Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various

theoretical A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

, and

critical Critical or Critically may refer to: *Critical, or critical but stable, medical states **Critical, or intensive care medicine * Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences. *Critical Software, a company specializing i ...

approaches to

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within

media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but it mos ...

and is often compared to

television studies Television studies is an academic discipline that deals with critical approaches to television. Usually, it is distinguished from mass communication research, which tends to approach the topic from a social sciences perspective. Defining the field ...

. Film studies is less concerned with advancing proficiency in

film production Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

than it is with exploring the

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...

, artistic, cultural, economic, and political implications of the cinema. In searching for these social-ideological values, film studies takes a series of critical approaches for the analysis of production, theoretical framework, context, and creation. Also, in studying film, possible careers include critic or production. Overall the study of film continues to grow, as does the

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

on which it focuses.

Academic journals An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the dissemination, scr ...

publishing film studies work include ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...

'', ''

Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film ...

'', ''

Film International ''Film International'' is a quarterly academic journal focused on filmmaking, with a companion website, FilmInt, which covers film studies. The journal includes critical, historical, and theoretical essays on film, television, and moving image st ...

'', ''

CineAction ''CineAction'' (formerly styled ''CineACTION!'') is a Canada-based film magazine, published three times a year, edited by an editorial collective that originally included critic Robin Wood. It was founded in 1985 by members of the film departmen ...

'', ''

Screen Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing or ''silkscreening'', a printing method * Big screen, a nickname for motion pictures * Split screen (filmmaking), showing two or more images side by side * Stochastic screening and Halftone ...

'', ''

Journal of Cinema and Media Studies The ''Journal of Cinema and Media Studies'' (formerly ''Cinema Journal'' and ''The Journal of the Society of Cinematologists'') is the official academic journal of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (formerly the Society for Cinema Studies) ...

'', ''

Film Quarterly ''Film Quarterly'' (FQ), published by University of California Press, is a journal devoted to the study of film, television, and visual media. When FQ was launched in 1945 (then called ''Hollywood Quarterly''), it was considered "the first serious ...

'', '' Projections: The Journal for Movies and Mind,'' and ''

Journal of Film and Video The ''Journal of Film and Video'' is the official academic journal of the University Film and Video Association. It features articles on film and video production, history, theory, criticism, and aesthetics. The journal is published by the Univers ...

''.

History

Film studies as an academic discipline emerged in the 20th century, decades after the invention of motion pictures. Rather than focusing on the technical aspects of film production, film studies are concentrated on

film theory Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for und ...

, which approaches film critically as an art, and the writing of

film historiography The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art, visual art form created using history of film technology, film technologies that began in the late 19th century. The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. Th ...

. Because film became an invention and industry only in the late 19th century, a generation of film producers and

directors Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

existed significantly before the academic analysis that followed in later generations. Early

film school A film school is an educational institution dedicated to teaching aspects of filmmaking, including such subjects as film production, film theory, digital media production, and screenwriting. Film history courses and hands-on technical training are ...

s focused on the production and subjective critique of film rather than on the critical approaches, history and theory used to study academically. The concept of film studies arose as a means of analyzing the formal aspects of film as the films were created. Established in 1919, the Moscow Film School was the first school in the world to focus on film. In the United States, the

USC School of Cinematic Arts The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of Sound film, talkies, the school descends from America's first ...

, established in 1929, was the first cinematic-based school, which was created in agreement with the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

. It was also the first to offer an

academic major An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''con ...

in film in 1932, but the program lacked many of the distinctions associated with contemporary film study. Universities began to implement cinema-related curricula without separation of the abstract and practical approaches. The German ''Deutsche Filmakademie Babelsberg'' was founded during the era of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

in 1938. Its lecturers included

Willi Forst Willi Forst, born Wilhelm Anton Frohs (7 April 1903 – 11 August 1980) was an Austrian actor, screenwriter, film director, film producer and singer. As a debonair actor he was a darling of the German language, German-speaking film audiences, as ...

and

Heinrich George Georg August Friedrich Hermann Schulz (9 October 1893 – 25 September 1946), better known as Heinrich George (), was a German stage and film actor. Early life George was born in Pomerania to August Friedrich Schulz, a former Deck Officer in t ...

