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Film and Screen Media

Application options include:

Course Overview

Our MPhil/PhD programme in Film and Screen Media invites you to submit a proposal for research on the history, development and interaction of film, television and other screen media. 

An MPhil/PhD is an advanced postgraduate research degree that requires original research and the submission of a substantial dissertation. The MPhil thesis is not more than 60,000 words; the PhD thesis is not more than 100,000 words. This programme also welcomes practice-based PhD theses, the requirements for which vary according to the nature of the research and should be discussed with the admissions tutors. Both the MPhil and the PhD are assessed by a viva voce examination.

We  offer an exceptionally stimulating environment where your film and screen media research will flourish in a wider interdisciplinary context. We have critically engaged research clusters working on cultural policy, creative labour, curatorial practice, digital aesthetics, digital politics, essay film, film exhibition, journalism and democracy, media reform, mediated spaces, and television studies. 

Our aim is to offer a programme of seminars, lectures, conferences, workshops and reading groups that not only help you build your research skills, but generate a sense of intellectual community, based on dialogue and mutual support. You will also be offered training sessions at all levels of the College, including at the  Birkbeck Graduate Research School  (BGRS).

At Birkbeck, you are initially registered on an MPhil and you upgrade to a PhD after satisfactory progress in the first year or two. You need to find a suitable academic supervisor at Birkbeck, who can offer the requisite expertise to guide and support you through your research. Find out more about undertaking a research degree at Birkbeck . 

Key information

Film and screen media mphil/phd: 7 years part-time, on campus, starting 2024-25.

• October 2024
• January 2025

Film and Screen Media MPhil/PhD: 4 years full-time, on campus, starting 2024-25

Film and screen media mphil/phd: 7 years part-time, on campus, starting 2025-26.

• October 2025
• January 2026

Film and Screen Media MPhil/PhD: 4 years full-time, on campus, starting 2025-26

Find another course:

• This MPhil/PhD in Film and Screen Media is offered as part of a range of competitively awarded PhD studentships funded by support from UK Research and Innovation, charities, government and external partners.
• The award-winning  Birkbeck Cinema  is central to our research culture. The 70-seat cinema is equipped with 35mm and state-of-the-art DCP projection. Our  Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image  (BIMI) runs a busy, intellectually stimulating programme of events, including conferences, screenings and film-related events of all kinds, including at our cinema.
• You will have the opportunity to participate in and attend the  Essay Film Festival , jointly run by BIMI and the  Institute of Contemporary Arts  (ICA), with free admission to events hosted at Birkbeck. You will also be able to take advantage of practical film-making opportunities offered through the  Derek Jarman Lab .
• The Vasari Research Centre for Art and Technology integrates a wide range of digital culture research at Birkbeck, while making available equipment and systems to students, interns and academics. In addition, the  Birkbeck Interdisciplinary Research in Media and Culture (BIRMAC) provides a unique space for reflective critical inquiry on media and culture, where researchers from different disciplines can gather and participate in a sustained intellectual conversation in a truly interdisciplinary context.
• As well as the Birkbeck Library , you will have access to the nearby Senate House Library , various libraries of the University of London colleges, the British Library , as well as other specialist collections and institutions in central London, including the British Film Institute library.
• Birkbeck was ranked as one of the top four universities in the UK for its Art and Design research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework. Birkbeck’s research excellence overall was  confirmed in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework  with 83% of our research rated world-leading or internationally excellent.

Entry Requirements

A good degree in film, television, media studies, cultural studies, or other related areas in the social sciences and humanities. Depending on your background and research experience, a BA might be sufficient. Generally we recommend that you apply with a good MA degree.

You will also need to submit a specific indication of research interests with your application, and a 2000-word proposal.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, the requirement for this programme is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 7.0, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests.

If you don't meet the minimum IELTS requirement,  we offer pre-sessional English courses, foundation programmes and language support services  to help you improve your English language skills and get your place at Birkbeck.

Visit the International section of our website to find out more about our  English language entry requirements and relevant requirements by country .

Visa and funding requirements

If you are not from the UK and you do not already have residency here, you may need to apply for a visa.

