BA (Hons) Writing and Film at Anglia Ruskin University

Develop your writing and filmmaking skills while learning about the films, writers and directors that have shaped the medium. Learn to tell stories that engage audiences, whether you want to write poetry, drama, short fiction, or make films and documentaries. You’ll explore and develop professional writing techniques relating to film, with valuable feedback from professional writers as well as your peers.

Faculty: Faculty of Arts, Humanities, Education and Social Sciences  |  Department: Cambridge School of Art  |  Duration: 3 years; 4 years with placement  |  Study mode: full-time (placement year available)  |  Intake: September 2027  |  Location: Chelmsford, England, United Kingdom

What you will study

You’ll start off by developing essential knowledge and skills in writing, filmmaking, and film theory, which you’ll refer to throughout the course and beyond. In years 2 and 3 you’ll tailor the degree to your own interests with a variety of optional modules, as well as learning the techniques and conventions of short fiction, poetry and dramatic writing, and exploring classical Hollywood cinema and film journalism. Year 1: Film Language and Concepts, Creative Moving Image, Introduction to Imaginative Writing, Screenwriting: The Short Film, Contemporary Publishing for Writers. Year 2: Writing Short Fiction, Classical Hollywood Cinema, Theorising Spectatorship, Writing for the Stage, Ruskin Module; options include Documentary Film Theory, Filmmaking on Film: 16mm Filmmaking, Film Criticism and Reviewing, Independent Cinema: US and Beyond. Year 3: Writing Poetry, Film Journalism; options include Major Project Writing, Special Topics in Film Studies, Screenwriting: Writing and Selling the Feature Film, Experiments in Film and Moving Image.

Career pathways

What I did with the camera and how we edited it and put it on the screen, it made me go: ‘I can make anything happen if I put my mind to it’. Our optional modules allow you to explore your interests or specialise for a particular career in writing or film.

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