. Students were required to create films in order to complete their studies at the academy. A movement away from

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

productions in the 1950s turned cinema into a more artistic

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

endeavor. It was the creation of the

auteur theory An (; , ) is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded and personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, thus manifesting the director's unique style or thematic ...

, which examines film as the director's vision and art, that broadened the scope of academic film studies to a worldwide presence in the 1960s. In 1965, film critic Robin Wood, in his writings on

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

, declared that Hitchcock's films contained the same complexities of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's plays. Similarly, French director

Jean Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as F ...

, a contributor to the influential magazine '' Cahiers du Cinéma'', wrote: "Jerry Lewis ..is the only one in Hollywood doing something different, the only one who isn't falling in with the established categories, the norms, the principles. ..Lewis is the only one today who's making courageous films." A catalyst in the success and stature of academic film studies has been large donations to universities by successful commercial filmmakers. For example, director

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

donated $175 million to the

in 2006.

Approaches to film studies

Analytic Analytic or analytical may refer to: Chemistry * Analytical chemistry, the analysis of material samples to learn their chemical composition and structure * Analytical technique, a method that is used to determine the concentration of a chemical ...

** Cognitive film theory **

Historical poetics In film studies, historical poetics is a scholarly approach to studying film, which David Bordwell outlined in his book ''Making Meaning'' (1989).Ira Stig Bhaskar (2004), "Historical Poetics, Narrative, and Interpretation" in ''A Companion to Film T ...

Linguistic film theory Linguistic film theory''The Dualist'Vols. 1–6 Department of Philosophy, Stanford University, 1994, p. 56. is a form of film theory that studies the aesthetics of films by investigating the concepts and practices that comprise the experience and ...

** Neoformalism * Classical **

Formalist film theory Formalist film theory is an approach to film theory that is focused on the formal or technical elements of a film: i.e., the lighting, scoring, sound and set design, use of color, shot composition, and editing. This approach was proposed by Hugo ...

Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...

Feminist film theory Feminist film theory is a theoretical film criticism derived from feminist politics and feminist theory influenced by second-wave feminism and brought about around the 1970s in the United States. With the advancements in film throughout the years ...

Film semiotics Film semiotics is the study of sign process (semiosis), or any form of activity, conduct, or any process that involves signs, including the production of meaning, as these signs pertain to moving pictures. Film semiotics is used for the interpre ...

Marxist film theory Marxist film theory is an approach to film theory centered on concepts that make a political understanding of the medium possible. An individual studying a Marxist representation in a film, might take special interest in its representations of ...

Psychoanalytic film theory Psychoanalytic film theory is a school of academic thought that evokes the concepts of psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. The theory is closely tied to Critical theory, Marxist film theory, and Apparatus theory. The theory is separate ...

Screen theory Screen theory is a Marxist film theory, Marxist–psychoanalytic film theory associated with the British journal Screen (journal), ''Screen'' in the early 1970s. It considers filmic images as signifiers that do not only encode meanings but also mi ...

Structuralist film theory Structuralist film theory is a branch of film theory that is rooted in structuralism, itself based on structural linguistics. Overview Structuralist film theory emphasizes how films convey meaning through the use of codes and conventions not d ...

Criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...

Auteur theory An (; , ) is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded and personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, thus manifesting the director's unique style or thematic ...

Schreiber theory The Schreiber theory is a writer-centered approach to film criticism and film theory which holds that the principal author of a film is generally the screenwriter rather than the director. The term was coined by David Morris Kipen, Director of Lit ...

Historiographical Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

Film history The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art form created using film technologies that began in the late 19th century. The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. There were earlier cinematographic scre ...