The visa you apply for varies according to the length of your course:

• Courses of more than six months' duration: Student visa
• Courses of less than six months' duration: Standard Visitor visa

International students who require a Student visa should apply for our full-time courses as these qualify for Student visa sponsorship. If you are living in the UK on a Student visa, you will not be eligible to enrol as a student on Birkbeck's part-time courses (with the exception of some modules).

For full information, read our visa information for international students page .

Please also visit the international section of our website to find out more about relevant visa and funding requirements by country .

Please note students receiving US Federal Aid are only able to apply for in-person, on-campus programmes which will have no elements of online study.

Film and Screen Media MPhil/PhD: 7 years part-time or 4 years full-time, on campus, starting in academic year 2024-25 or 2025-26

Academic year 2024–25, starting october 2024, january 2025, april 2025.

Part-time home students: £2,539 per year Full-time home students: £4,786 per year Part-time international students : £7,525 per year Full-time international students: £14,885 per year

Academic year 2025–26, starting October 2025, January 2026, April 2026

To be confirmed

Students are charged a tuition fee in each year of their course. Tuition fees for students continuing on their course in following years may be subject to annual inflationary increases. For more information, please see the College Fees Policy .

If you’ve studied at Birkbeck before and successfully completed an award with us, take advantage of our Lifelong Learning Guarantee to gain a discount on the tuition fee of this course.

Fees and finance

PhD students resident in England can apply for government loans of over £26,000 to cover the cost of tuition fees, maintenance and other study-related costs.

Flexible finance: pay your fees in monthly instalments at no extra cost . Enrol early to spread your costs and reduce your monthly payments.

We offer a range of studentships and funding options to support your research.

Discover the financial support available to you to help with your studies at Birkbeck.

International scholarships

We provide a range of scholarships for eligible international students, including our Global Future Scholarship. Discover if you are eligible for a scholarship .

Our research culture

Our research encompasses journalism, film and television, artistic practice and arts management, and digital media, culture and design . Our work is critically engaged, challenging conventional assumptions about the functions and influence of media and culture, scrutinising institutions, organisations and work practices in the creative industries, and rethinking what media can mean and do.

We place particular emphasis on practice-based research, in which ideas and issues are investigated through activities such as creative film-making and digital design. The research of our academic staff is thoroughly interdisciplinary, and incorporates both historical research and contemporary explorations of our rapidly changing media landscapes.

In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework for Art and Design research Birkbeck was ranked 4th nationally with world-leading achievements for environment (90%), impact (67%) and outputs (65%).

We work with a wide range of partners, including the  V&A , the  Institute of Contemporary Arts ,  University of Pittsburgh ,  BFI ,  Science and Media Museum ,  Lux Cinema ,  Tate Britain ,  Media Reform Coalition ,  Action on Armed Violence  and  Electra , and the facilities available to staff and students include the  Vasari Research Centre , the  Birkbeck Cinema , the  Peltz Gallery  and the  Derek Jarman Lab .

Teaching opportunities

As part of our commitment to professional development, you have the opportunity to gain experience in teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. There is also a 10-week lecture series, Teaching in the Arts, which is designed to prepare students for teaching humanities in higher education.

Follow these steps to apply to an MPhil/PhD research degree at Birkbeck:

1. Check that you meet the entry requirements, including English language requirements, as described on this page.

2. Find a potential supervisor for your MPhil/PhD research. You can look at the Find a Supervisor area on this page for an overview, or  search our Experts’ Database  or  browse our staff pages  for more in-depth information. You may also find it helpful to  view the research projects of our current students .

3. Contact the academic member of staff - or the department they teach in - for an informal discussion about your research interests and to establish if they are willing and able to supervise your research. (Please note: finding a potential supervisor does not guarantee admission to the research degree, as this decision is made using your whole application.)  Find out more about the supervisory relationship and how your supervisor will support your research .

4. Draft a research proposal of up to 2000 words (excluding references). This needs to demonstrate your knowledge of the field, the specific research questions you wish to pursue, and how your ideas will lead to the creation of new knowledge and understanding.  Find out more about writing a research proposal .

5. Apply directly to Birkbeck, using the online application link on this page. If your research proposal meets our entry criteria, and we have an appropriate academic to supervise you, we will invite you for an interview, in person or by telephone. All research students are initially registered on an MPhil and then upgrade to a PhD after making sufficient progress.

Find out more about the application process, writing a research proposal and the timeframe .

