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Film Studies

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Master of Arts

A Master of Arts (MA) is a master’s degree awarded for a postgraduate programme in the arts.

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Course overview

The Film Studies MA will provide you with an exciting global approach to the study of film spanning a broad geographical area and to examine the historical development of film and related media. Focussing on cultural theory, through a wide variety of films, you will develop sophisticated approaches to current developments in the study of films and media around the world.

Introduction

The MA in Film Studies covers significant theoretical elements concerning the major trends, themes and methodological approaches in Film Studies. The modules on offer are diverse, dynamic and progressive in nature across both semesters. You will develop key transferrable skills in intercultural communication, academic writing, critical thinking and analytical skills.

Who is this course for?

This MA is designed for graduates and professionals from a variety of humanities and social science . Alternative qualifications may be considered, therefore if you are interested in this MA please get in contact with the MA programme lead who will be happy to discuss the course with you.

What you'll learn

  • Historical and cultural theories and approaches to global cinema
  • Up-to-date theoretical approaches, core methodologies and major research techniques in world cinema
  • Advanced interpretative skills in the study of film and other forms of screen media
  • The ability to critically analyse current problems and understand new insights at the forefront of global film studies
  • Knowledge of film movements historically and geographically understood.

Course content

Discover what you'll learn, what you'll study, and how you'll be taught and assessed.

Semester one

*Please note that due to this being a new MA, modules and module structure are subject to final approval:

Students take 30 credits of required modules and 30 credits of optional modules in semester one.

Compulsory modules

WORLD CINEMAS (FILM501)

Credits: 30 / Semester: semester 1

This module sees cinema as an inherently interconnected and global art form, and charts its development between diverse cultures from the early years of silent cinema to the present. It traces influences between film movements from different cultural contexts and across space and time to show that cinema is, and in a sense always was, a transnational, intercultural phenomenon.
The module will proceed chronologically, beginning with silent cinema, before charting a course through national cinema, commercial and arthouse movements, as well as lesser known cinematic revolutions of the twentieth century. We will conclude with a consideration of how the globalization and digitization of film and media industries are challenging traditional production, distribution and reception patterns in the present day.
As well as covering a number of key film movements and moments from around the world the module invites students to explore innovative forms of filmmaking. Film viewing and discussion will be supplemented by analysis of carefully selected film theory and criticism that is relevant to the topic under discussion.
These topics may vary depending on developments in academic research or the interests of the class, but throughout, the focus remains on drawing connections between mainstream film trends and their more radical counterparts throughout the world.
In each session, students will pay attention to three interconnected elements in their study of an assigned film or films for that week:

1. The movement, genre, style, theory or technology associated with the film;

2. Interdisciplinary context: the social and political framework in which it emerged, including how various audiences received the film;

3. Close reading techniques: understanding the conjunction of aesthetics and film form with the meaning and interpretation of the film.

Optional modules

CINEMA AND NARRATIVES OF FRENCH SOCIETY (FREN337)

Credits: 15 / Semester: semester 1

In this module we will look at the ways in which the French narrative cinema has portrayed its own society, and the extent to which it has contributed to the general cultural understanding of that society’s history, aspirations and problems.

FILM STUDIES WORK PLACEMENT (FILM509)

Credits: 15 / Semester: semester 1

This module offers a great opportunity to enhance your personal and professional development through work based learning . You will gain hands-on knowledge of the film, or related, industry. Please note, this module is dependent on the availability of work placements.

IDENTITY, POWER AND SOCIETY: CONTEMPORARY CRITICAL THEORY AND DISCOURSE (HLAC505)

Credits: 15 / Semester: semester 1

This module is designed to introduce students to the range and diversity of current research in languages and cultures. In individual sessions, students will be encouraged to consider the range of theoretical and methodological approaches which they could adopt in approaching their individual research projects. This module aims to provide students with an awareness of the key theoretical issues central to cultural studies, and to develop in them an understanding of current methodologies.

NEW TRENDS IN ITALIAN CINEMA (ITAL321)

Credits: 15 / Semester: semester 1

This module aims to introduce students to the new trends in contemporary Italian cinema and to the main relevant theoretical and critical approaches in the field.

