Creative Documentary Filmmaking MA



Hone your creative documentary filmmaking skills on this unique online course that fosters community and industry engagement

Overview

This Masters in Creative Documentary Filmmaking offers a unique model of online delivery. This one-of-a-kind course offers a documentary-specific online learning experience, whilst giving you the chance to connect both virtually and in-person through a blend of teaching and industry networking activities.

MA Creative Documentary Filmmaking at Edinburgh Napier University will equip you with theoretical insight, practical tools and professional support to develop your documentary film practice and to build networks with the international documentary film industry. You will be encouraged to find your unique authorial voice and to make politically and aesthetically challenging and creative documentary films that speak to an international audience. You will learn about diverse documentary approaches and practices, and will have to consider aesthetic, ethical and environmental challenges.

We have a broad range of acclaimed documentary film practitioners across our well-established Film, TV, and Journalism programmes who will support you throughout your studies.

Edinburgh Napier is 2nd in the UK in Film Production and Photography (Guardian University Guide 2024) and number 1 modern university in the UK Drama, Dance & Cinematics (Complete University Guide 2024).

Image (right): Film still from OJ TATO, 2024 - Winner: Royal Television Society award for Best Scottish Student Undergraduate Factual Film. Shortlisted for the same national award.
 
 
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Mode of Study:

Distance learning (available as Full-time)

 
 

Duration:

2 years

Start date:

Sep

Course details

This programme aims to enable you to:

  • Develop your research skills and documentary filmmaking techniques
  • Explore diverse creative approaches to documentary storytelling
  • Develop critical insights into documentary film histories and theories
  • Cultivate an understanding of the key philosophical debates underpinning documentary film practice
  • Critically analyse and solve creative and aesthetic problems in your documentary filmmaking practice
  • Acquire an understanding of philosophical, ethical, environmental and political contexts of engagement with individuals and communities
  • Develop professional collaborative and communication skills to support a sustainable documentary filmmaking practice
  • Create your networks with crew, other filmmakers, and industry professionals
  • Create a portfolio of work that includes the development and production of a high-quality documentary film
  • Plan your goals and career path with an understanding of the current cultural and commercial contexts of the documentary film industry
  • Develop the capacity, tenacity and rigor to work independently as a researcher and practitioner
 
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    How you’ll be taught

    The programme offers online modules that support you to extensively research, develop and produce a high-quality creative documentary film alongside a portfolio of short film exercises. Learning activities will include a combination of synchronous and asynchronous lectures, interactive group webinars, practical synchronous workshops, and individualised feedback tutorials from filmmakers and industry professionals. There will be online learning resources and recorded technical demonstrations to support and develop skills in directing, producing, interviewing, camera operation, sound-recording, editing and sound design. You will be encouraged to establish contacts with local film organisations and networks to support the production of your films. This will allow for developing a sustainable film practice within your own environment.

    You will have the optional opportunity to meet in-person with your fellow-students and your tutors at three junctures during the programme, to exchange ideas, develop contacts and a community, and to receive hands-on one-on-one support. These in-person meetings will take place at international documentary film festivals, in Germany, France and the UK, where you have the unique opportunity to build networks with filmmakers, producers, commissioning editors and other industry professionals. You will also have access to industry events and documentary film screenings at each festival. The meetings will take place at the research/development phase (autumn), the pre-production/production phase (spring), and the post-shoot/pre-edit phase (early summer).

    If you are unable to attend one or more of these meetings, we will provide suggestions for alternative online festivals that you could attend instead. In this case, you will be offered one-on-one online contact time with your tutors to receive support and feedback equitable to those students attending festivals in-person.
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    Assessments

    You will be assessed on a combination of practical work, written work, and presentations. The practical work will comprise assessable short creative filmmaking exercises and a final project film developed over 12 months (if you are a full-time student). This will be accompanied by evidence of your research and the development of your ideas. You will professionally present your film ideas in an assessable pitch package aimed for funders and commissioning editors. You will be assessed on reports to evidence your engagement with the film industry. You will demonstrate your critical engagement with documentary approaches, histories, theories and key philosophical debates, through assessable presentations and/or written essays. You will also be assessed on outputs that explore the impact of your practice.

     
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    Facilities

     This programme will use a range of digital technologies for learning and teaching, for communication, and for sharing work. Developing knowledge about and the critical understanding of a variety of digital tools are an integral part of the programme's Learning Outcomes. You will have access to email (Outlook) and data storage (One Drive). Through Moodle, our online environment, you will engage with digital resources, such as access to library services, your reading lists (Leganto), recorded lectures (Panopto), collaborative spaces for research (Padlet and Whiteboard), and chat forums.

    Moodle is also used to access information about your modules, timetables and assessments. All assessments will be digitally submitted via Moodle or OneDrive. We will use Teams to meet, communicate and chat in all the modules on a weekly basis.

