View the contact page for more contact and location information
Email academic.registry@tcd.ieWhy do films affect us the way they do? How did filmmakers and film theorists respond to the introduction of sound? What is a digital story world? These are just some of the many questions that Film asks students to consider in lectures and small-group seminars. Over the course of your degree, you will encounter a wide range of film styles and movements from the beginning of film up to the present day. You will engage with diverse critical perspectives and explore the social, cultural, and ideological implications of film as art and popular culture. In addition to academic assignments, you will be encouraged to respond creatively to critical issues via projects, presentations, practical exercises, and video essays, as well as to develop your screenwriting skills.
Film at Trinity is not a practical or professional training programme. Instead, the course is built on strong academic and intellectual foundations. Depending on the pathway you choose, areas of study in the first two years may include; film analysis, the history of Hollywood cinema, introduction to non-Western cinemas, aspects of European cinemas, cinema and Ireland, theories of the digital image, basic screenwriting using the format of the writers’ room, the potential of the smartphone to create mini-dramas, documentary theory and short documentary film practice. In third and fourth years, you will build on what you have learned with more advanced options that provide a range of opportunities for critical and experiential learning.
Trinity is ranked in the top 40 for Performing Arts (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025), reflecting the high quality of our teaching and learning. Many Film students are engaged with DU Film Society and with Trinity Film Review, the student-run film journal. Our students regularly attend film festivals and organise screenings and film events.
Our ‘In Conversation’ series of public talks offers students the opportunity to attend talks by leading practitioners. Participants to date include: Lenny Abrahamson, John Butler, Emer Reynolds, and Ed Guiney.
Film formed an Industry Advisory Panel in 2019. Members of this panel include: Lenny Abrahamson, Aoife Duffin, Gavin Fitzgerald, Paddy Breathnach, Alan Gilsenan, Ed Guiney, Neasa Hardiman, Katie Holly, Lucy Kennedy, Helena Korner, Claire McGirr, Niall McKay, Maeve O’Boyle, Marian Quinn, and Ken Wardrop. While many of our graduates enter the film industry in a variety of roles, further training may be necessary to be industry ready.
Depending on the pathway you choose, core modules in the first and second years for all Film students may include: Introduction to Film Analysis, American Cinema from the Silent Era to the 1930s, American Cinema from the 1930s to the 1950s, Introduction to European Cinemas, Introduction to Non-Western Cinemas, Introduction to Digital Media, Ireland and the Cinema. In addition, Single Honours core modules include Introduction to Film Practice, Introduction to Screenwriting, Introduction to Editing, Video Essays, and Introduction to Documentary Theory and Practice. Core modules are subject to change from year to year.
In the third and fourth years, students choose from a wide range of electives. Recent electives include: Current Issues in Irish Cinema, Melodrama, Digital Theory and Practice, Writing for the Small Screen, Writing for the Big Screen, Writing for Film, Women and Film, Music in Audiovisual Media, Punk Cinema, Film Theory, Film Festival Studies, TV History and Theory, Contemporary Non-Western Cinemas, Creative Producing, Practical Visual Storytelling, New Hollywood Cinema, Cult Cinema, Issues of Film Style and Performance. Chosen pathways may affect the electives available to you. Electives are subject to change from year to year.
Film students are assessed by a combination of essay, assignment, project, class participation and presentation. In their final year, students undertaking a capstone in Film have the option of completing a 10,000 word dissertation, or a screenplay plus 4,000 word critical analysis, or a video essay plus 4,000 word critical analysis.
There are QQI/FET routes available for this course. Please see www.cao.ie for details.
Film has Erasmus exchanges with a number of universities. Students regularly participate in non-EU exchanges (at UCLA, USC, University of British Columbia and others). For more information on study abroad destinations and requirements visit: www.tcd.ie/global/mobility/outbound
All applicants to Trinity are required to provide official evidence of proficiency in the English language. Applicants to this course are required to meet Band B (Standard Entry) English language requirements. For more details of qualifications that meet Band B, see the English Language Requirements page here.
For a full list of undergraduate fees, click here.
To apply to this course, click on the relevant Apply Link below
Read the information about how to apply, then apply directly to CAO.
Read the information about how to apply for Advanced Entry, then select the link below to apply.
Register your interest in studying at Ireland’s leading university, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin.
---Eva-O-Donnell.jpg)
The part I really enjoy about my course is the range of different time periods and cultures that I get to study in both the Film and English modules. It has opened so many new and fascinating perspectives and ways of thinking for me.
Student