Application deadlines and interviews

You can apply throughout the year for commencement in October or the following January.

If you wish to apply for funding, you will need to apply by certain deadlines. Consult the websites of relevant bodies for details.

Apply for your course

Apply for your course using the apply now button in the key information section .

Finding a supervisor

A critical factor when applying for postgraduate study in film and screen media studies is the correlation between the applicant’s intellectual and research interests and those of one or more potential supervisors.

Find out more about the research interests of our  academic staff and their areas of research. 

Related courses

• Cultural Policy and Management (MPhil/PhD)
• Journalism and Communication (MPhil/PhD)
• Digital Culture and Communication (MPhil/PhD)

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• Languages, Linguistics and Film
• Film Studies
• Postgraduate

PhD in Film Studies

Research areas.

Research in Film at QMUL is organised into four main areas, Film Cultures, Film Philosophy, Film Practice, and Decolonizing Film with the Centre for Film and Ethics as the main research centre. We are always interested in receiving applications from highly qualified prospective PhD students wishing to work with us in these general research areas:

Film Philosophy cluster boasts research not only within two main schools of Western philosophy (continental and analytic) but in Eastern thought as well. Members of the cluster have strengths in ethics, ideology, Marxist and post-Marxist critical thought, phenomenology, film archaeology, non-human and environmental humanities, vegan cinema and permacinema, end of life, finance, icon/icity, religion and film, philosophical exegesis, neurodiversity, gesture, cognitivism, fiction, Daoism, and works of specific philosophers including Agamben, Carroll, Benjamin, and Murdoch. The members include Lucy Bolton, Ashvin Devasundaram, Steven Eastwood, Grazia Ingravalle, Alasdair King, Sasha Litvintseva, Janet Harbord, Anat Pick, Libby Saxton, Mario Slugan, Guy Westwell, and Kiki Tianqi Yu. 

Film Cultures cluster investigates film histories, national cinemas, and various aspects of cinema as an institution. The cluster’s expertise lie in  specific historical periods (early cinema, Classical Hollywood era, the interwar period, post-9/11 cinema), the cultures and industries of national cinemas ( US, British, French, Russian, German, Italian, Yugoslav, Indian and Chinese cinemas), and a range of topics including stars, directors, producers, production companies, independent cinema, archives, production design, representation of war, cinema memory, film festivals, and studios. Lucy Bolton, Ashvin Devasundaram, Sue Harris, Grazia Ingravalle, Annette Kuhn, Mario Slugan, Guy Westwell, and Kiki Tianqi Yu count among the cluster’s members. 

Film Practice in vestigates the formal, ethical, and philosophical processes of moving image production and exhibition, including documentary filmmaking, artists’ moving image, fiction cinema, screenwriting, live art, and performance. Members of the cluster have made award-winning works on the end of life, Syrian refugees and forcibly disappeared, extractive zones, the environment, displaced economies, a transgender Chinese migrant, neurodiversity, measurements, monsters, originality and copying, and the relationship between eater and eaten among others.Steven Eastwood, Yasmin Fedda, Sasha Litvintseva, Athena Mandis,  Daniel Mann, and Kiki Tianqi Yu are the cluster’s core members.

Decolonizing Film research cluster seeks to challenge not only the Global North canons of films, filmmakers, and film scholars but also the very epistemological underpinnings of film studies as a discipline. The cluster does so through work on film restitution, imperial legacies in archives, extraction zones, displacement, urban violence, effects of contemporary imperial warfare on antibiotic resistance, and dewesternizing film history, film analysis, and film theory. Its members are Ashvin Devasundaram, Eugene Doyen, Yasmin Fedda, Grazia Ingravalle, Nikolaus Perneczky, Daniel Mann, Mario Slugan, and Kiki Tianqi Yu.

Find out more about our research

Structure of the PhD Programme

The programme is normally a 3-year full time (or 6-year part time) research only PhD programme (i.e., there is no mandatory coursework component and students are expected to immediately start their research). In May of every year of the programme full-time equivalent PhD students are expected to pass an annual progress review.

