Film Studies

Create your own media

Put your studies into action with your own creative project. Write plays for a virtual reality environment, make choose-your-own-adventure stories and games or use UVic’s SIM Lab and Equipment Cage to borrow movie-making equipment such as cameras, grip gear and audio recording tools.

Hands-on opportunities may include:

• Film production courses
• Digital storytelling projects
• Screenwriting
• Sound design
• Film scoring
• Virtual reality writing
• Student creative projects
• Access to media equipment and lab spaces

What kinds of films will I study?

There’s a Film Studies class for almost every interest. Take courses with instructors who specialize in films from Africa, Southeast Asia, Russia, Italy, Germany and beyond. Explore vampires and the ancient world on film, representations of identity and gender in queer cinema or what scares us most in horror movies.

You may study:

• National cinemas
• Film culture
• Film history
• Women and film
• Queer cinema
• Experimental film
• Horror movies
• Popular film and television
• Writing in and for film Film, visual art and literature

Skills you’ll build

Turn your love of movies into valuable critical and creative thinking skills. A Film Studies minor can strengthen any bachelor’s degree by helping you see, research, write, create and communicate in new ways.

You’ll build skills in:

• Critical analysis
• Creative research
• Communication
• Opinion-making
• Developing ideas into action
• Writing for different audiences
• Working independently and collaboratively
• Self-discipline and self-direction
• Working resourcefully, flexibly and creatively

Earn while you learn

Co-operative Education (Co-op)

• Through UVic’s Co-op program, you’ll apply what you learn in paid, career-related positions that count toward your degree—and give you a head start after graduation.
• Co-op is available to everyone, including international students with co-op work permits.
• On average, 70 percent of UVic Co-op students graduate with a job offer already in hand.
• Unlike at some universities, at UVic, you don’t have to compete for a spot in Co-op.

Inspiring courses

Explore film across cultures, genres, histories and storytelling forms. These sample courses show how Film Studies connects movies with language, politics, identity, media and global culture.

• Bollywood Bound: Popular Visual Culture in India, 1950s to Present 
• Latin American Film 
• A Cultural History of Vampires in Literature & Film 
• Southeast Asian Cinema
• Digital Media for Storytellers 

Careers

Film Studies can support careers in media, arts, education, communications, research, production and further study. You’ll build transferable skills that are useful in creative industries and in any field where strong analysis, storytelling and communication matter.

Possible career paths include:

• Film critic Film director
• Film production worker
• Film writer
• Program researcher
• TV or film production coordinator
• Arts or culture writer
• Festival or programming assistant
• Media researcher
• Communications or content specialist

Admission

This is a minor program that can be added to your primary degree to broaden your studies. You can declare your minor after one or more years of full-time study at UVic.

Your academic advisor can help you plan your courses to ensure you meet the requirements of both your major and minor programs.