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Creative Documentary by Practice MFA

London, Stratford (UCL East)

Designed for students with filmmaking experience who want to develop their craft and deepen their artistic practice, this 21-month practice-based Creative Documentary by Practice MFA degree will provide you with the practical and theoretical skills to create outstanding non-fiction film work that interrogates the contemporary world.

UK students International students
Study mode
Full-time
UK tuition fees (2025/26)
£20,500
Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)
£36,500
Duration
21 months
Programme starts
September 2025
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 27 Jun 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 29 Aug 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of a lower second-class Bachelor's degree from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard, or a pass at a non practice based Masters. We require an example of your film work to support all applications. We will accept applications from practitioners whose portfolio of work and CV demonstrates communicative and artistic achievement to the level of BA.

We would like to see a portfolio of your film work. This could be single film work or multiple shorter films - but no showreels. Each film should include your role in the credits. Please also submit a short text about a film project you would like to make with illustrative images or photos.

How to submit your portfolio:

You can submit the film project proposal by attaching a PDF in your application. You can submit your film work by including a link to an external site of your choice at the end of your personal statement).

The English language level for this programme is: Level 4

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

The Creative Documentary by Practice MFA will train you in the craft and techniques of non-fiction filmmaking. You will develop your understanding of documentary as a creative research practice, making films which interrogate and explore the contemporary world.

In the first year, you will produce three short films, supported by weekly workshops, seminars, tutorials and screenings. In the second year, you will produce your graduation project: a longer film exploring a subject of your choice, supported by an industry mentor.

In addition to your core practical filmmaking, you will take three optional modules from a range offered within the department. From audio production to experimental cinema, you will specialize in the elements of public anthropology that interest you most.

You will also take the MFA module on collaborative filmmaking and work with a researcher or practitioner from another field on a collaborative documentary project. This module is offered exclusively to students studying the MFA in Creative Documentary by Practice.

You will learn to produce creative and compelling films and graduate an imaginative, risk-taking and intellectually engaged filmmaker, trained to produce your ideas to a professional standard and push boundaries in the field.

Graduation films produced on the MFA Creative Documentary by Practice have screened internationally at BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying film festivals, and have been nominated for Grierson and Royal Television Society awards.

Recent works include Dancing Palestine by Lamees Almakkawy, which received a Special Mention in the International Short Film Competition at Sheffield DocFest 2024, and Ma, Let’s Fly Together by Yash Zhang, which was selected for the Edinburgh Pitch Lab 2024.

Who this course is for

The Creative Documentary by Practice MFA is best suited to students who already have made film work, and wish to push themselves creatively. We expect students to arrive with an understanding of how to shoot and edit, with a good working knowledge of Adobe Premiere Pro.

Students without filmmaking experience are encouraged to apply to the Ethnographic and Documentary Film (Practical) MA.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

“As a filmmaker who wants to specialize as a non-fiction storyteller, after years of working with different formats, I couldn't have found a better program to do so. Since day one, I have been motivated by one exercise after another to go out and explore the world through my camera and learn about all sides of non-fiction storytelling with an expanded point of view, and exactly the right balance between practice and theory. This has genuinely elevated the momentum of my development as a filmmaker as it keeps me fully aware of the bigger picture and contextualize my practice."

Ahmed Ragab, Creative Documentary by Practice MFA, 2021-2023

  • You will receive advanced training in all aspects of documentary filmmaking, from independent research and development through to production skills, including camera work and sound recording, and post-production processes such as non-linear editing, colour correction and sound mixing. The third term of the second year is devoted to festival strategy and distribution of your graduation film.
  • You will be loaned your own full camera kit for the duration of your studies, avoiding the need to check equipment in and out, and benefit from full access to editing suites. Students on the MFA program also benefit from specialist kit that they can loan from the department.
  • This programme is based at our brand new UCL East campus in East London, forming part of the School for Creative and Cultural Industries. Students will benefit from cultural and educational connections with our East Bank partners such as the V&A and BBC, as well as state-of-the-art facilities including exhibition, performance and curating spaces, conservation studios and a 160-seater surround-sound cinema.
  • UCL houses London's global non-fiction film festival, Open City Documentary Festival, providing a unique opportunity to engage with the global creative non-fiction industry.
Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

