Documentary Filmmaking Major, bachelor

Spelman College's documentary filmmaking major is uniquely designed to address the needs of the 21st-century student born into a digital world where moving images, storytelling, and investigating social concerns have significant currency.

While documentary filmmaking has exploded internationally over the last twenty years, one rarely sees women of African descent at the helm in this field. Through its documentary film program, Spelman will develop a new and urgently needed generation of Black women documentary filmmakers who see the world through their histories and interests.

The major is an outgrowth of the Digital Moving Image Salon (DMIS), which was founded in 2003 by award-winning filmmaker Ayoka Chenzira, PhD. DMIS taught students to analyze films and use digital media tools to produce documentary films that focus on women of colour's lived experiences. The filmmaking program merged traditional documentary film strategies with emerging approaches to create new forms of storytelling, and it also explores new exhibition and distribution possibilities.

The new major is guided by distinguished faculty. The major underscores the value of a liberal arts education by supporting work at the intersection of visual culture, humanities, and new technologies and thus expands the definition of documentary film production.

With this major, you will:

Develop your artistic voice and produce films with a point-of-view

Develop a deeper understanding of visual language and filmmaking as an art form and as a form of rhetoric

Learn the technical aspects of production

Create a dynamic storytelling experience through creative writing for documentaries

Develop new strategies for production in the digital age

Learn the business of the art form, ethics, community engagement, and portfolio development

The documentary filmmaking major offers a robust production experience and includes film history, writing, and new documentary production forms. It will prepare you for graduate school, professional industries, and community engagement.

Additionally, the program will connect itself to the local documentary film community through guest lectures, events, and an annual festival -- the culminating event for seniors in the film program.

A global leader in the education of women of African descent, Spelman is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), and we are proud members of the Atlanta University Center Consortium.

Today our student body comprises more than 2,100 students from 43 states and 10 foreign countries. Spelman empowers women to engage the world's many cultures and inspires a commitment to positive social change through service. We are dedicated to academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences and the intellectual, creative, ethical, and leadership development of our students.

Spelman is proud of its 76 per cent graduation rate (average over six years), one of the best in the nation, but our support does not stop once you step on stage to take your diploma. Our global alumnae network is strong, providing connections and helping hands to graduates as they begin on their path of global engagement.

Spelman College, a historically Black college and a global leader in the education of women of African descent, is dedicated to academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences and the intellectual, creative, ethical, and leadership development of its students. Spelman empowers the whole person to engage the world's many cultures and inspires a commitment to positive social change.