All students are expected to participate in regular training and research activities organised by the department. Students also have the opportunity to present their ongoing research to the department in a variety of both formal and informal settings, one of which includes the monthly Post Production forum . Students can also take advantage of professional training events offered by the QMUL Academic Development Unit . Our current and recently completed PhD projects: Postgraduate students

Application Procedure

Please check the following sections as you begin working on your application:

Entry Requirements

Funding Competition

Prepare your Application

• QMUL’s Research Admission Team:   https://www.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/contact/ 
• Postgraduate Research Lead in Film: [email protected]

Film Studies

Our teaching draws from a variety of disciplines in UCL and, because of this comprehensive curriculum, we offer modules in cinemas from Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The Film Studies programme is housed within the Centre for Multidisciplinary and Intercultural Inquiry (CMII ) at the School of European Languages, Culture and Society (SELCS), and draw on interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international thinking to explore the histories and forms of moving image material from across the globe.

We have particular research strengths in cinema history, film theory, and in an exceptionally broad range of national and regional cinemas. Our core faculty utilize a wide array of theoretical approaches to screen media in the classroom and in their research: from film theory and political economy to cultural studies and media infrastructural studies.

• Professor Deborah Martin  -Professor of Latin American Cinema
• Professor Stephen Hart - Documentary-track PhD Programme Director

Professor Lee Grieveson

• Dr Georgia Thomas-Parr

Professor Stella Bruzzi

• Dr Kirsty Sinclair Dootson -  Lecturer in Film and Media
• Dr Tom Cunliffe -  Lecturer (Teaching) in East and South Asian Film and Media and Director of MA Film Studies
• Professor Claire Thomson -  Professor of Cinema History

Professor Claire Thomson

Nordic Media Histories of Propaganda and Persuasion  

Dr Kirsty Sinclair Dootson

• Screen Studies Group
• London's Silent Cinemas
• Open City Docs Fest
• The Cine-Tourist

MA Film Studies

We welcome students from all over the world to our taught MA programme in Film Studies taking place in the heart of London. 

MPhil / PhD Film Studies

UCL is home to a thriving research community in film and related media. We supervise projects on a wide range of topics relating to cinema history and theory.

Visit to apply

Screen Media (Film and TV) PhD

Key information, find a supervisor.

Mode of study

3 years full-time

6 years part-time

International £21,260

Entry requirements

Research profile

Screen Media at Brunel has established a substantial body of research in a range of topics, including numerous major contributions to the field. Four themes provide strands across which much of this work can be categorized:

• The politics of representation
• National and transnational film and TV
• Documentary practice and theory
• Gothic, horror and fantasy

Areas in which staff have published major work recognized in the field include British, European, Hollywood, American independent, Hong Kong, and Third cinema; horror, comedy, the integration of video practice and theory, Marxism and the media, contemporary British and American television. Some staff are also filmmakers, particularly in documentary, and/or use documentary itself as a form of research. 

Find out about the exciting research we do in this area. Browse profiles of our experts, discover the research groups and their inspirational research activities you too could be part of. We’ve also made available extensive reading materials published by our academics and PhD students.  

Learn more about research in this area.

Browse the work of subject-relevant research groups

Our researchers create knowledge and advance understanding, and equip versatile doctoral researchers with the confidence to apply what they have learnt for the benefit of society. Find out more about working with the Supervisory Team .

You are welcome to approach your potential supervisor directly to discuss your research interests. Search for expert supervisors for your chosen field of research.

Our supervisors create knowledge and advance understanding, and equip research students with the confidence to apply what they have learnt for the benefit of society. Browse all potential supervisor profiles further here:

Sean Holmes ([email protected])

• History of film and television production
• History of trade unionism in the film and television industries
• Post-war Hollywood cinema
• The Western
• Post-war European film

Leon Hunt ([email protected])

• Hong Kong cinema
• Martial arts films
• Transnational cinema
• British TV comedy
• Cult film and TV

Caroline Ruddell ([email protected])

• The Gothic in film and TV
• Fairy tales in film and TV
• Film theory
• Psychoanalysis and film

Daniele Rugo ([email protected])

• Film and philosophy
• European cinema
• Documentary (practice and theory)
• Modern European thought
• World cinema

Mike Wayne ([email protected])

• Marxist media & cultural theory
• Political film
• Latin American film
• British cinema
• Documentary (theory & practice-based research)

Jon Hackett ([email protected])

• Migration and human trafficking in film and media
• Film theory and cultural theory
• Representations of monstrosity in film and popular music
• Masculinity in film and popular music
• Political economy of film and media

While we welcome applications from students with a clear direction for their research, we can also provide you with some ideas. Search for PhD topics for your chosen field of research.

