Declaring the Major

This rich and diverse program offers rigorous engagement with the entire culture of moving-images in the larger context of humanistic studies, teaching students to think historically, theoretically, and analytically about a wide range of cinematic and para-cinematic forms. At the same time, it encourages students to look at moving-images from the vantage point of other disciplines.

Graduates of this program find success in many areas with many students pursuing graduate school in film or the humanities, others entering Law School or MBA programs, and others finding exciting work in media. 

Film & Media Major Map

Film & Media Major FAQs

Declare your major

You may declare the Film & Media major after completion of either Film 10 or Film 20 with a letter grade of C or better, and once you have completed at least 30 units.

To declare, submit the Film & Media Major Declaration Form. Please note that the processing of your request will be completed within three weeks.

Film & Media courses typically fill completely during Phase 1 Registration. If you plan to declare your major in Film & Media, please be aware that there is high demand for our courses. Depending on your personal timeline and circumstances, it is possible to plan on taking summer courses to fulfill some major requirements.

Requirements for the Film & Media major (Fall 2020 or later)

Declaring the Film Major

To declare a major in Film, students must have completed a minimum of 30 units and have satisfactorily completed Film 10 or 20 with a grade of C or higher.

Student must receive C- or higher in all of the classes for the major in order for them to count towards requirements. Please note that courses for the major in which a student earns below a C- will not be counted, and the student will need to retake that class to have it count. 

Student must have at least a 2.0 GPA in the major in order to graduate. 

We do not offer a minor in Film, although we do offer a departmental Summer Certificate in Film & Media Industries and Professions.

Double Majors

Many Film & Media majors elect to complete a second major in addition to Film & Media. Students must be able to complete both majors within a within their given number of terms, or have a unit total of less than 136 units if pursuing additional semesters. Students can have no more than two courses which are counted towards both majors’ requirements. Students considering a double major should consult with their Undergraduate Major Advisors in each department.

Lower Division Requirements

12 lower-division units are required for the major.

Two courses are required of all majors:

  • Film 10 (Film History and Form), 4 units, generally offered Fall, Spring, and Summer. This course is an introduction to the early history of cinema (from its nineteenth-century prehistory to the sound cinema of the 1930s) and to the interpretive skills necessary for close analysis of film. NOTE: this is a revised and renumbered version of Film 25A in the previous curriculum.
  • Film 20 (Film and Media Theory), 4 units, generally offered each Fall, Spring, and Summer. This course is an introduction to the theoretical study of a range of media, including photography, film, television, video, and print and digital media.

One of the three following courses completes the lower-division course requirement:

  • Film 30 (Film Aesthetics), 4 units, generally offered each Fall and Summer. This course familiarizes students with some of the major technological and aesthetic innovations of the past 80 years which have given rise to the cinema as we know it today. NOTE: this is a revised and renumbered version of Film 25B in the previous curriculum.
  • Film 35 (Digital Media), 4 units, offered in Spring. This course examines the ways in which digital media first developed and have come to shape our engagement with contemporary culture, with a particular focus on aesthetics, form, and politics.
  • Film 45 (Television Studies), 4 units, offered in Fall. This course provides an overview of the history of television as a dynamic set of technologies, industrial practices, and cultural forms.

Upper Division Requirements

A minimum of 28 upper-division units are required for the major.

Upper-Division Core Requirement. Successful completion of three of the following four courses (12 units):

  • Film 125 (Documentary Forms), 4 units, generally offered in Spring. Examines the ways in which documentary impulses and forms are present in various media—photography, film, video, new media. NOTE: this is a revised version of Film 128 (Documentary Film) in the previous curriculum.
  • Film 135 (Alternative and Experimental Media Art), 4 units, generally offered in Fall. The course explores the international development of artist-made, experimental and avant-garde film, electronic or new media practices.NOTE: this is a revised version of Film 129 (Avant-Garde Film) in the previous curriculum.
  • Film 145 (Global Media), 4 units, generally offered in Fall and Spring. This course focuses on topics in national, transnational, and global cinema, television, photography, and/or new media, examining the ways in which shared cultural discourses, institutions, histories, and modes of production are negotiated through various media practices within and between individual cities, nations, regions, and/or global networks. NOTE: this new variable-topics course could include some of the courses taught as Film 160 (National Cinema) in the previous curriculum.
  • Film 155 (Media Technologies), 4 units, generally offered in Spring. This course focuses on the history, theory, and experience of old and new media technologies, examining the emergence and implementation of media technologies, the discourses surrounding them, their use by media institutions and/or artists, and the forms, styles, aesthetics, modes of address, and experiences they afford. NOTE: new course design for this curriculum.

