MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN FILM PROGRAM

Related Pages: Master of Fine Arts in Film Program | MFA Handbook

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Film program in the Department of Radio, Television and Film at Howard University provides for a sound and balanced education in film studies. The program, now in its twentieth year, requires rigorous study in all areas of film production.

Specific MFA courses include: Scriptwriting, Cinematography, Film Directing, Film History, Film Theory and Criticism, African American Cinema, African Cinema and Film Production, Distribution and Exhibition.

The MFA in Film program seeks to:

• Encourage and enhance personal artistic expression in cinema.
• Provide advanced technical instruction in the craft of filmmaking.
• Augment the student's appreciation of the historical, aesthetic, psychological, and socio-political heritage of the film medium.

Housed in the John H. Johnson School of Communications on the main campus of Howard University, the graduate film program is ideally located in the heart of the media capital of the world, Washington, DC. Readily accessible to the student are great research and media institutions such as the: Library of Congress, National Archives, Smithsonian Institute, National Geographic Society, Discovery Channel, American Film Institute, Howard University Television (WHUT-TV, Channel 32) and most of the major broadcasting and cable corporations.

Students have access to a consortium of universities and colleges and their libraries in Washington, D.C. including the Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library. Howard University itself offers an impressive collection of research material in Black History and Culture that is vital to the development of a progressive cinema. Some campus facilities include the Moorland Spingarn Research Center, The Media Center in Founders Library, and the libraries of the Medical and Law schools.

Our student body has a strong international flavor. Hailing from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, South America, Canada, and the United States, our students contribute to a healthy multicultural setting. Graduates of the MFA in Film program have distinguished themselves as independent filmmakers, teachers, cameramen, writers, and producers.

MFA in Film alumni include:

• Kingsley Owuso-Afriye, (Ghana) Film School Director, Accra, Ghana
• James Balls, (USA) Associate Editor, WNET-TV
• Andrew Millington, (Barbados) Independent Filmmaker and Assistant Professor, Howard University
• Parene Jaddo, (Lebanon) Independent Filmmaker
• Daniel Williams, (USA) Assistant Professor of Film, Bowling Green State University
• Joy Arungwa, (Nigeria) Assistant Professor of Film and Television, Bowie State University
• Soubhagyalkshemi Vadianathan Areke, (India) Independent Filmmaker and Assistant Professor, Howard University
• Olanyi Areke, (Nigeria) Independent Filmmaker and Director of Student Training, WHUT-TV, Channel 32
• Patricia Hilliard, (USA) Independent Filmmaker
• Shekhar Kammula, (India) Feature Film Producer/Director, India. National award recipient for his film Dollar Dream
• Mriyutinjoy Roy, (Bangladesh) Independent Filmmaker. Received national recognition for his film Tears of Fire
• Serena DeSantos Ferguson Mann (USA) General Manager, University of Maryland Television