You will graduate with a portfolio of film work, ready to pursue your next steps as a filmmaker. With a wide range of both creative audio-visual storytelling skills, including videography, sound recording and audio and video editing skills, you'll be equipped to pursue a successful career in the wider creative industries or any profession requiring strong project management, problem-solving and communication skills.

I acquired practical skills in audio-visual storytelling that have been invaluable to my career aspirations. I gained hands-on experience with state-of-the-art cameras, audio equipment, and editing studios, learning to use these tools with industry-level precision.

Profile picture of Caroline Coyer.

Caroline Coyer

Creative Documentary by Practice MFA

Employability

Graduates of the Creative Documentary by Practice MFA will be equipped to pursue a range of careers, including:

• film and TV, as directors, producers, camera operators, editors and researchers
• mass media, including cinematic, broadcast and web-based moving image
• academia, including ethnographic research

Networking

The MFA will allow you to benefit from UCL's unique position in London, at the centre of the UK creative industries. The programme uses professional filmmakers to teach within a truly pan-disciplinary university research environment. In addition to the tutors at UCL, students will also regularly meet external industry professionals in the masterclasses and workshops which run throughout the course, exposing students to the top-level cinematographers, sound designers, and editors working in cinema today. UCL houses London's global non-fiction film festival, Open City Documentary Festival. MFA students will gain access to this festival, providing a unique opportunity to engage with the global creative non-fiction industry.

Teaching and learning

You will learn through one-to-one tutorials, practical workshops and exercises, interactive seminars involving critical discussion, masterclasses, screenings and self-directed watching and reading.

While planning and producing your graduation project, you will benefit from one-to-one supervision with an industry mentor.

Year one:
In terms one and two, you will spend 2-3 days a week in taught sessions. In term three, you will spend 1-2 days a week in tutorials. Across year one, you will spend at least 2 days a week filmmaking.

Year two:
In term one, you will shoot your graduation film and attend tutorials. In term two, you will edit your graduation film and attend tutorials and weekly seminars. In term three, you will attend weekly sessions and workshops as you tackle festival strategy and distribution for your film.

You will be assessed through a series of formative (exercises for which you will receive feedback but do not count toward the degree) and summative exercises (exercises for which you will receive feedback and do count toward the degree), including film work of varying lengths and styles, written critical reflection of your film work and your graduation project.

For full-time students in the first year, typical contact hours are around 12 hours per week. Outside of taught sessions, full-time students typically study the equivalent of a full-time job, using their remaining time for self-directed filmmaking, and completing coursework assignments.

In terms one and two full-time students can typically expect between 10 and 12 contact hours per teaching week through a mixture of lectures, seminars, workshops, crits and tutorials. In term three, students can expect around 7 hours contact time per week. In the summer period, students will be completing their graduation film research, keeping regular contact with their industry mentors.

In Year 2, students will return for an intensive “lab” equivalent to 25 hours, delivered through a series of workshops, seminars and tutorials. After the lab, students can expect around one hour a week supervision as they shoot their graduation films. When they return in term 2, students will have approximately 6 hours a week contact time through a mixture of edit tutorials and work-in-progress screenings, with approximately 24 hours a week to be spent in the self-directed edit of their graduation films. In term three, students can expect around 6 hours a week of contact time to be spent in workshops, with the remaining time to be spent in the self-directed post-production finishing of their graduation films.

Year one averages at:

  • (33%) 10 hours of teaching (seminars, tutorials, workshops, masterclasses, work-in-progress screenings, exercise reviews) per week.
  • (66%) 20 hours per week of self-directed filmmaking.

