Creative Documentary by Practice MFA

UCL (University College London)

Designed for students with filmmaking experience who want to develop their craft and deepen their artistic practice, this 21-month practice-based Creative Documentary by Practice MFA degree will provide you with the practical and theoretical skills to create outstanding non-fiction film work that interrogates the contemporary world. The Creative Documentary by Practice MFA will train you in the craft and techniques of non-fiction filmmaking. You will develop your understanding of documentary as a creative research practice, making films which interrogate and explore the contemporary world. In the first year, you will produce three short films, supported by weekly workshops, seminars, tutorials and screenings. In the second year, you will produce your graduation project: a longer film exploring a subject of your choice, supported by an industry mentor. In addition to your core practical filmmaking, you will take three optional modules from a range offered within the department. From audio production to experimental cinema, you will specialize in the elements of public anthropology that interest you most. You will also take the MFA module on collaborative filmmaking and work with a researcher or practitioner from another field on a collaborative documentary project. This module is offered exclusively to students studying the MFA in Creative Documentary by Practice. You will learn to produce creative and compelling films and graduate an imaginative, risk-taking and intellectually engaged filmmaker, trained to produce your ideas to a professional standard and push boundaries in the field. Graduation films produced on the MFA Creative Documentary by Practice have screened internationally at BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying film festivals, and have been nominated for Grierson and Royal Television Society awards. The Creative Documentary by Practice MFA is best suited to students who already have made film work, and wish to push themselves creatively. We expect students to arrive with an understanding of how to shoot and edit, with a good working knowledge of Adobe Premiere Pro. Students without filmmaking experience are encouraged to apply to the Ethnographic and Documentary Film (Practical) MA.