Subject overview

Programmes

• PhD in Film Studies
• MPhil in Film Studies

We welcome research projects across the wide range of areas in film studies. Faculty interests include Hollywood, British, Latin American, Asian and European cinemas; popular culture; genre and authorship; gender, sexuality and representation; film and new media; documentary; audiences and industries; curation and visual cultures. 

Coursework

Each student has two supervisors who, together, will devise a detailed course of study tailored to the individual research project. All new research students will be required to participate in a programme of research training and to take other modules that may be recommended by their supervisors (exemption from research training modules can be granted to those who have already taken such modules at postgraduate level). 

The first term is devoted to developing the research plan – typically refining research questions, designing a methodology, and engaging in a literature review. By the end of the first year, you will have written and presented your first research paper or project, and will be ready to pursue fieldwork or other primary research in the second year, for analysis and completion in the final year. Progress is monitored by supervision meetings, annual reports, and an annual interview by a review panel. 

Throughout your study, as part of your intellectual training, you are expected to take part in the research culture of the School of Media, Film and Music and research centres – reading and discussion groups, skills development training, research-in-progress seminars, etc. You will be expected to present your research both within the School and beyond. The School offers support for conference attendance and student-led symposia, and from the second year onwards, it encourages research students to apply for teaching experience. There is a mentoring scheme within the School, and students will be joining a lively interdisciplinary research community. 

Recent and current PhD thesis titles

John Hughes and new Hollywood cinema 

No crinoline-covered lady: stardom, agency, and the career of Barbara Stanwyck 

The queer punk films of Bruce LaBruce 

Towards a sensual understanding of national identity: food, film and the porous screen 

Transitory presences: representations of space, place and the body in direct cinema 

Entry requirements

MPhil in Film Studies

UK entrance requirements

Normally a Masters degree in a subject relevant to your chosen area of research.

Overseas entrance requirements

If you are an international student and wish to find out if you have the necessary qualifications for this degree, please refer to Overseas qualifications.

English language requirements

IELTS 7.0, with not less than 6.5 in each section. Internet TOEFL with 95 overall, with 22 in Listening, 23 in Reading, 23 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.

For more information, refer to English language requirements.

PhD in Film Studies

UK entrance requirements

Normally a Masters degree in a subject relevant to your chosen area of research.

Overseas entrance requirements

If you are an international student and wish to find out if you have the necessary qualifications for this degree, please refer to Overseas qualifications.

English language requirements

IELTS 7.0, with not less than 6.5 in each section. Internet TOEFL with 95 overall, with 22 in Listening, 23 in Reading, 23 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.

For more information, refer to English language requirements.

Related subjects

• Creative and critical writing
• Drama
• Gender studies
• Media, media practice and cultural studies
• Music

Fees and funding

Fees

MPhil in Film Studies

Home UK/EU students: £3,900¹
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £3,900²
Overseas students: £13,000³

¹ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
² The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
³ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.

PhD in Film Studies

Home UK/EU students: £3,900¹
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £3,900²
Overseas students: £13,000³

¹ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
² The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
³ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.

Funding

The funding sources listed below are for the subject area you are viewing and may not apply to all degrees listed within it. Please check the description of the individual funding source to make sure it is relevant to your chosen degree.

Faculty interests

Our internationally respected research explores a range of approaches to film, film cultures and film studies. The three key areas that inform our teaching and research interests are listed below. For more detailed information, visit the School of Media, Film and Music. 

Global cinemas

Our work includes popular and art cinemas of Asia, Europe, Britain, the US and Latin America. We explore debates about how cinema has been approached within national, regional and transnational production contexts and how such productions have been theorised in relation to shifting paradigms of film style, identity, intermediality and cultural representation. 

Dr Catherine Grant Film authorship, intertextuality and film cultural curation in relation to a range of world cinemas. 

Dr Michael Lawrence World cinemas, Indian cinema, screen performance, child and non-professional actors, animals in film. 

Dr Dolores Tierney US and Latin American film-making. Mexican exploitation and contemporary Spanish horror film. 

Professor Sue Thornham Feminism, film and cultural theory.

Film, gender and sexuality

Sussex is world renowned for its research into questions of gender and sexuality, as part of a broader focus on the politics of representation. We explore such topics in our research, including consideration of feminist and queer interventions within cinema and film theory, as well as questions raised by cinematic representations of the body. 

Dr Catherine Grant Film authorship, intertextuality and film cultural curation in relation to a range of world cinemas. 

Dr Michael Lawrence World cinemas, Indian cinema, screen performance, child and non-professional actors, animals in film. 

Andy Medhurst Post-war British popular culture, media representations of masculinity and homosexuality. 

Dr Niall Richardson Representations of gender, sexuality and the body in film and popular culture. 

Professor Sue Thornham Feminism, film and cultural theory.

Film, history and popular culture

Several of our faculty explore the intersections between film, history and popular culture, focusing on topics such as genre, authorship, questions of audience, stardom, performance, the politics of films and film form (within both fiction and documentary), intertextual and transmedial synergies, and broader issues of cultural representation. 

There are also many crucial and productive intersections between these three areas and between the research of film studies faculty and those of other colleagues in the School of Media, Film and Music. 

Dr Thomas Austin Audiences for popular film, screen documentary, and Hollywood cinema. 

Dr Catherine Grant Film authorship, intertextuality and film cultural curation in relation to a range of world cinemas. 

Dr Frank Krutnik Film noir, comedy, stardom and film, popular culture and politics. 

Dr Michael Lawrence World cinemas, Indian cinema, screen performance, child and non-professional actors, animals in film. 

Andy Medhurst Post-war British popular culture, media representations of masculinity and homosexuality. 

Dr Niall Richardson Representations of gender, sexuality and the body in film and popular culture. 

Dr Dolores Tierney US and Latin American film-making. Mexican exploitation and contemporary Spanish horror film. 

Professor Sue Thornham Feminism, film and cultural theory. 

Careers and perspectives

Our graduates have gone on to pursue careers in teaching, production research, broadcasting, and project and cultural management. Employers of our graduates include Scenestealer Interactive Video Solutions, Viasat Broadcasting, Autumn Publishing and Ofcom. 

School and contacts