Welcome Prospective Students

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CU-Boulder’s Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts is the only destination at CU for an immersive, thorough, and expansive education in the areas of Motion Picture and Television narrative, animation, experimental, and documentary filmmaking.

Our department caters to movie and narrative TV lovers and makers, as well as the artistically inclined experimenter—in the tradition of Stan Brakhage and Phil Solomon—seeking to discover the unlimited possibilities of the Moving Image Arts on film, animation, and digital media. The immersive curricula for our BA (studio and critical studies), and BFA (cinema arts) tracks highlights the importance of understanding cinema (its artistic and commercial sides) within the contexts of film history, aesthetics, national and international movements and genres, and the works of some of cinema’s most groundbreaking and influential filmmakers: from Alfred Hitchcock to Agnès Varda, from Stanley Kubrick to Jane Campion, from Alice Guy-Blaché to Akira Kurosawa, from Oscar Micheaux to Ousmane Sembène.

CU CINE is the place to be for the cinephile and explorer of movies, television, and visual arts, with the artistic edge and the critical thinking advantage of a liberal arts education within the flagship College of Arts & Sciences.

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Degree Information

The Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts(CINE) offers degrees in film production (BA, BFA) and critical studies (BA); the production emphasis BA and the BFA are focused on the craft of independent filmmaking. The critical studies BA emphasizes the reading and analysis of film as an art form. International film is an important component of our critical studies and we offer a wide range of courses in this area. Each degree teaches a foundation of the history and aesthetics of film. The BA requires 121-126 Credit Hours, consisting of 35 CINE hours for the Critical Studies track/44 for the Production track. The BFA requires 120-122 Credit Hours, consisting of 60 CINE hours.

A graduate of CINE can expect to go on in a career in the moving image arts as a Moving Image artist with a film production studio, a post-production specialist or go on to pursue higher education in Cinema Studies as well as other career fields in the gaming industry, social media, and critical media. See post graduate paths from previous alumni here.

The Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts offers an interdisciplinary MFA degree with the Department of Art and Art History.

Cinema Studies Tours

Interested in visiting the Department of Cinema Studies and Moving Image Arts? We offer tours! Email filmoffice@colorado.edu to sign up.

We encourage prospective students to sign up with College of Arts and Sciences Admissions for more information about the program and the department. You can do so here. 

Welcome!

Prospective Student FAQ

No, you do not need to submit a portfolio to become a CINE major. Prospective Students should apply to the College of Arts and Sciences and then declare the major as Cinema Studies and Moving Image Arts. 

You can find more information on applying to the College of Arts and Sciences here.

When filling out the Common App for CU Boulder, choose Cinema Studies and Moving Image Arts for your major. This will automatically enroll you as a CINE major. You will then need to meet with an advisor to declare your emphasis track, in either Production or Critical Studies.

If you did not do that and are a First Year student in the College of Arts & Sciences, you can declare a CINE major or minor with your First Year Advisor at any time. 

All other students who are interested in declaring a CINE major or minor need to meet with a CINE advisor.  Declaration meetings are scheduled through MyCUHub.

Academic Questions?

To see more about specific degree options, class offerings, and other academic questions,

Visit our Advising Tab

Degree Options

Minor

  Minor Requirements and Plans of Study 

A minor is offered in Cinema Studies. Declaration of a minor is open to any student enrolled at CU-Boulder, regardless of college or school. To obtain the Cinema Studies minor, students must:

  • Declare a minor in Cinema Studies
  • Complete 20 credits hours in Cinema Studies course work; requirements include the following:
    • Complete CINE 1502, CINE 3051 and CINE 3061 (11 credit hours)
    • Complete 9 credit hours from elective courses in the Cinema Studies Program. Six credit hours of the elective courses must be at the upper-division (3000-4000) level

The minor helps students interested in the study of cinema history, culture, and aesthetics, but too busy to pursue the full major, the opportunity to develop their interest by acquiring critical and comparative skills and understanding the place and importance of cinema as a cultural and social phenomenon. Students in the minor have access to lower and upper division courses on film history, aesthetics, criticism, social and historical contexts, classical genres, and groundbreaking directors from the US and International traditions, acquiring an edge in visual analysis and media literacy.

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

  BA Requirements and Plans of Study 

We offer two distinct paths for studying film. 

Production Track

The Production Track in Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts at CU Boulder focuses on an independent filmmaking perspective that encourages students to learn all aspects of the film making process. Students learn how to develop an artistic voice through screenwriting, cinematography, editing, directing, animating, and acting. Through a variety of required classes and electives, Production majors become prepared to create their own films and collaborate with others on sets. CU is the premiere destination for students interested in learning and exploring analog filmmaking alongside modern digital practices.

Production majors are also required to take 9 credits of critical studies electives to develop an understanding of film appreciation, analysis and critique. 

Critical Studies Track

The Critical Studies BA in Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts at CU Boulder emphasizes the critical study of film as an art form including reading and writing about film and film analysis, appreciation, and critique. This track is designed to give students a solid knowledge of the history and aesthetics of national and international film, as well as exposure to the various methodological approaches of cinema studies as an academic discipline. 

Critical Studies students can take production courses as electives to further their understanding of the filmmaking process.

More Info 

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Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)

  BFA Requirements and Plans of Study 

All students begin in the Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts declaring the Bachelor of Arts as their major. Application to the BFA program opens up a more intensive exploration of moving image arts and media production. In addition to the core moving image arts curriculum, BFA students delve into more expansive filmmaking practices by spending an entire academic year developing one film project in conjunction with their fellow BFA cohort. This offers an opportunity to utilize all of the resources available at CU to create a strong piece of work in the student's voice for their portfolio. 

The mission of the BFA is to prepare artists who will be competitive as independent filmmakers in the industry and beyond.

More Info 

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Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

The MFA in Film is an interdisciplinary endeavor between the Art and Art History Department and the Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts Department and offers the best of both worlds.

We welcome applications from emerging film artists interested in creating fiction or non-fiction cinema, animation, moving image installations, media performance or hybrid time-based works from single channel to the white cube gallery, and beyond.

More Info 

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Graduating with Honors

To obtain Honors in the Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts students must have a GPA of 3.3 or higher and complete and defend an honors thesis.

More Info 

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