/ Postgraduate Taught /
Start date:
September 2025
Duration:
September intake – 1 year (full-time)
Number of credits:
180
Postgraduate, Master's and Doctoral Open Evening
Wednesday 5 February 2025
Develop your unique creative voice as a filmmaker in London’s vibrant film scene, while obtaining the technical and professional skills to thrive in today’s film and media industries. Taught by industry-experienced academics, you’ll transform your ideas into films with social and cultural impact.
Did you know
Our undergraduate Film course is ranked in the top 3 universities in London for Film (Guardian University Guide 2024).
Our BA Film Production is now accredited by the International Moving Image Society (IMIS), and we will shortly be applying to extend this to the MA Filmmaking. IMIS is a globally recognised organisation dedicated to promoting excellence and professionalism in film, television, and digital media industries. IMIS accreditation assures that our curriculum meets high industry standards, equipping students with relevant skills and knowledge that align with current professional practices.
Modules
This is a new programme for 2025.
Drawing on global and historical examples and case studies, and with the intention of
researching and developing their Graduation Project, you will explore key approaches to film and moving image work, including the critical aims and conceptual traditions that have animated them. You’ll also look at the ways they have impacted on social and cultural realities for diverse groups.
Alongside this immersion in film and film culture, you’ll learn diverse forms of screenwriting, purpose-building, visualisation and screenwriting, towards building an early- stage vision of a potential Graduation Project, defining its scope and aims, key influences and traditions. As per your final graduation project options, these can range from fiction and documentary film projects to screenplays or essay films.
The module culminates in a presentation which will select the graduation pitches going forward, around which crews and creative partnerships will coalesce from Spring term.
Working in groups of around 2-5 depending on project type, you’ll write, develop and produce a fiction, documentary, hybrid, or ‘social advertising’ short film project. The project must be entirely separate to the Graduation project, by design, but we expect to see in most cases students moving towards generic or role pathways that will support their graduation project participation.
An intensive screenwriting and narrative development lab kickstarts the process for the first few weeks, further embedding these skills.
Project development includes conceptual teaching on transnational approaches and traditions, and is again taught with an eye to cultural impact (whether a ‘message’, a novel storytelling angle, or a formal innovation), considering this in the real-world context of how to attract commissioners and affect audiences in a crowded media landscape. Working with underrepresented stories, groups, individuals, and allied partner organisations will be encouraged.
In this module you will conceptualise and produce a pair of mini-films, on the open brief of ‘climate and environment’, with certain core technical challenges in sound, editing and cinematography stipulated.
Working in small groups, students will work on each other’s films, fulfilling Directing and Sound on one film concept, and Cinematography & Editing on the other.
This process will be taught by specialist visiting lecturers accomplished in these technical professions. It will also be accompanied by conceptual study of aesthetic traditions of cinematography, sound and post and how they engage audiences, including key elements in climate storytelling.
This module delves into the wider realities of film and media production and the associated parts of the industry from development, finance, sales and distribution, impact and marketing, and how to position your projects and yourself in this ecosystem. You will follow a brief-led, industry-modelled assessment to generate a socially impactful feature-length doc or fiction film proposal (separate from the Graduation Project) through outline-level development, pitching and financing.
You will then follow the project into the planning of a full impact and distribution campaign, taking into account industry-standard funding requirements like audience development, community and social partnerships, and diversity and inclusion. This includes the presentation of a visual teaser/trailer and poster (with the option of AI design assist). Both assessments are based directly on current UK public film funders’ applications and EDI/other requirements, and the skills are transferable to arts and media funding in general.
The module also includes BAFTA’s “albert” qualification (a carbon accounting and environmental storytelling qualification recognised in the industry) within taught classes. The proposal will have to meet albert standards as part of the assessment. An alternate option is provided for those who already have the qualification.
A programme of industry guests and panels supports the assessment directly, as well as assisting overall professionalisation, looking at self-presentation, showreels, networking and the like.
The substantial final graduation project. You will choose from group-based Fiction Short production, smaller-group or solo-made Documentary film, solo-made AVEssay, or solo- written Screenplay as your form of assessment.
Most students will be working on projects developed in the prior module Creative Research and Film Development. The topic and genre are open, but it is very much expected that notions of social and cultural impact will continue to infuse project production and delivery.
September 2025 entry onwards: We are reviewing and updating our curriculum to ensure our programmes provide the skills, knowledge, and experience needed for the evolving job market.
The modules listed are a sample of those currently offered and may change through the review process. However, the core learning outcomes and themes will remain similar.
Skills
Develop your unique creative voice as a filmmaker while obtaining the technical and professional skills to thrive in today’s film, TV, media and content industries.