Year two averages at:

  • (25%) 6 hours per week of teaching (seminars, tutorials, workshops, masterclasses, work-in-progress screenings).
  • (75%) 24 hours per week of self-directed filmmaking.

Modules

In the first year, students complete four compulsory modules:
 

  • Introduction to the Practice of Creative Documentary Film.
  • Advanced Practice of Creative Documentary Film.
  • Collaborative Film.
  • Research Work and Research Book.
     

The first term in year 1 will start with exercises designed to reframe your approach to documentary filmmaking. These film exercises build towards a short film and accompanying written text delivered by the end of the first term. The second and third term of year 1 focus on a longer film work, followed by research and development for your graduation film.

In Collaborative Film, you will work with a researcher to collaboratively devise a film piece. The collaborator can be an academic, a research team or any other practitioner in another field.

In the second year, you will independently produce your graduation film project: a creative documentary film/moving image project on a subject of your choosing. You will also produce a written text reflecting on your process.

Alongside their compulsory modules, students will take three optional modules offered by the documentary film programme within Anthropology.

Compulsory modules







Optional modules











Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 300 credits. Upon successful completion of 300 credits, you will be awarded an MFA in Creative Documentary by Practice.

Fieldwork

In year one, you will spend the summer researching and developing your graduation film project. In year two, you will shoot and edit your film, with many students choosing to shoot their films abroad.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

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Join us at our Bloomsbury campus to discover where a postgraduate degree with UCL Social & Historical Sciences will take you. At this in-person event, you'll have the opportunity to learn more about our departments and our wide breadth of degree programmes. You'll have the chance to hear from academic staff and current students, and ask any questions you might have about the department, your chosen course and studying at a world-leading university.

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UCL East Postgraduate Open Evening

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Discover our range of practice-based, postgraduate programmes and cutting-edge facilities at our UCL East Postgraduate Open Evening. Visit us for your chance to learn more about the future-focused, interdisciplinary degrees we offer and to meet leading researchers delivering our programmes and chat with current UCL students.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time
Tuition fees (2025/26) £20,500
Tuition fees (2025/26) £36,500

2-year programme, comprising 300 credits in total. The full-time fee quoted is for Year 1 only.

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

For Full-time and Part-time offer holders a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

You will need two external hard drives capable of securely storing your film material. UCL will provide one of these, but you will need to purchase a second. This is essential in order to avoid loss of irretrievable film material in the event of a hard drive failure. Portable external hard drives costs around £200 for 5TB.

All students will be provided with an Adobe Creative Cloud licence. We encourage students to complete their coursework on campus as the computers on site are equipped to support video editing. The Adobe Creative Cloud user licenses will enable students to work from home but we cannot support students to upgrade or purchase personal devices.

As this programme is based at the UCL East campus in Stratford, students choosing to take an optional module only available at the Bloomsbury campus will need to fund their own travel between campuses. Tickets from zone 2 to zone 1 costs £8.50 for students or a travel card zone 1-4 for £15.90.

UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

UCL East Scholarship

The scholarship works to support the ambitions of east Londoners by funding the fees and living costs of eligible Master's programmes including this MSc at UCL. For further details, please visit: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships/ucl-east-london-scholarship.

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Aziz Foundation Scholarships in Social and Historical Sciences

Value: Full tuition fees (equivalent to 1yr full-time) (1yr)
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: UK

UCL East London Scholarship

Deadline: 26 June 2025
Value: Tuition fees plus £16,000 stipend ()
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: UK

Next steps

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application, we would like to learn:

• why you want to study Creative Documentary by Practice at graduate level
• how your personal, academic and professional skills and experience inform your interest in this MFA degree
• where you would like to go professionally with your degree

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2025-2026

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

Anthropology
Anthropology

public.anthro@ucl.ac.uk

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