Upper-Division Elective Requirement. Successful completion of a minimum 16 units of elective courses chosen from the following

  • Film 170 (Special topics in Film and Media), 4 units, generally offered in Fall and Spring. NOTE: this is a renumbered version of Film 140 in the previous curriculum.
  • Film 171 (Special Topics in Film Genre), 4 units. NOTE: this is a renumbered version of Film 108 (Film Genre) in the previous curriculum.
  • Film 172 (Special Topics in Auteur Theory), 4 units. NOTE: this is a renumbered version of Film 151 (Auteur Theory) in the previous curriculum.
  • Film 177 (Entertainment Law), 4 units. Taught in Summer only. Can be double-counted as a Film major requirement and FMIP certificate requirement.
  • Film 180 (Introduction to Screenwriting), 4 units.
  • Film 181 (Advanced Screenwriting), 4 units.
  • Film 182 (Television Screenwriting), 4 units.
  • Film 184 (Documentary and Nonfiction Film Production), 4 units.
  • Film 185 (Narrative Production), 4 units.
  • Film 186 (Advanced Digital Video), 4 units.
  • Film 187 (Special Topics in Media Production), 4 units.
  • Film 190 (Capstone Seminar), 4 units.
  • Film 193 (Intermediate Film Writing), 4 units.
  • Film 194 (Advanced Film Writing), 4 units. Juniors and Seniors only.
  • Film H195 (Honor’s Thesis), 4 units.

*Film & Media majors may count Film 177: Entertainment Law toward the upper division elective requirements for the major. Film 176 and Film 178 CANNOT be used to satisfy upper-division elective requirements for the major.

Internships

These opportunities may supplement the upper-division elective coursework, although only four units may be counted towards the 28 upper-division unit requirement for the Film majors. Students who have identified an external internship for which they wish to receive credit should consult with one of the Undergraduate Faculty Advisors, regarding enrollment in Film 197B. Only 4-units of internship units. Film 197B: Film Study for Majors (3 units), 

In addition, a list of pre-approved film elective courses and course descriptions drawn from course offerings by affiliated faculty across the campus is available each semester. The faculty Undergraduate Major Advisor (UMA) will distribute and post the approved list to Film majors each term. Students should consult with the UMA regarding course selections.

Up to two (8 units) pre-approved extra-departmental elective courses can be counted for credit towards the major, this also includes waived (approved classes taken at other institutions) and approved courses while taken abroad; all other courses must be taken within the Department of Film & Media.

*Of the 16 elective units required for the major, only one 4-unit course may be taken P/NP; all other courses must be taken for a letter grade.

Requirements for students declaring prior to Fall 2020

Film & Media Major

To declare a major in Film & Media, students must have completed a minimum of 30 units and have satisfactorily completed Film 25A or 25B (with a grade of C or higher).

Student must receive C- or higher in all the classes for the major in order for them to count.  Please note that courses for the major in which a student earns below a C- will not be counted, and the student will need to retake that class to have it count. 

Student must have at least a 2.0 GPA in the major in order to graduate. 

We do not offer a minor in Film & Media Studies, although we do offer a Summer Certificate.

Double Majors

Many Film & Media majors elect to complete a second major in addition to Film & Media. Students must be able to complete both majors within a maximum of 140 units, and can have no more than two courses which are counted towards both majors’ requirements. Students considering a double major should consult with their Undergraduate Major Advisor.

Lower Division Requirements

12 lower-division units are required for the major.

