Film Studies is a genuinely interdisciplinary academic field. An encounter with films of different genres, styles, periods and national industries is the core of the subject, and as a film student you will naturally devote a lot of time to viewing films, reading and writing about them, and discussing their meaning and importance. Through practical modules, you will also gain hands-on experience of the roles of producer, director, screenwriter and actor, gaining crucial insights into the fundamental aspects of film production. However, this is just the beginning. Film Studies is a ‘gateway subject’ that inevitably fosters an understanding of visual aesthetics, narrative forms and technological ability, but that also leads students into areas of study as diverse as history, politics, philosophy, technology and performance.
This degree programme will familiarise you with the aesthetics, conditions of production and history of film in the United States, Latin America and the major European nations. You will be introduced to the major theoretical and critical developments in film studies, as well as studying French. This will enable you to pursue an understanding of film within the context of a wider knowledge of Francophone culture. In each year you follow core language modules in which skills in the understanding and expression of French are developed by a variety of methods. In your first year a general foundation module introduces you to various aspects of French studies – literature, film, linguistics, visual art, philosophy and politics – designed to deepen your knowledge of France and its culture. In your second and final years you choose more specialised modules until, by the end of your final year, you are able to speak French fluently, write analytically in accurate French, interpret and analyse complex texts, present papers on chosen topics, and translate challenging texts. Your third year is normally spent abroad, in France or a French-speaking country. You can choose to study at another university, or else take up a work placement, for example as a teaching assistant. |