Our students are diverse, driven, multi-faceted media artists. While at Northwestern, they author original works across a range of genres: innovative documentaries, films that blur fiction and nonfiction, and projects that embrace emerging technologies. Grounded in nonfiction, our program promotes experimentation with hybrid techniques and the latest distribution platforms. The goal? To support the development of each students’ unique artistic voice and vision, and to expand their repertoire of expertise to tell stories in a form that best resonates with the content.

Our faculty includes award-winning filmmakers whose work has reached international audiences at festivals, in cinemas, galleries, online, and on television. Our visiting artists include documentary luminaries such as Khalik Allah (Black Mother), Lisandro Alonso (Los Muertos), Garrett Bradley (Time), Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel (Leviathan), Kevin Jerome Everson (The Island of St. Matthew), Yance Ford (Strong Island), Christopher Harris (Still/Here), Steve James (Hoop Dreams), Kirsten Johnson (Cameraperson), Fox Maxy (Ma’at Means Land), Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing), Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro), Nicolas Pereda (Fauna), Courtney Stephens (American Sector), Brett Story (The Hottest August), Deb Stratman (Illinois Parables), Frederick Wiseman (Titicut Follies), Bradford Young (Arrival), Shengze Zhu (Another Year), and more. Our equipment and facilities include top-of-the-line cameras, lighting, editing suites, and a brand-new soundstage/recording studio.