Admissions

The Admissions Deadline for all applicants for Fall 2027 admission is February 15th, 2027. If you are taking BFA pre-requisite courses in Fall 2026 you may apply. (Those taking pre-requisite courses in Spring 2027 will not be eligible to apply for Fall 2027, but can wait until 2028 to apply for Fall 2028).  Admissions Notifications for Fall 2027 will be sent to applicants by April 1st, 2027. (*Note: All applicants includes High School and College Level applicants.)

Please note that the BFA in Film major has a second-tier admissions process: you must first apply separately to City College, indicate "Film" as your major, and be accepted to City College. For college-level applicants to the BFA, the "Film" major status only allows you to take our 3 pre-requisite courses. Then you will be eligible to apply to the full BFA program, by preparing a second BFA-only application; your application materials will be reviewed by our BFA Admissions Committee to determine your status in the major. *Please read the admissions page to understand how this process works. The program has a limited number of seats available each Fall. **If you are applying to join from high school, please also read carefully the Admissions page.

To receive an application and make inquiries about applying for Fall 2027, please reach out to us at BFAfilm@ccny.cuny.edu .

About the Program

First established in 1941 as the Masters Institute of Film Techniques, City College's BFA Film Program is one of the oldest film schools in the U.S. and the only public institution in New York City to offer a BFA in Film and Video. The mission of the program is to teach the art and craft of filmmaking, to explore the history and theory of film and video, and to provide intensive hands-on experience in fiction and documentary media production. Embedded in a humanities education, the program nurtures students to discover their unique voice and provides them with the knowledge and diverse skills to enter an ever-changing media world. The competitive program picks thirty students a year to follow a rich, intensive two-year curriculum with emphasis on single camera fiction and documentary production.

Courses in screenwriting, directing, producing, camera, sound, and editing prepare students to produce their thesis films in the second year. Students also take critical studies courses in the history, theory, and aesthetics of cinema to inform and contextualize their production skills.

Equipment & Facilities

The more things change, the more things stay the same. Working with technology is an important and integral part of the learning experience. As a program, however, we also understand that regardless of what camera you shoot on or what editing software you use, good storytelling is still the goal.

Undergraduate students in the BFA in Film & Video program use a range of prosumer flash card HD video cameras such as the Blackmagic Design, Panasonics AC160, HMC150 and AG-UX9, as well as the Sony A7III and GH4. The program provides a variety of location lighting, grip, and sound recording equipment for classroom assignments and student projects. Editing facilities include two non-linear digital editing labs using Premiere editing software and Macintosh computer systems. In addition, the department has two large lecture classrooms that can project film or video, two production studios with lighting and grip equipment, a "black box" theatre space that can also project film or video, and a resource center / conference room.