History of film technology The history of film technology traces the development of techniques for the recording, construction and presentation of motion pictures. When the film medium came about in the 19th century, there already was a centuries old tradition of screening ...

** New cinema history **

Media archaeology Media archaeology or media archeology is a field that attempts to understand new and emerging media through close examination of the past, and especially through critical scrutiny of dominant progressivist narratives of popular commercial media s ...

Modern film studies

Today, film studies are taught worldwide and has grown to encompass numerous methods for teaching history, culture and society. Many

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

colleges and universities, as well as American high schools, contain courses specifically focused on the analysis of film. Modern-day film studies increasingly reflect popular culture and art, and a wide variety of curricula have emerged for analysis of critical approaches used in film. Students are typically expected to form the ability to detect conceptual shifts in film, a vocabulary for the analysis of film form and style, a sense of ideological dimensions of film and an awareness of extra textual domains and possible direction of film in the future. Universities often allow students to participate in film research and attend seminars of specialized topics to enhance their critical abilities.

Common curriculum

The curriculum of tertiary-level film studies programs often include but are not limited to: * Introduction to film studies * Modes of film studies * Close analysis of film * History of film/media * Analysis with emphasis # Attention to time period # Attention to regional creation # Attention to genre # Attention to creators * Methods of film production

American film studies

A total of 144 tertiary institutions in the United States offer a major program in film studies. This number continues to grow each year with new interest in film studies. Institutions offering film degrees as part of their arts or communications curricula differ from institutions with dedicated film programs. The success of the American film industry has contributed to the popularity of academic film studies in the U.S., and film-related degrees often enable graduates to pursue careers in the production of film, especially directing and producing films. Courses often combine alternate media, such as television or new media, in combination with film studies.

Worldwide film studies

Film-studies programs at all levels are offered worldwide, primarily in the countries in the

Global North Global North and Global South are terms that denote a method of grouping countries based on their defining characteristics with regard to socioeconomics and Global politics, politics. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Global S ...

. In many cases, film studies can be found in departments of

communication studies Communication studies (or communication science) is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differ ...

Film archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organi ...

and museums such as the

Eye Filmmuseum Eye Filmmuseum is a film archive, museum, and cinema in Amsterdam that preserves and presents both Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands. Location and history Eye Filmmuseum is located in the Overhoeks neighborhood of Amsterdam in ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

also conduct scholarly projects alongside educational and outreach programs.

Film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

s play an important role in the study of film and may include discourses on topics such as film style, aesthetics, representation, production, distribution, social impact, history, archival and curation. Major festivals such as the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

offer extensive programs with talks and panel discussions. They also inform film historiography, most actively through retrospectives and historical sections such as Cannes Classics. Film festival

FESPACO The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (, or FESPACO) is a film festival in Burkina Faso, held biennially in Ouagadougou, where the organization is based. It accepts for competition only films by African filmmakers and chief ...

serves as a major hub for discourse on cinema on the African continent.

Prominent scholars

Hugo Münsterberg Hugo Münsterberg (; ; June 1, 1863 – December 16, 1916) was a German-American psychologist. He was one of the pioneers in applied psychology, extending his research and theories to Industrial organization, industrial/organizational (I/O), legal ...

Ricciotto Canudo Ricciotto Canudo (; 2 January 1877, Gioia del Colle – 10 November 1923, Paris) was an early Italian film theoretician who lived primarily in France. In 1913, he published a bimonthly avant-garde magazine entitled ''Montjoie!'', promoting Cubism ...

Germaine Dulac Germaine Dulac (; born Charlotte Elisabeth Germaine Saisset-Schneider; 17 November 1882 – 20 July 1942)Flitterman-Lewis 1996 was a French filmmaker, film theorist, journalist and critic. She was born in Amiens and moved to Paris in early chil ...

Béla Balázs Béla Balázs (; 4 August 1884 – 17 May 1949), born Herbert Béla Bauer, was a Hungarian film critic, aesthetician, writer and poet of Jewish heritage. He was a proponent of formalist film theory. Career Balázs was the son of Simon Bauer a ...