  • Film 20 (Film & Media Cultures), 4 units, generally offered each Fall and Summer. This course is an introduction to the study of a range of media, including photography, film, television, video, and print and digital media.
  • Film 25A (History of Film I), 4 units, generally offered in Fall and Summer.  This course covers film from its beginnings, including the silent period and the conversion to sound, up until the World War II era.
  • Film 25B (History of Film II), 4 units, generally offered each Spring and Summer. This course covers film from the World War II era through the New Wave and into the emergence of the new ethnic and national cinema.

Upper Division Requirements

A minimum of 28 upper-division units are required for the major.

Required courses (12 units):

  • Film 128 (Documentary Film), 4 units, generally offered in Spring: An analysis of the development of the documentary film, including examples by Flaherty, Riefenstahl, and Wiseman.
  • Film 129 (Avant-Garde Film), 4 units, generally offered in Fall: A survey of experimental film including examples by Vigo, Duchamp, Leger, Bunuel, Clair, Brakhage, Kubelka, Snow and Rainer.

Plus one of the following:

  • Film 108 (Genre), 4 units: Focuses on a particular genre, e.g., western, horror film, film noir, animation, melodrama. May be repeated for credit.
  • Film 151 (Auteur), 4 units: Focuses on the work of a single director, e.g., Griffith, Eisenstein, Lang, Fellini. May be repeated for credit.
  • Film 160 (National Cinema), 4 units: Focuses on the cinema of a particular nation or region. May be repeated for credit.

Film & Media Electives

A minimum of 16 units are required to complete the total of 28 upper-division units in the major.

Students may choose to take additional courses from the upper division Film & Media offerings, including extra courses in Film 108 (Genre), Film 151 (Auteur), or Film 160 (National Cinema), or other electives such as Film 140 (Special Topics), Film 177 (Entertainment Law), Film 179 (Sound), Film 180/181 (Screenwriting), Film 185/186 (Narrative Production), and Film 187 (Special Topics in Media Production), all of which will count toward the upper-division unit requirement.

In addition, a list of pre-approved film elective courses and course descriptions drawn from course offerings by affiliated faculty across the campus is available each semester. The Undergraduate Major Advisor (UMA) will distribute and post the approved list to Film & Media majors each term. Students should consult with the UMA regarding course selections.

Up to two (2) pre-approved extra-departmental elective courses can be counted for credit towards the major, all other courses must be within the Film & Media Department.

*Of the four required required elective courses for the major, one may be taken P/NP, all other courses must be taken for a letter grade.

Language Requirement

Language Requirement for student admitted Fall 2017 or after:

Students may complete the second semester or higher of a college-level language course in one language, which has to be taken at the UC Berkeley Campus (French 2, German 2, etc.) or a more advanced language class taught in the target language (French 102, German 102, Spanish 25, etc.).  Students should take a course at the appropriate level.  Those students with no foreign language background will need to take the first and second semester sequence in one language.

There will be no waivers or credit given for courses completed in high school or at community college. Film majors have to take at least one language course at UC Berkeley, second-semester level or a higher, in order to pass the requirement.

The requirement cannot be completed at an outside institution (with the exception of UC-approved study abroad programs). This rule also applies for transfer students who took a four- semester sequence at community college; students must stil enroll in one further language course at Berkeley, preferably an upper division language course.

Native/Heritage speakers are NOT exempt from the requirement to take a UC course, but they can take the heritage-speaker version of their native language (e.g., Spanish 21). International students will be required to provide a copy of a high-school transcript from home to verify coursework in their native language at the high-school level.

Foreign language classes need to be completed with a C- or better to count for the major requirement (or a “Pass” if using the P/NP grading option).

Internships

Students may choose to participate in structured internship opportunities through the Pacific Film Archive (Film 197A and Film 197C). Students who have identified an external internship for which they wish to receive credit should consult with an Undergraduate Faculty Advisor regarding enrollment in Film 197B. Only 4-units of internship units may be counted towards the 32 upper-division unit requirement for the Film & Media major. Film 197A: Film Study at the Pacific Film Archive (2 units), Film 197B: Film Study for Majors (3 units), Film 197C: Film Curating at the Pacific Film Archive (2 units).