Admissions

Regular Admissions application deadline for FALL 2025 - March 15th, 2025

Students must have taken City College's three film pre-requisites or the equivalent.

We are now accepting applications from high school students who have attended art or film high schools/programs. Application deadline for FALL 2025 - February 15th, 2025

Students must be able to submit a 5-10 minute video portfolio for review.

High school students are not expecetd to have taken the pre-requisite courses.

A letter of recommendation is required from a high school guidance counselor, teacher, or college counselor.

_{Please note that this is a second-tier admission program with a separate admissions process from City College. Fall classes are not repeated in the spring so students can apply only once a year in April to start the following fall.}

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.