RESEARCHING DIGITAL CULTURES IN THE AMERICAS (HISP348)

Credits: 15 / Semester: semester 1

This module develops research and critical skills when examining digital cultures with a particular focus on the Americas. It takes examples that encompass North, Central, and South America as well as the Caribbean. Building confidence in handling theoretical tools in the analysis of digital cultures it examines a range of professional and amateur content creators from social, institutional and personal perspectives and considers issues of curatorship, archival approaches, the ethics of (re)appropriation and remediation, and the relationship between the self and the public and private spheres.

Screen Cultures B (COMM744)

Credits: 15 / Semester: semester 1

Screen Cultures B introduces students to the diversity of cultural contexts and histories that have shaped the formal, industrial, institutional, and political meanings of cinema. The module examines both dominant/institutional and marginal/alternative screen cultures in relation to the formation of screen industries, histories, movements, and cultural identities.
Screen cultures are both an effect of production and reception. The module explores how screen cultures emerge and function, the formal and stylistic aspects that shape screen cultures, and the overlap between industries and audiences in the production of specific institutional, historical, critical, and audience-defined screen cultures. Screen Cultures A will introduce students to advanced film theory, industry and production studies, and film history alongside advanced formal analysis.

The Screen Cultures B syllabus is organized in two distinct blocks.

Block one: dominant and institutional screen cultures

The first block reflects the institutional or dominant screen cultures that are likely familiar to most audiences. These cultures are often understood through lay terms such as mainstream, popular, Hollywood, or art cinema. Their production and reception are defined by an understanding of screen cultures as an effect of industrial organizations and institutional practices.

Block two: marginal and alternative screen cultures

The second block of Screen Cultures A attends to the alternative and marginal screen cultures that have emerged beyond and outside of those dominant cinemas explored in block one. These screen cultures may be less familiar but have been central to particular audiences, political contexts, and sites of exhibition. Many of the screen cultures in this block seek to challenge the hegemony of those case studies from the first block.

In structuring the module in such a way, Screen Cultures B delivers a comprehensive overview of key debates surrounding screen cultures, especially cinema cultures, while also ensuring that it is inclusive given also its strong focus on diversity and alternative and marginal cultures.

THE GERMAN CINEMA SINCE 1990 (GRMN330)

Credits: 15 / Semester: semester 1

With films such as Nigendwo in Afrika (Nowhere in Africa, 2001), Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) and Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others, 2005), German film has once more been greeted with international acclaim. However, in contrast to the ‘art house’ film-making of the New German Cinema of the 1960s and 1970s, today’s ‘post-Wall’ German cinema is resolutely commercial, employing genres and forms familiar to international audiences. This module offers an examination of key developments in German film since the 1990s. It traces the rise and international success of a German variant of the ‘heritage’ film in which the trauma of German history in the twentieth century – through the Third Reich, German division and the urban terrorism of the 1970s – is reimagined and mined as the source cinematic narratives. The module also explores a return to an ‘art-house’ film-making preoccupied with questions of realism and representation in the work of Andreas Dresen and the so-called Berlin School of film makers. All films are available with subtitles and the module is suitable both for students of German and students without German who are interested in film and its relation to society.

Programme details and modules listed are illustrative only and subject to change.

Our curriculum

The Liverpool Curriculum framework sets out our distinctive approach to education. Our teaching staff support our students to develop academic knowledge, skills, and understanding alongside our graduate attributes:

  • Digital fluency
  • Confidence
  • Global citizenship

Our curriculum is characterised by the three Liverpool Hallmarks:

  • Research-connected teaching
  • Active learning
  • Authentic assessment

All this is underpinned by our core value of inclusivity and commitment to providing a curriculum that is accessible to all students.

Course options

Studying with us means you can tailor your degree to suit you. Here's what is available on this course.

Placement opportunity

This course offers a placement opportunity so you can combine your studies with practical experience with industry professionals. It is a great way to develop key employability skills and get a head start in your career with key industry partners. View more information on the course page.

Explore more about Careers and Employability at Liverpool.

Your experience

The Department of Languages, Cultures and Film is part of the School of Histories, Languages and Cultures, with departments steeped in history and disciplines which have been taught for over a century. You will join a lively community with colleagues from all disciplines collaborating through institutional research groups and forums.