Students will explore diverse types of filmmaking at the forefront of contemporary storytelling, with an emphasis on cultural and social impact. Today, these are the productions that can ‘cut through’ and get commissioned, with relevant messages and formal innovation for our creative industries.
Drawing on our staff with a track record of award-winning, socially effective films, you will build your creativity, skillset and portfolio with a series of film productions and industry-focused exercises. You’ll learn to navigate the contemporary realities of what makes a film financeable and marketable in today’s world, where public funding is looking for culturally relevant visions and voices, and producers need clear plans for audience distribution and impact.
With practical filmmaking supported by the industry-led and critical-historical insights you need to progress, you will emerge with a portfolio of film and industry projects capped by a major graduation project. Embracing a range of roles including director, cinematographer, sound, producer and editor, you’ll be equipped to become a creative self-starter capable of launching your own projects, as well as a team player able to lead or on-board a production unit to produce briefs for a client or commissioner, in film, TV, content and advertising production and the wider media ecosystem.
Our staff include recognised industry professionals, whose productions include BIFA and BAFTA-nominated fiction and documentary films screened in competition at top festivals (Tribeca, Edinburgh, London, Sheffield, and Cannes/ACID), broadcast on BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Artem, and distributed in over 120 territories.
Our tutors also publish innovative film books with BFI, Routledge, and other leading publishers, and their writing appears regularly in The Guardian, Sight & Sound, Granta, and more.
Our strong industry links ensure students also benefit from visiting workshops and tutorials with top professionals in the global film industry such as Cannes-winning directors and Oscar-winning composers, commissioners, and funders like Netflix and the BFI.
Supported by our high-end cinema, studios, camera and editing equipment, and technical staff, the MA offers the unique situation of the Roehampton campus. On the doorstep of London’s world-beating media industries, it also offers an inspiring, safe, and convenient range of woodland, lakeside, period and modern urban settings as locations for your film projects.
A BA in Film Production is not necessarily a requirement. We invite approaches from diverse creative students without direct experience of filmmaking, who will be upskilled alongside students with more advanced technical backgrounds.
Learning
Experience a dynamic, industry-relevant curriculum with state-of-the-art facilities.
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Courses structured like real productions and pitches with industry challenges
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Collaborating creatively with a close-knit community of students
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Developing specialisms in directing, writing, producing, cinematography, editing and sound design
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Lectures and Seminars: Ground your ideas critically in conceptual, cultural and historical knowledge through engaging lectures and interactive seminars.
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Workshops and Technical Instruction: Get hands-on experience in studios, workshops and screenwriting labs where you'll work directly with tools and techniques used in the industry, taught both by special industry guests and our full-time team of acclaimed filmmakers
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You will collaborate on live projects alongside industry experts, mastering both the technical intricacies and artistic nuances necessary to curate a professional portfolio tailored precisely to your career aspirations, and take part in a high-level graduation project.
Unlimited Access to BFI Player
All Roehampton students receive free access to BFI Player, an extensive library of British and global films. This is a hugely valuable resource, especially for Film students, enhancing coursework, research, and personal exploration in cinema—all at no cost.
Adobe Creative Cloud Access Anytime, Anywhere
All students at Roehampton can access the full Adobe Creative Cloud suite, both on campus and at home. With tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro, students have everything they need to excel in media, design, and creative projects, whether in class or remotely.
Collaborate Across Creative Disciplines
Meet and collaborate with fellow students from our array of specialised BA and MA programmes in Dance, Journalism, Creative Writing and beyond.
Field Trips and Placements
With chances to visit high-profile film festivals and enjoy field trips in London, we integrate you and your aspirations into London’s thriving film and media hub.
Josh Appignanesi
Josh Appignanesi is a writer/director. Across his six feature films and many shorts, videos and commercials, he's worked with talent including John Malkovich, Tom Hiddleston, David Tennant, Claudia Jessie and Michelle Dockery, writers like Zadie Smith and John Berger, musicians like OMD and Orlando Weeks, and Turner-Prize winning artist Martin Creed.
His most recent feature was climate activist documentary MY EXTINCTION, selected to screen to delegates at COP28 in Dubai, as well as at the Glastonbury Festival 2024. Prior features include the docufiction HUSBAND (In Competition, Edinburgh Film Festival 2022), surrealist psychothriller FEMALE HUMAN ANIMAL premiering at Sheffield Doc/Fest, and feature doc THE NEW MAN. All were widely-reviewed, theatrically released at Curzons and Picturehouses, and streamed in multiple territories on platforms like MUBI, Curzon Home Cinema, Amazon Prime, and BFIPlayer.
