Cinema majors dedicate their undergraduate experience to the study of narrative filmmaking. From technical crafts such as camerawork and editing to creative leadership roles in writing, producing, and directing, VCUarts Cinema students learn skills in pre-production, production, and post-production as well as studying the history of cinema.

If you dream of working on professional movie productions, completing this major will help you to prepare for a variety of real-world positions.

Graduates have been accepted into M.F.A. programs at NYU, FSU, Columbia, and The New School, and have worked on numerous productions around the region and beyond, including films such as Harriet, Boy Erased and Loving, and television shows such as Insecure, Homeland, The Walking Dead, and High Maintenance.

Degree Programs

Life as Cinema

– Why Consciousness Makes Us Irreplaceable Storytellers

Yoserra Bouchtia reflects on consciousness, identity, and the power of human storytelling. Through the lens of filmmaking, she explores how awareness allows us to observe our lives more deeply and make meaning from lived experiences. Her talk reminds us that the stories only humans can tell come from presence, wonder, and the courage to look inward. Yossera Bouchtia is an award-winning filmmaker and educator whose work bridges experimental storytelling, cultural memory, and the experience of the sublime in everyday life. Her films span genres including magical realism, neorealism, thrillers, biopics, drama, and experimental forms. Drawing on her Moroccan-American upbringing, her storytelling bridges East and West, amplifying unheard voices and shedding light on unseen truths. Bouchtia approaches storytelling as a practice of being – an invitation into consciousness, attention, witnessing, and deeper presence. She holds an M.F.A. in Film Directing from Columbia University and a dual degree in Cinema and Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she is currently Associate Professor and Program Director of Cinema at VCU School of the Arts. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

The Work

Floating

Sofie Edwards

Cinema major, Sofie Edwards (B.A. ’24) recieved a VCUarts Undergraduate Research Grant to produce, Floating, a short film about a ghost who falls in love with a balloon. As the balloon slowly deflates, it teaches the ghost the importance of letting go.

VCUarts Opera Trailer for “Speed Dating Tonight!” by Michael Ching

VCUarts Music & Cinema Students

VCUarts Opera created a trailer in Fall 2024 for their production of "Speed Dating Tonight!" by Michael Ching, which was created in collaboration with the VCUarts Cinema department.

Magnaforma

Research Faculty and Students

Magnaforma is a large-scale, award-winning, multi-university arts research exhibition designed to harness the power and precision of a large industrial robotic arm whose movement over time will physically create the entire surface topography of Mars here on Earth.

Students filming a test scene of When the Phone Rings, a psychological drama featuring a mother and child and a reality that may be as terrifying as they fear.

When the Phone Rings

VCUarts Cinema Program

Summer Intensive Cinema Students filming Critic's Choice, a dark comedy about an abduction and the desire for creative validation at private residence in the Ginter Park neighborhood.

Critic’s Choice Location Shoot

VCUarts Cinema Program

Students filming a test scene of Prety When You Die, a film that explores the not too hidden underbelly of influencer culture.

Pretty When You Die

VCUarts Cinema Program

title card for the film New Strairs showing a couple's faces with a man in the background holding a lemon in front of the womans eye in the foreground while she is holding a lime in her mouth

New Strains

Artemis Shaw and Prashanth Kamalakanthan

/ 7

Our Faculty

are Teachers and Doers

Faculty act as executive producers, working alongside students from pre-production to post. We also employ a casting director as an adjunct professor and hold real casting sessions for every film.
Meet Our Faculty & Staff
Cinema students and faculty outside the Depot and Depot Annex filming on location as part of the Cinema Program Summer Intensive film shoot.

Equipment & Facilities

We are conscious of our students’ financial need and do not require any student to purchase their own filmmaking materials. No additional tuition is charged for filmmaking expenses, and student films use professional equipment and auditioned actors.
Explore our Facilities

Featured Productions

We seek to replicate the environment of a professional film set in terms of both staffing and protocol. Students work on crews from 25-75 people, while the faculty act as executive producers, working alongside students from pre-production to post. We also employ a casting director as an adjunct professor and hold real casting sessions for every film. Unlike other top film schools, your tuition also covers all of your filmmaking expenses, from equipment rental to film development.
View past productions
Cinema students filming on location

Work with Us

  • Cinema student wrapping up cabling

    Student Crew request form

    If you are interested in hiring VCUarts Cinema students as crew members for a project, please fill out the form with all pertinent information. We will share your listing with students and they will reach out to you if they are interested or available. Filling out the form does not guarantee student participation!
  • Student actor getting makeup done on set

    Actors

    Casting for all VCUarts Cinema films is done through Anne Chapman Casting.

Latest News

Apply

Start your application today

Prospective student? Get started on applying to VCUarts today!
Apply now

Connect with Cinema

Phone
804.828.6506
Address
814 West Broad Street Richmond, VA 23284-3048