visiting speakers.
• Film studies staff and students also regularly organise conferences which attract a range of international speakers.

How to Apply

Entry Requirements

• Students applying to enter directly into the MPhil/PhD programme would normally be expected to have a Masters degree with Merit or equivalent in Film Studies, or other relevant qualifications such as a doctorate in another subject.

Requirements for International Students

• If you are an international student, please visit our international equivalency pages to enable you to see if your existing academic qualifications meet our entry requirements.

English Language Requirements

• International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course.
• The required test scores for this course fall under Profile E: view the required test scores and equivalencies from your country.

Fees and Funding

Fees 2025/26

• Home: £5,006 full-time; £pro-rata part-time
• International: £23,500 full-time

Fees 2024/25

• Home: £4,786 full-time; £pro-rata part-time
• International: £22,600 full-time

Current Funding Opportunities

• Our Postgraduate Funding webpage provides links to further information.
• If you are considering a PhD in the future, in addition to University of Exeter funding, we have been successful at securing postgraduate funding for PhD research through our Funded centres.

Supervision

• You can expect:
  • High-quality research supervision to develop and nurture your potential
  • A tailored supervision approach to help best suit your requirements
  • Accessible supervisors who are enthusiastic about working directly with postgraduate research students
  • Regular timetabled meetings with your supervisor
  • 'Open door' policy to all postgraduate students - instant access to world-leading researchers who will share their expertise and ideas with you
  • Regular meetings with your supervisory team, other members of your research group, and mentors

Facilities

• Exeter has unique resources which make it ideally positioned to support the advanced study of film.
• The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture holds a wide-ranging collection of more than 70,000 film related artefacts.
• The collection is accessible for all postgraduates to use as a research and study resource.
• Housed in the University’s state-of-the-art study facility, the Research Commons, the diverse collection includes objects relating to the history of the moving image.

Careers

• We are committed to ensuring you receive high quality research supervision to maximise your potential and prepare you for a rewarding career.
• Postgraduates also have access to the wide range of support offered by our Career Zone.
• In addition, postgraduate research students can access our Postgraduate Researchers' Programme, which covers a range of topics to help you to succeed during your research degree and to act as a springboard for your research career.

Graduate Destinations

• Below are some examples of initial jobs undertaken by English postgraduates who studied with us in recent years.
• Job title
  • Vice President of creative content
  • Screenwriter
  • Lecturer Creative Media
  • Information Systems Analyst IV