MFA in Production > Program Overview

Program Overview | MFA Degree Requirements | MFA Admission Requirements | Masters Timeline

The York Graduate Film Program was the first graduate program in film in Canada and continues in York’s interdisciplinary tradition of cutting edge scholarship. The Production MFA is housed in a Graduate Program that features Canada’s only BFA and MFA in Screenwriting and a lively Cinema and Media Studies stream which reflects the massive global expansion of media technology and the cultural impact of cinema and related media.

The MFA program immerses students in a two-year program of study that nurtures students’ academic, creative and professional goals. A wide range of required and elective courses enhances the range and depth of students’ skills and knowledge. All students gain teaching experience in the second year of the program as teaching assistants for courses in the undergraduate BA honours program in Cinema and Media Studies or in Production courses. The second year of MFA study is usually the intensive pre-production, production and post-production schedule for production students’ thesis projects (films).

Students are mentored by faculty supervisors who have won acclaim for their filmmaking. Thesis supervisory committees can also include Screenwriting and Cinema  and Media Studies faculty where the Department has two Canada Research Chairs in the areas of digital media and globalization (housed in a state of the art research facility that includes a Digital Urban Media Lab and an Augmented Reality Lab) and numerous recipients of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Standard Research and Research/Creation Grants.

York Film is the largest film department in Canada, and is situated in the centre of film culture in English Canada. Toronto provides students with exceptional exposure to film screenings (from Cinematheque Ontario to numerous repertory cinemas), festivals (over 100 film festivals occur each year, including the Toronto International Film Festival, Hot Docs, and Images Festival), and resources (research collections, studios, and industry offices). Recent guests at York include Jonathan Rosenbaum, Sarah Polley, Michel Brault, Dudley Andrew, Paul Sarossy, Thomas Elsaesser, David Gatten, Guy Maddin, Hito Steyerl, and John Sayles among many others.