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? Starting January 24th through June 13th(excluding March 28th and May 9th), 2025, we will be offering a weekly tour on Fridays at 11:45am. This tour will include access to additional filmmaking spaces in the basement of the Macky Auditorium that are not offered the rest of the week. 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. 

If you are unable to attend the scheduled tours, email filmoffice@colorado.edu to inquire about a different date and time. 

Welcome!

Academic Questions?

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

Visit our Advising Tab

Prospective Student FAQ

Do I have to submit a portoflio for the BA?

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.