Siegfried Kracauer Siegfried Kracauer (; ; February 8, 1889 – November 26, 1966) was a German writer, journalist, sociologist, cultural critic, and film theorist. He has sometimes been associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. He is notable for ...

Vsevolod Pudovkin Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin ( rus, Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин, p=ˈfsʲevələt ɪl(ː)ərʲɪˈonəvʲɪtɕ pʊˈdofkʲɪn; 28 February 1893 – 30 June 1953) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter and acto ...

Jean Epstein Jean Epstein (; 25 March 1897 – 2 April 1953) was a French filmmaker, film theorist, literary critic, and novelist. Although he is remembered today primarily for his adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's '' The Fall of the House of Usher'', he direc ...

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein; (11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, film editor and film theorist. Considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, he was a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is no ...

Lev Kuleshov Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov (; – 29 March 1970) was a Russian and Soviet filmmaker and Film theory, film theorist, one of the founders of the world's first film school, the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, Moscow Film School. He was g ...

Jean Mitry Jean-René Pierre Goetgheluck Le Rouge Tillard des Acres de Presfontaines, whose pseudonym was Jean Mitry (; 7 November 1904 – 18 January 1988), was a French Film theory, film theorist, Film criticism, critic and Filmmaking, filmmaker, a co-fo ...

Rudolf Arnheim Rudolf Arnheim (; July 15, 1904 – June 9, 2007) was a German-born writer, art and film theorist, and perceptual psychologist. He learned Gestalt psychology from studying under Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Köhler at the University of Berlin and ...

Paul Rotha Paul Rotha (3 June 1907 – 7 March 1984) was an English documentary film-maker, film historian and critic. Early life and education He was born Paul Thompson in London, and educated at Highgate School and at the Slade School of Fine Art. Care ...

André Bazin André Bazin (; 18 April 1918 – 11 November 1958) was a renowned and influential French film critic and film theorist. He started to write about movies in 1943 and was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine '' Cahiers du cinéma'' in 1951 ...

Alexandre Astruc Alexandre Astruc (; 13July 192319May 2016) was a French film critic and film director. Biography Before becoming a film director, he was a journalist, novelist and film critic. His contribution to the auteur theory centers on his notion of th ...

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes o ...

Stanley Cavell Stanley Louis Cavell (; September 1, 1926 – June 19, 2018) was an American philosopher. He was the Walter M. Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value at Harvard University. He worked in the fields of ethics, aesthetics, ...

Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Kat ...

Jean-Louis Baudry Jean-Louis Baudry (March 2, 1930 – October 3, 2015) was a French novelist, '' Tel Quel'' literary editor, and psychoanalytic film theorist. He is best known for "Ideological Effects of the Basic Cinematographic Apparatus" (1970) and "The Appara ...

* Christian Metz *

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...

* Robin Wood *

Noël Burch Noël Burch (born 1932) is an American film theorist and movie maker who moved to France at a young age. Burch is known for his contribution to terms commonly used by film scholars (such as institutional mode of representation (IMR)) and for hi ...

Raymond Durgnat Raymond Durgnat (1 September 1932 – 19 May 2002) was a British film critic, who was born in London to Swiss parents. During his life he wrote for virtually every major English language film publication. In 1965 he published the first maj ...

* E. Ann Kaplan *

Jeanine Basinger Jeanine Basinger (born February 3, 1936, Ravenden, Arkansas) is an American film historian who was the Corwin-Fuller professor of film studies at Wesleyan University and the founder and curator of the university's cinematic archives. Early life ...

Teresa de Lauretis Teresa de Lauretis (; born 1938, Bologna) is an Italian author and Distinguished Professor Emerita of the History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her areas of interest include semiotics, psychoanalysis, film theory, ...

