Vassar was one of the first liberal arts colleges to create a broad and substantive film major.

The Film Department is international in its screen studies scope, stressing a diverse canon ranging from silent films to television to online streaming content. The film major grounds our students in film history and theory and offers seminar courses in fiction and non-fiction production, as well as screenwriting for shorts or feature films. We specialize in integration: integrating film studies and filmmaking; teaching film and television; and offering interdisciplinary approaches to cinema’s wide-ranging cultural influence.

Events

Allee Willis sits on a circular bed in the middle of a music video set, the walls are splatter painted and there is a heart with lights surrounding it on the wall behind her.

Prudence Fenton ’75 will be featured at a screening of a documentary she co-produced about her partner, the songwriter Allee Willis. Open to the public.

An image from the original Metropolis poster: a monochrome drawing of an android with architecture behind.
Feb. 8, 2025, 7:30 p.m.

Metropolis Reimagined is a new scoring of the 1984 restoration of Fritz Lang’s classic film, performed live by acclaimed pianist Po-Wei Ger and electronic artist Drake Andersen.

MODfest 2025

News

A decorative image with text overlayed. It reads, "Sweetheart Deal: A feature documentary by Elisa Levine & Gabriel Miller".

Vassar alum Brittany Kaplan ‘09 will be at New Paltz’s Denizen Theater on Friday, December 6th and Saturday, December 7th participating in a Q&A after the screenings for the new feature production she has edited: Sweetheart Deal.

Black and white image of two people dressed for warmth in a gentle hug.

Vassar Film Faculty Fabio Andrade will be introducing Mudar de Vida (Change of Life, 1966) on Saturday, October 19, at 7 p.m. as part of MoMAThe Ongoing Revolution of Portuguese Cinema, which will run from October 17 to November 19. Directed by Paulo Rocha, and features the Brazilian actor Geraldo Del Rey, who appeared in several important Brazilian films, such as Glauber Rocha's Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (Black God, White Devil, 1964) and Anselmo Duarte's O Pagador de Promessa (The Given Word, 1962).