Research journey

Potential research projects areas for PhD students

• Recent and contemporary British, European, Hong Kong, Hollywood and American independent cinema
• World cinemas, art cinema
• Cult film, television and other media
• British and American television
• Science fiction, horror, comedy, the western, crime films
• Documentary, video practice
• Practice-based research
• Relationships between documentary and fiction
• Political cinema, activist media
• Imaging, surveillance, political power and military violence
• Gender, sexuality and the body in film
• Marxist and psychoanalytical approaches to screen media
• Cinematic spectacle, narrative
• New cinema/media technologies
• Avant-garde and experimental cinema
• Ecocriticism and screen media
• Trade unionism in film and TV industries
• The Gothic; fairy tales
• Representations of nationhood and ethnicity in film, games and other media; ideas of national media cultures, local ethnographies of media production and consumption

This course can be studied undefined undefined, starting in undefined.

Find out about what progress might look like at each stage of study here:  Research degree progress structure.

Research support

Excellent research support and training

The Graduate School provides a range of personal, professional and career development opportunities. This includes workshops, online training, coaching and events, to enable you to enhance your professional profile, refine your skills, and plan your next career steps as part of the Researcher Development Programme . The researcher development programme (RDP) offers workshops and seminars in a range of areas including progression, research management, research dissemination, and careers and personal development. You will also be offered a number of online, self-study courses on BBL, including Research Integrity, Research Skills Toolkit, Research Methods in Literature Review and Principles of Research Methods.

Library services

Brunel's Library is open 24 hours a day, has 400,000 books and 250,000 ebooks, and an annual budget of almost £2m. Subject information Specialists train students in the latest technology, digital literacy, and digital dissemination of scholarly outputs. As well as the physical resources available in the Library, we also provide access to a wealth of electronic resources. These include databases, journals and e-books. Access to these resources has been bought by the Library through subscription and is limited to current staff and students.

Dedicated research support staff provide guidance and training on open access, research data management, copyright and other research integrity issues.

Find out more: Brunel Library

Careers and your future

You will receive tailored careers support during your PhD and for up to three years after you complete your research at Brunel. We encourage you to actively engage in career planning and managing your personal development right from the start of your research, even (or perhaps especially) if you don't yet have a career path in mind. Our careers provision includes online information and advice, one-to-one consultations and a range of events and workshops. The Professional Development Centre runs a varied programme of careers events throughout the academic year. These include industry insight sessions, recruitment fairs, employer pop-ups and skills workshops.

In addition, where available, you may be able to undertake some paid work as we recognise that teaching and learning support duties represent an important professional and career development opportunity.

Find out more.

Following the completion of the course students may follow several career paths:

• Career path within academia starting as a University Lecturer/Assistant Professor, or researcher
• Various potential career paths, or enhancements to careers, relating to film, TV or other media, depending on area of research, including film/video making

UK entry requirements

The general University entrance requirement for registration for a research degree is normally a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (1st or 2:1). 

An interview will be required as part of the admissions process and will be conducted by at least two academic staff members remotely via MS Teams, Zoom, or face to face.

Applicants will be required to submit a personal statement  and a research statement. Please contact your proposed supervisor, where possible, to receive feedback and guidance on your research statement before submitting it. Learn how to prepare a research statement  here .   

EU and International entry requirements

English language requirements.

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
• Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT : 63% (min 58% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 90 (min 20 in all) 

You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our  English Language Requirements  page.

Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our  Brunel Language Centre .

Please check our Admissions  pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.

Fees and funding

2024/5 entry, international.

£21,260 full-time

£10,630 part-time

£4,786 full-time

£2,393 part-time

Fees quoted are per year and are subject to an annual increase.

Some courses incur  additional course related costs . You can also check our  on-campus accommodation costs  for more information on living expenses.

Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. Recently the UK Government made available the Doctoral Student Loans of up to £25,000 for UK and EU students and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.

PhD studentships

• Studentships in Arts & Social Sciences via the TECHNE2 Doctoral Training Partnership

Scholarships and bursaries

• Brunel Graduate Discount

Related courses

Journalism phd, sociology and communication phd.