Film Studies Courses
Study online & in London

This course examines the rich and prolific cinema of Hong Kong. From martial arts superstars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, to gangster films of directors John Woo and Johnnie To, via the more personal visions of ‘new wave’ filmmakers like Ann Hui and Wong Kar-wai, the cinema of Hong Kong is hybrid and multifaceted. We will consider the momentous historical events as well as the industrial context out of which Hong Kong’s cinema grew, while looking at a range of film genres and directors from across several eras. We will consider also how Hong Kong cinema has reflected Hong Kong’s colonisation and decolonisation, leading up to the historical turning points of the 21st century such as the 2014 Umbrella Movement and the 2019 mass pro-democracy protests.

Is The Matrix a science-fiction movie starring Keanu Reeves, or the most influential work of philosophy of the last fifty years? Who is more nihilistic, Humphrey Bogart or Frederic Nietszche? In this course, we will examine the relationship between film and philosophy, engaging with current debates in film theory and in wider society. We will consider whether it is appropriate to label film as a form of philosophy, how film acts as philosophy, and the ways in which our experiences of watching film helps up to think through ideas about the human experience that have received attention amongst centuries of philosophical literature. Is film merely entertainment, or is it our most important form of philosophy?

This course will consider Claire Denis’ importance as a filmmaker by exploring in some detail a number of her key films from Chocolat (1988), I can’t sleep (1994), Beau Travail (1999), White material (2009), and High Life (2018). Claire Denis’ transnational postcolonial work, from Djibouti, South Africa to multi-ethnic France, deals with themes of migration, human desires and fears. Her films are renowned for being filmed mainly on location, for playing with many cinematic genres and languages and they are internationally acclaimed.

Hitchcock's The Birds (1963), sees the director exploring a familiar theme: the 'romantic couple' tested by suspenseful events. But unlike his glossy 1950s hits, Hitchcock opts for muted visuals and performances in an unflinching examination of femininity under threat and masculine cruelty, framed by a dystopian revenge of nature narrative. Explore the master's last great film, scene by scene.

Who was Number 6?, Why did he resign?, Who was Number 1? – Patrick McGoohan the highest paid actor on British television had grown tired with the espionage series Danger Man (1960-67) and with the writer George Markstein created a new project – The Prisoner (1967-68). Over 17 episodes, with its mixture of surrealism, paranoia, pop art and spy thriller, The Prisoner defined the term “Cult Television”. From its inception to the present day, The Prisoner continues to intrigue and raise debate among television viewers.

Join us as we explore the careers of two of the most significant and influential film directors in the history of British cinema: David Lean and Carol Reed. We will chart their rise through the ranks as they undertook various roles in the British film industry and we will explore what made them such important filmmakers. We will look too at their signature visual styles and analyse in detail some of their most celebrated films.

What do The Apartment, The Great Escape, West Side Story, In the Heat of the Night, The Pink Panther, The Magnificent Seven, Fiddler on the Roof and Some Like it Hot have in common? They were all produced by one small production company, run by three brothers, as the studio system was replaced by the new independent producers. Most Hollywood history fetishizes the 1970s as the decade in which the movies finally came of age. But this course looks back to the late ‘50s and ‘60s and zooms in on a single independent production company, the Mirisch Company, to understand the seismic shift that transformed Hollywood – not only in how films were produced but also in terms of the subjects and styles of the films themselves.

The early 2000s saw the emergence of a number of Swedish and Norwegian crime series onto UK TV screens, including Wallander (dir. various, 2005-10), Forbrydelsen/The Killing (dir. Various, 2007), Borgen (dir. various 2010) and The Bridge (dir. various 2011), all broadcast on BBC4. The popularity of these dramas led to one critic to refer to them as ‘Nordic noir, the gift that keeps on giving’. Similarly successful were the film adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s hugely popular Millenium trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009 and 2011), The Girl who Played with Fire (2009) and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (2009). This one-day course will explore the history, context, development and reception of these TV dramas and films while also considering the various processes of adaptation and remaking involved in their production.

It's rare for a film studio to inspire affection. The giants of Hollywood (Warner Bros, Fox or Paramount) or Britain (Rank/Pinewood, Elstree) might be admired, but not loved. Ealing Studios was loved, and still is, well over half a century since its heyday. Pinewood—now known as the James Bond studio (see HF233 British Bond: James Bond in Cinema, 21st February 2026)—was built by J. Arthur Rank in 1936 and merged with Shepperton Studios in 2001 to become one of the technically advanced studios in the British film industry. Join us as we explore the history of these key British studios from their inception to the present day.

Historical drama is one of the most popular movie genres. But how accurate is it, and is that important? We will look at a sample of films and TV shows set in the Tudor era of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, to explore how the depiction of the past is presented on screen. Who are the heroes and villains, and do these depictions affect our understanding of real-life history? We’ll examine Elizabeth, The Other Boleyn Girl, Anonymous, Mary, Queen of Scots, A Man for All Seasons, and more.

Founded by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki in 1985, Studio Ghibli is the most well-known anime studio of all time, combining boundless imagination with a complexity that has led them to win both prestigious awards and the hearts of viewers. This course provides an overview of the history, artistry, and cultural influences of the studio for newcomers and fans alike.







Zoe Crombie is a film studies lecturer and researcher based at Lancaster University who specialises in Japanese animation. She has articles on Studio Ghibli in academic publications like the Journal of Anime and Manga Studies, and has presented on animation at international conferences. Additionally, she works as a film critic, with bylines at publications like Little White Lies, Vulture, and The Skinny.

Both commercial strategy and critical concept, genre provides critics and audiences with a way of distinguishing between types of films and narrative patterns, while affording filmmakers the opportunity to exploit successful formulas. Drawing on key theories of the concept, this course looks at a range of genres, and sub-genres, and the way in which they have evolved through cinema's history.

F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) is acknowledged as one of the all-time greats of cinema, expressing as one critic describes it, the ‘poetry of fear’ and as one of the first feature length vampire films it’s influence, and legacy has been widely felt. Robert Eggers’ recent remake Nosferatu (2024), comes just over one hundred years after Murnau's film and marks one of the most recent instalments in a genre that continues to renew itself for each generation of film viewers. Exploring a range of key vampire films from across this century of cinema, this course will explore why the vampire film remains such a popular sub-genre of the horror film and it will consider why it continues to exercise such power over its spectators.

2019 was marked by the death of a true mistress of world cinema, Agne`s Varda. This 6-week course will introduce you to her oeuvre, from her first feature film, La pointe courte (1955) to her final work, Varda par Agne`s (2019), exploring her life, her career and her status as a ‘feminist’ icon. We will also consider how the digital was central to her ‘rediscovery’ in the 2000s and how it was key to her later career.

Have you wondered why a film might have moved you so powerfully or why it looked so stunningly beautiful? Have you wanted to know quite how a film was able to communicate its story to you so effectively? If so, then this advanced level film studies course is for you. It aims to explore in depth the language of cinema, the way in which film connects with its spectators at the level of film form, in other words, film aesthetics. Writers and critics have long asked similar questions, as have filmmakers themselves, and we will follow some of the most celebrated in their quest for answers. We will look briefly at how films are made and at the importance of cinematography, editing, mise en scène and sound, before exploring in depth film’s aesthetic qualities. We will think about the importance of history for the development of film form and we will analyse clips and sequences from individual films so as to better approach and understand film aesthetics.