He also directed the award-winning, David Baddiel-scripted comedy feature THE INFIDEL, starring Omid Djalili, Richard Schiff, Matt Lucas, Miranda Hart and Archie Panjabi.
His debut feature was psychological drama SONG OF SONGS (BIFA nominated, In Competition Rotterdam/ Cannes/ACID), and he also co-wrote Sarah Jessica Parker rom-com ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME.
A BAFTA and BIFA jury member, he sits and advises on various industry bodies, and has taught at London Film School, the Met Film School, Guardian Masterclasses, Film London and Roehampton University, where he is an Associate Professor in Film.
Dr Muriel Tinel-Temple
Programme Leader
Dr Tinel-Temple was educated in France and has been teaching in UK universities for over a decade. She teaches courses about film and screen cultures focusing notably on independent, alternative and experimental practices.
She also encourages and supervises students in their individual and creative practice, using all type of formats, including audio-visual essays, music videos, video installations, and the innovative re-use of archival material.
An active researcher, she has published books on self-portrait in the moving-image, notably on early video works, and articles on the creative use of found footage and self-reflexive films.
Dr Tinel-Temple organises film-related events, with her first experience being for the Cannes Film Festival, where she supervised the promotion and distribution of short works by emerging filmmakers.
Since then, Dr Tinel-Temple has collaborated with LUX in London and Light Cone in Paris to curate programmes, and co-organised study days and screenings in 8mm and 16mm for Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image.
More recently, Dr Tinel-Temple organised UK premiere screenings of the work of Jacques Perconte and his Digital Landscapes.
Professor Michael Witt
Professor Michael Witt’s main teaching and research interests lie in the fields of experimental filmmaking, documentary, essay films and video essays, film history and theory, and French cinema.
He has worked closely with many national and international cultural institutions, and curated major film seasons devoted to documentary, experimental cinema, and the films of Jean-Luc Godard for London-based venues such as BFI Southbank and Tate Modern.
Professor Witt holds a PhD in film and television studies and has taught film at Roehampton for over 25 years. In 2017, he looked back on his experience of supporting Roehampton students to create digital audio-visual essays as part of their studies in an illustrated article published in the online European film/media journal NECSUS.
He has published several books on aspects of cinema history, as well as film reviews, articles and interviews in magazines such as Sight and Sound.
He has a particular interest in Godard’s work, and is the author of Jean-Luc Godard, Cinema Historian (Indiana University Press, 2013), which was awarded the 2014 Limina Award for Best International Film Studies Book. His other books include The French Cinema Book, co-edited with Michael Temple (2nd edition, BFI Publishing/Bloomsbury, 2018).
https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/michael-witt
Dr Deborah Jermyn
Associate Professor
Dr Jermyn has presented her work to a range of international public, media, and academic audiences, from the BFI Southbank to the Melbourne Women in Film Festival.
She is an author and editor of 11 books engaging with popular film and media in varied ways, including analyses of real-crime TV, audience studies, the growth of reality television, and contemporary celebrity culture.
Many of her teaching and writing interests have focused on women filmmakers, including the books Nancy Meyers (2017) and Hollywood Transgressor: The Cinema of Kathryn Bigelow (2003), with current projects examining the films of Gina Prince-Bythewood and Nicole Holofcener.
In recent years, she has been internationally recognised for her work on ageing/society/media which extends across both fiction and documentary film to encompass advertising, social media and digital platforms, and was nominated for a MeCCSA Outstanding Achievement Award in 2024 for her work in this area.
Dr Jermyn came to academia from a background in media publishing, press and publicity and, in addition to being part of the BA Film Production team, she is Deputy Research Degrees Convenor for the School of Arts and Digital Industries at Roehampton.
Read more about Deborah’s work at: https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/deborah-jermyn
Dr Karine Chevalier
Senior Lecturer
Dr Chevalier's main expertise lies in the field of French Cinema, Transnational Cinema, Visual Arts and Aesthetics, Francophone Postcolonial Studies, Interdisciplinary and Transcultural Creativity, as well as Filmmaking.
She has extensive experience in teaching low-budget filmmaking, film history and criticism, transcreation, transnational creative project and screenwriting at underground/postgraduate level.
Dr Chevalier holds a BA in Film Practice and Aesthetics, an MA in Research on the Imaginary and a Ph.D in Comparative Literature.
She has published two monographs on memory from both imaginative and cultural perspectives as well as numerous articles about cinema (Bertrand Bonello, Celine Sciamma, Chantal Akerman, Jean Gremillon, Georges Franju, Tony Gatliff, Orson Welles).
