UC Berkeley - Department of Film & Media

I absolutely loved my time at UC Berkeley and I would not have traded doing my undergrad there even for a top spot at UCLA for a BFA in Film Production, which for many years was my dream. I ended up appreciating Cal's film department being small, being everchanging and growing, and for offering a really strong theoretical foundation that actually made my work that much more critical and strong in my filmmaking practice. Berkeley is amazing because you really have the opportunity to develop a style of your own without the pressure to conform to the standards of rigid, industrial, traditional narrative filmmaking which is often practiced at some bigger programs. As I begin my UCLA MFA this year, the only reason why I was open to it after attending Berkeley was because it seems like they're taking steps in the right direction to offer a similar sort of freedom Berkeley offered me after a long history of being a super industry-oriented school. I can't recommend the program at Cal more--this is where you go if you're a creative and need that creative freedom to explore your own style of writing and filmmaking. I don't think you can be a proper and thorough filmmaker without that foundation and I think a lot of undergrads tend to be really put off by places that aren't "BIG FANCY INDUSTRY FILM SCHOOL" because they think it's what they need to be a good filmmaker. Here to tell you that it's actually NOT what you need. That critical background will make you that much more qualified.

We have a great lab to access resources and equipment and it's actually way better than you'd expect. My only drawbacks are I wish the department was better at getting transfers more involved in departmental/campus happenings and that our DML lab (place you go to check out equipment) had more stuff in stock, but that's been growing and changing too over the years.

Graduated in December 2022.

I can answer any specific questions people may have--feel free to respond here or private message me.

hi, I am a returning student to Uc Berkeley and I am really committed to being a film major when I do return. I think all I really wanna know I think all I really wanna know is why do you value that more than what you might’ve gone in a different school that focuses on production? And how many opportunities have you had to create your own films because of the resources and connections at Berkeley.

I got waitlisted by UCB film major (undergrad). If I get off the waitlist, I'll definitely commit to UCB. So, how likely would I get off the waitlist? Did anybody know the probable waitlist acceptance rate for this major?

It's a little difficult to say. With Berkeley, if you get accepted/rejected/waitlisted and the major you applied to was in the College of Letters and Sciences, you're in that whole pool with other people in the college. I think it's a first-come, first-serve and I'm not sure exactly how much the actual program gets a say. I'd wait it out, people are still sending their responses on whether or not they accept their offers and I'm sure once the college gets an idea of how many admits there are, they'll see what kind of room they have in each program. I don't think it's actually very hard to get off the waitlist with the school but with the college's involvement, it may be different. Sorry if that's a confusing answer, but I have a feeling everything will work out and you'll be in soon!

Looking for a review of UC Berkeley's film program from upper level students to recent graduates (2019+). Are most film studies majors, double majors? As a UC Berkeley film studies ONLY major - now that you have been in the program would you considering transferring to a more "established" film school such as USC, UCLA, NYU, Chapman, etc?

Howdy! I am almost finished with UC Berkeley's Film & Media program. This was previously the film major, but was rebranded a short while ago.
UCB prides itself on being the only academic institution that offers film study as its primary area of focus. The program does have a few production classes, but spaces are limited and they are very difficult to get into.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this when I was just starting out, but I definitely do not regret any of my time spent at UCB. My film theory classes at UCB have reshaped how I consume and produce media, and many others aspects of my life as well.

All in all, I think this was a pretty unique opportunity to really dive deeply into film in a way that other programs may not be able to provide while they focus on production.

I do look forward to production opportunities in the future! I'm excited to take everything I've learned about films and filmmaking and put it into practice!

Thanks Sara! Did you double major at Cal?

I was a Film and Sociology double major. I'd definitely suggest double-majoring if you can. It gets tricky if you try to add on an impacted major as your second major but it's doable, you just may have to apply while you're at Berkeley to get into that major because a lot of those high-demand programs like Business are pretty impacted. Thankfully you can definitely do it, you just need a plan for it and need to start planning early on. If you only do Film you may get a little bored and I think you'll actually get way more out of your time in the program if you double major.

UC Berkeley - Department of Film & Media

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