    Across all the modules and for your assessments, you will be able to access and use a range of digital resources to support your writing (Word, Acrobat), presentations (PowerPoint), planning (Whiteboard), and research (library resources, Padlet). In 'Documentary Practice', 'Documentary Development' and 'Documentary Project', you will be introduced to relevant software tools necessary for the development and production of your documentary film, such editing and post-production tools. In these modules and in 'Documentary Output', you will be encouraged to learn about relevant technology and software to support your individual creative practice. In the event that you are unable to access the internet for certain synchronous activities, you will have the opportunity to catch up, communicate and collaborate after the event, via resources and notes available on Moodle, and by using Teams chat or the chat forum on Moodle.
     

Disclaimer

Study modules mentioned above are indicative only. Some changes may occur between now and the time that you study.

Full information is available in our disclaimer.

Entry requirements

What are the entry requirements for Creative Documentary Filmmaking?

The entry requirement for this course is a Bachelor (Honours) Degree at 2:2 or above in any discipline. We may also consider lower qualifications if applicants have sufficient relevant work experience within a relevant industry. Applicants are required to submit a portfolio alongside their application. You can find our portfolio guidance below.

Note on Portfolio

On your application form, please include links to your portfolio. Each project should be under 15 minutes in length. As part of your portfolio, you should also include a written description of your role on each project. We also welcome a 500 word proposal outlining the project that an applicant might want to develop on the programme, however this is not required at the time of application.

Can I make an appointment with an advisor to discuss further about the admission process?

If you want to get more information on the admission process, please get in touch with the postgraduate admissions team by submitting an enquiry form above.

If your first language isn't English, you'll normally need to undertake an approved English language test and our minimum English language requirements will apply.

This may not apply if you have completed all your school qualifications in English, or your undergraduate degree was taught and examined in English (within two years of starting your postgraduate course). Check our country pages to find out if this applies to you.

We welcome applications from students studying a wide range of international qualifications.
Entry requirements by country

Please note that international students are unable to enrol onto the following courses:
  • BM Midwifery/MM Midwifery
  • All Graduate Apprenticeship courses.

See who can apply for more information on Graduate Apprenticeship courses.

We’re committed to admitting students who have the potential to succeed and benefit from our programmes of study. 

Our admissions policies will help you understand our admissions procedures, and how we use the information you provide us in your application to inform the decisions we make.

Undergraduate admissions policies
Postgraduate admissions policies

Fees & funding

The course fees you'll pay and the funding available to you will depend on a number of factors including your nationality, location, personal circumstances and the course you are studying. We also have a number of bursaries and scholarships available to our students.

Tuition fees
Students from 2024/25 2025/26
Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Republic of Ireland £7,280 £7,650
Overseas and EU £18,800 £19,750
Tuition fees are subject to an annual review and may increase from one year to the next. For more information on this and other tuition fee matters, please see our Fees and Funding links above.
The University offers a 20% discount on Postgraduate Taught Masters programmes to its alumni. The discount applies to all full-time, part-time and online programmes. The discount can only be applied to year one of a full-time Postgraduate degree, any additional years are exempt from the discount. For part time Postgraduate degrees the discount will apply to years one, two and three only and any additional years will be exempt from the discount. Please read our full T&C here
Please note that the tuition fees liable to be paid by EU nationals commencing their studies from 1 August 2021 will be the Overseas fee rate. The University offers a range of attractive Tuition Fee bursaries to students resident in specific countries. More information on these can be found here.


Careers

Graduates of the MA Creative Documentary Filmmaking will have the opportunity to work professionally as creative documentary film directors or creative documentary director/producers. They will be equipped to initiate and/or develop careers in documentary film production. Additionally, there are deep historical links between documentary film production and research degrees and teaching in higher education. This programme prepares graduates for both pathways. Graduates might choose to go on to PhD study and become involved in teaching in higher education internationally.

Employability is a key element of the programme. This is sustained by assessments in 'Documentary Practice' and 'Documentary Development' that encourage you to create links and networks with your local film industry. In 'Documentary Development', you will be taught how to professionally communicate your creative ideas through written treatments, pitch presentations, and film teasers. The optional in-person (or online) meetings at international documentary film festivals, across three junctures during the programme, create unique liaising and networking opportunities for you, enabling you to meet, get acquainted with, and pitch ideas to industry professionals, funders, distributors, and commissioning editors. The skills developed through a unique self-designed assessment in 'Documentary Output', which could include an art installation, or a website, or a marketing report, could offer you transferable skills that might lead to opportunities beyond the film industry. You will also acquire transferable research, presentation and writing skills in 'Narrative Voices and Perspectives' and 'Research in Film Practice', through assessments that include an essay, presentations, and writing exercises.

 
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