The main focus of her multidisciplinary approach as researcher and filmmaker is about the use and representation of Masks, minority voices and resistance in a transglobal world, gender performances, and the representation of violence and its link to the experience of resilience.
Other interests include the Arts, Intermediality, Broken Faces, Youth in Cinema, Cinema from Corsica, Iranian cinema, the Carnival and digital inclusiveness.
https://www.institut-francais.org.uk/events-calendar/whats-on/workshop/french-film-club/
Alexandra Sage
Senior Lecturer
Alexandra graduated with an MA in Film Production (Fiction) from the Northern School of Film Television, and prior to that worked for the Arts Council of England funding artists’ film and video and managing joint production schemes with broadcasters.
In addition, she has designed and managed accredited practical filmmaking courses for organisations including Four Corners Film and the BBC. Her first degree is an MA in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh.
Her skills cover all areas of independent production, with particular expertise in teaching documentary production and critical theory (particularly contemporary practice, experimental and hybrid forms), and sound design. She works closely with students to support group and solo work that has frequently received recognition in the form of awards, and public screenings at festivals and events.
Alexandra lectures on a wide range of BA Film Production modules at undergraduate and postgraduate level and is actively involved in the independent production scene regularly giving talks and appearing on panels at festivals, events and conferences.
She is currently in the post-production stage of an experimental semi-autobiographical documentary New York Stories, exploring the legacy of childhood, location and memory, set in 1960s Manhattan.
Mark Lever
Technical Instructor
Hello, I'm Mark and I am a Technical Instructor on BA Film Production. I have always had a passion for filmmaking and have worked on various projects, including a fan-made episode of Doctor Who and a time travel short film called 'Extra Time.' As a seasoned professional in the field, I love sharing my experience with others. I specialise in teaching workshops on Cinema Cameras, Audio, Lighting, and Video Editing.
Suleman Mahmood
Suleman Mahmood has five years of cinematography experience and collaborated with prestigious clients like Google, UNDP, and USIP. Proficient in handling industry-standard equipment such as ARRI Alexa Mini, RED Epic 8K, Blackmagic, he has contributed to diverse projects including feature films, short films, documentaries, music videos, commercials and educational courses. Notable achievements include Best Film and Best Cinematography for my film, where he served in multiple roles and garnered recognition at international film festivals.
Ross Bennett
Technician Instructor
Ross Bennett brings over 15 years of experience in the film industry to his role as a technical instructor. His background includes work on feature films, documentaries, music promos, commercials, and corporate videos. Ross also spent several years in the rental sector as a technician and engineer, gaining extensive knowledge of nearly all modern industry equipment. In addition, he has expertise in video editing and post-production, along with a strong interest in analogue photography.
Assessment
Push yourself further with real-world assignments.
Encompassing film productions, pitches and presentations, you’ll be set authentic assessments based on industry-standard briefs, so that your projects, tasks and exercises will replicate the working world of film production and its sister industries, ensuring that you are fully prepared for life after graduation.
Careers
As a graduate you will be equipped to enter various roles in the film, TV, advertising and content industries, such as:
· Film Director
· Producer
· Cinematographer
· Film Editor
· Screenwriter
· Production Designer
· Sound Designer/Editor
· Location Manager
· Production Manager
· Programme researcher
· Sustainability officer
· Digital content creator
· Sales and Marketing positions
· Impact producer
These roles are supported by the development of core skills through specialised modules focusing on film production techniques.
Open days
Get a real taste of our campus, community and what it’s like to study at Roehampton
Applying
Full-time UK postgraduate students apply through our direct application system.
Course subject to curriculum review and validation.
Entry tariff
General entry requirements
Specific entry requirements
A degree in an arts/media-based subject that enables success in filmmaking.
September 2024 entry tuition fees
Year one fees
UK: £9,713
We offer a wide range of scholarships and bursaries. See our financial support pages for UK students.
We also provide other ways to support the cost of living, including free buses and on-campus car parking, hardship support and some of the most affordable student accommodation and catering in London. Find out more about how we can support you.
International undergraduate students apply through our direct application system.
Course subject to curriculum review and validation.
Entry tariff
General entry requirements
Specific entry requirements
A degree in an arts/media-based subject that enables success in filmmaking.
September 2024 entry tuition fees
Year one fees
EU and International: £17,325
We offer a wide range of scholarships and bursaries. See our financial support pages for international students.
We also provide other ways to support the cost of living, including free buses and on-campus car parking, hardship support and some of the most affordable student accommodation and catering in London. Find out more about how we can support you.
Need help or advice before applying?
Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Integrating the creative dynamism of arts and digital industries with the deep-rooted traditions of humanities and social sciences.