Peter Wollen Peter Wollen (29 June 1938 – 17 December 2019) was an English film theorist and filmmaker. He studied English at Christ Church, Oxford. Both a political journalist and film theorist, Wollen's ''Signs and Meaning in the Cinema'' (1969) helped ...

* Richard Barsam *

Teshome Gabriel Teshome H. Gabriel (September 24, 1939 – June 14, 2010) was an Ethiopian-born American cinema scholar and professor at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in Los Angeles. Gabriel was considered an expert on cinema and film of Africa a ...

Raymond Bellour Raymond Bellour (born 1939 in Lyon) is a French scholar, and writer. Best known to Anglophone readers for his publications on film analysis, his work is dispersed across a wide range of articles and books, few of which are available in English, i ...

Molly Haskell Molly Clark Haskell (born September 29, 1939)Aitken, Ian, ed. (2006)''Encyclopedia of Documentary Film, Volume 2'' New York: Routledge. p. 541. . is an American film critic and author. She contributed to '' The Village Voice''—first as a ...

Marsha Kinder Marsha Kinder (born 1940) is an American film scholar and Professor of Critical Studies at the University of Southern California. Background Kinder began her career as a scholar of eighteenth-century English Literature before moving to the study ...

Vivian Sobchack Vivian Carol Sobchack is an American cinema and media theorist and cultural critic. Sobchack's work on science fiction films and phenomenology of film is perhaps her most recognized. She is a prolific writer and has authored numerous books and ...

* Claire Johnston *

Laura Mulvey Laura Mulvey (born 15 August 1941) is a British feminist film theorist and filmmaker. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. She previously taught ...

Robert Stam Robert Stam (born October 29, 1941) is an American film theorist working on film semiotics. He is a professor at New York University, where he teaches about French New Wave filmmakers. Stam has published widely on French literature, comparative lite ...

James Naremore James Naremore, born James Otis Naremore, is a film, English and Comparative Literature scholar based at Indiana University. Now retired, he retains the titles of Chancellors' Professor of Communication and Culture, English, and Comparative Literat ...

Bill Nichols William or Bill Nichols may refer to: * William Nichols (English priest), Dean of Chester, 1644–1657 *William Nichols, secretary of John Fell, 17th century clergyman * William Nichols (mariner) (fl. 1758–1780), English sea captain * William Nic ...

James Monaco James F. Monaco (November 15, 1942 – November 25, 2019) was an American film critic, author, publisher, and educator. Life and work Monaco founded Baseline in 1982, an early online database about the entertainment industry, and a forerunner ...

Jacques Aumont Jacques Aumont (born 25 February 1942) is a French academic and writer on film theory. Born in Avignon he initially trained as an engineer but started contributing film criticism to '' Cahiers du cinéma'' in the late 1960s.Daniel DottoriniAumon ...

Pam Cook Pam Cook (born 6 January 1943) is Professor Emerita in Film at the University of Southampton. She was educated at Sir William Perkins's School, Chertsey, Surrey and Birmingham University, where she was taught by Stuart Hall, Richard Hoggart, ...

Peter Bondanella __NOTOC__ Peter Bondanella (1943–2017) was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Italian, Comparative Literature, and Film Studies at Indiana University, United States. Selected publications *''Federico Fellini: Essays in Criticism''. Ed. by P. Bon ...

Barbara Creed Barbara Creed (born 30 September 1943) is a professor of Film theory, cinema studies in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of six books on gender, feminist film theory, and the Horror film ...

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for '' The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has contributed to ...

* Thomas Elsaesser *

Serge Daney Serge Daney (; June 4, 1944, Paris – June 12, 1992) was a French movie critic. He was a major figure of '' Cahiers du cinéma'' which he co-edited in the late 1970s. He also wrote extensively about films, television, and society in the newspaper ...

Hamid Naficy Hamid Naficy (; born 1944) is an Iranian-born American filmmaker, writer, scholar, and educator. He is the Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor in Communication at Northwestern University in the department of Radio/Film/Television, an affiliate ...

