Director’s Message

Greetings from the Graduate Program in Cinema & Media Studies/Film. Founded in 1980, Canada’s the first graduate program in film has grown into one of the most expansive programs in the country, hosting MA and PhD degrees in Cinema & Media Studies and an MFA in Film, with specializations in Production and Screenwriting. We are internationally recognized for our award-winning faculty, advanced facilities in film and media art production, and dedication to student success.

Located in Toronto, a global centre for film culture, the Cinema & Media Studies/Film program recruits excellent students who will join a prestigious group of alumni who have gone on to diverse and satisfying careers as academics, artists, filmmakers, scriptwriters, and a host of other creative and scholarly professions. We invite applicants from a wide range of backgrounds who are inspired and invested in exploring the full range of moving image media forms and their cultural impacts. Our students work closely with faculty to produce creative and scholarly major research and film projects, theses, and dissertations.

The Program’s core faculty are rooted in the Department of Cinema & Media Arts, but we also draw on scholars across York University, including the wide array of professors in the celebrated School of Arts, Media, Performance and Design (AMPD), which includes expertise in Computational Arts, Dance, Design, Music, Theatre, Art History and Visual Arts. Interdisciplinarity, Equity, and Diversity, key York strengths, are realized for our students in their scholarly and creative endeavours.

York University puts its commitment to social justice in its mission statement. We support and work to implement the Action Plan Addressing Anti-Black Racism and the Colonization of Indigenous Peoples in Canada formulated by the Department of Cinema and Media Arts. The Action Plan responds to the ideas, experiences and criticisms of faculty, students, alumni, and staff, and we welcome your contribution.

Manfred Becker and Michael Zryd
Graduate Program Directors

_{A photo of Professor Manfred Becker}

_{A photo of Professor Michael Zryd}