Richard Dyer Richard Dyer (born 1945) is an English academic who held a professorship in the Department of Film Studies at King's College London. Specialising in cinema (particularly Italian cinema), queer theory, and the relationship between entertainment ...

* Ian Christie * Dudley Andrew *

Annette Kuhn Annette Frieda Kuhn, FBA is a British author, cultural historian, educator, researcher, editor and feminist. She is known for her work in screen studies, visual culture, film history and cultural memory. She is Professor and Research Fellow in ...

* Janet Staiger * Linda Williams *

Noël Carroll Noel Carroll (born December 25, 1947, in Far Rockaway, New York City) is an American philosopher and a leading figure in the contemporary philosophy of art. In 2016 in ''Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog'', Carroll was ranked sixth in a list of ...

* Francesco Casetti *

David Bordwell David Jay Bordwell (; July 23, 1947 – February 29, 2024) was an American film theorist and film historian. After receiving his PhD from the University of Iowa in 1973, he wrote more than fifteen volumes on the subject of cinema including ''Na ...

Michel Chion Michel Chion (born 1947) is a French film theorist and composer of experimental music. Life Born in Creil, France, Chion teaches at several institutions in France and currently holds the post of Associate Professor at the University of Paris III ...

* B. Ruby Rich *

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...

Colin MacCabe Colin Myles Joseph MacCabe (born 9 February 1949) is an English academic, writer and film producer. He is currently a distinguished professor of English and film at the University of Pittsburgh.

Kristin Thompson Kristin Thompson (born 1950) is an American film theorist and author whose research interests include the close formal analysis of films, the history of film styles, and " quality television," a genre akin to art film. She wrote two scholarly bo ...

* Mary Ann Doane * Elizabeth Cowie * Jonathan Beller *

Geoff Andrew Geoff Andrew (born 1954) is a British writer, lecturer, teacher, film programmer and occasional broadcaster. Born in Northampton, he studied at Northampton Grammar School and went on to gain a First in Classics at King's College, Cambridge. And ...

Adrian Martin Adrian Martin (born 1959) is an Australian film and arts critic. He now lives in Malgrat de Mar in Spain. He is Adjunct Associate Professor in Film Culture and Theory at Monash University. His work has appeared in many magazines, journals and ...

David Kipen David Kipen (born August 14, 1963) is an author, critic, broadcaster, arts administrator, full-time UCLA writing faculty member and nonprofit bilingual lending librarian. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', ...

* Mark Cousins

Academic journals

* ''

Cinema Journal The ''Journal of Cinema and Media Studies'' (formerly ''Cinema Journal'' and ''The Journal of the Society of Cinematologists'') is the official academic journal of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (formerly the Society for Cinema Studies ...

'' * ''

Film & History ''Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal founded in 1970 and dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of film, television, and other moving-image arts. It is currently hosted by Lawrence University (Appl ...

'' * ''

Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television The ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television'' is an academic journal dedicated to the study of media history. It is published quarterly by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the International Association for Media and History. The current ...

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'' * '' Journal of Popular Film & Television'' * '' New Review of Film and Television Studies'' * ''

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The Velvet Light Trap ''The Velvet Light Trap'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering film and media studies. It is edited by graduate students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Texas at Austin. Each issue covers critical, theoret ...

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Television & New Media ''Television & New Media'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the field of communication. The journal's editors are Diane Negra (University College Dublin) and Jonathan Corpus Ong (University of Massachusetts at Amherst). ...

References

External links

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Main website for the Berkeley film studies

Main website for USC School of Cinematic ArtsMain website for the Los Angeles Film SchoolMain website for the NYFA Film SchoolFilm Studies in New Delhi, IndiaScreensite listing of college film programs
{{Authority control Film Media studies

History

Approaches to film studies

Modern film studies

Common curriculum

American film studies

Worldwide film studies

Prominent scholars

Academic journals

See also

References

Further reading

External links