COURSE OVERVIEW
Gain the skills and confidence to become a successful documentary maker.
We put storytelling at the centre of the filmmaking process, while at the same time encouraging you to experiment and develop your personal voice. You'll get the best practical experience possible, making four different films during your time on the course.
Content Tabs
You'll develop the vital skills of both directing and collaboration, as you work with students in other specialisms to make several films and participate in practical projects. You'll also learn about commissioning, and the legal and financial side of getting a film made.
Throughout the course, you'll also access vital networking opportunities, meeting Industry professionals and attending at least one film festival. From the start to the end of the documentary filmmaking process, you'll leave fully prepared to launch yourself, and your films, into the Industry.
COURSE FACILITIES
Throughout the course, you will have access to Industry standard production facilities and be trained to use digital 4K cameras, a range of sound recording equipment and editing software.
We are excited to announce this MFA course is part of an innovative slate of new qualifications from 2025/2026. Our A Fresh Take page tells you all you need to know!
The first year consists of four practical exercises, increasing in length and complexity. These focus on the techniques and approach of a specific documentary genre: observation, sound and music, character–led narrative and an enquiry. You’ll collaborate with editors, sound recordists, sound designers and composers, and are encouraged to build relationships with cinematographers and producers. You are also expected to know how to work alone.
The second year includes three projects: a graduation film in which you’ll synthesise what you have discovered in the first year, and use it to challenge conventional approaches to documentary; an MFA dissertation in which you reflect on a documentary topic that has intrigued you during the course; and the opportunity to develop a project to take out to the Industry.
The second year also consists of a visit to a film festival, meetings with broadcasters and contact with Industry professionals alongside seminars on commissioning, legal requirements, financing and distribution. The specialist nature of our courses mean that you’ll gain the relevant skills and experience you need to go straight into the industry.
Above all, you’ll need a strong social awareness and a keen desire to translate that awareness into stories told with a personal voice.
Our students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have usually had some previous experience of filmmaking, though this may not be at a professional level.
While many applicants will have a degree from a British or overseas university, we will consider applicants who do not have a degree if they have an impressive portfolio, a creative track record or an alternative qualification.
International students Visa and English language requirements
If you have any questions, please email info@nfts.co.uk.
The following item(s) should accompany your online application:
- A short film(s) (up to 3 films can be submitted, totalling 20 minutes), which you have conceived and directed. Please submit your work via Vimeo links. Please note, that if you wish to submit a longer film, only the first 20 minutes will be viewed. If you are submitting multiple films, please specify which sections should be watched, amounting to 20 minutes in total. If dialogue is not in English, you should enclose a dialogue transcript in English.
- A written proposal for a different film of any specified length (no more than approx. 2000 words, typed and double spaced) which should include the basic premise, a description of the characters and locations and most importantly, the developing narrative.
Applications will close at 23:59 on the day of the deadline, shown at the top of this page.
Funding Available
The NFTS awards more scholarships and bursaries to British students, relative to the size of our student body, than almost any other educational institution in the UK. If you’re successful at gaining a place on the course, you will be contacted by our funding team with details on how to apply for one of these scholarships.
Tutors
Student Showcase
The Waiter, The Scientist and Jenny (trailer)
2024 graduation film
Director - Joe Snelling
The Waiter, The Scintist and Jenny won the 2024 All3 Media Best Student Documentary award at the Grierson Awards, and has been nominated. It has also been nominated for the David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award at the prestigious IDA Documentary Awards.
Knife's Edge (trailer)
2024 graduation film
Director - Rodrigo Andrés Durán Osorio
Knife's Edge recently won Best Student Film at The One World Media Awards. This is the second year in succession that an NFTS film has won this prize.
Happy - The Elephant In The Courtroom (trailer)
2023 graduation film
Director - Laura Rindlisbacher
Winner of the 2023 BAFTA Student Film Award for Documentary.
With Woman (trailer)
2023 graduation film
Director/Producer - Mia Harvey
Winner, ALL3MEDIA Best Student Documentary, Grierson Awards 2023
Cadáver (trailer)
2023 graduation film
Director - Benjamin Kodboel
Cadáver was shortlisted for a 2023 Student BAFTA award.
3 Promises (trailer)
2022 graduation film
Director - Mohamed Shalaby
3 Promises advanced to the semi-final round of the 49th annual Student Academy Awards.
Miss Curvy (trailer)
2020 graduation film
Director/Producer - Ghada Eldemellawy
Miss Curvy has been multi-award winning include the All3 Media Best Student Documentary Prize at the Grierson Awards, a finalist at the 2020 Student Academy Awards and was nominated for the British Short Film Award at the EE BAFTA Film Awards.
Graduate Success
The level of quality of both our students and the course means that students are regularly nominated for, and win, prestigious prizes around the world. In recent years they have been consistent winners at the Grierson Awards, as well Sheffield DocFest, BAFTA, Student Academy Awards, Royal Television Society, Hot Docs, Poitiers and many others.
Recent credits include...
Formula 1 Drive To Survive
Director/Producer Piers Sanderson
Graduate Success
The level of quality of both our students and the course means that students are regularly nominated for, and win, prestigious prizes around the world. In recent years they have been consistent winners at the Grierson Awards, as well Sheffield DocFest, BAFTA, Student Academy Awards, Royal Television Society, Hot Docs, Poitiers and many others.
Recent credits include...
Grenfell: The Untold Story
Director James Newton
BAFTA Craft Award Winner for Director: Factual, BAFTA Television Award nominated for Best Single Documentary and Royal Television Society Awards nominated for Best Single Documentary.
Graduate Success
The level of quality of both our students and the course means that students are regularly nominated for, and win, prestigious prizes around the world. In recent years they have been consistent winners at the Grierson Awards, as well Sheffield DocFest, BAFTA, Student Academy Awards, Royal Television Society, Hot Docs, Poitiers and many others.
Recent credits include...
Being Blacker
Director Molly Dineen
BAFTA TV Award winner for Best Single Documentary (The Lie of the Land) and Best Factual Series (The Ark).
Graduate Success
The level of quality of both our students and the course means that students are regularly nominated for, and win, prestigious prizes around the world. In recent years they have been consistent winners at the Grierson Awards, as well Sheffield DocFest, BAFTA, Student Academy Awards, Royal Television Society, Hot Docs, Poitiers and many others.
Graduate credits include...
Whitney: Can I Be Me
Director Nick Broomfield
Nick's other credits include Last Man Standing: Suge Knight and the Murders of Biggie & Tupac, Sarah Palin: You Betcha!, Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer, and Kurt and Courtney.
Graduate Success
The level of quality of both our students and the course means that students are regularly nominated for, and win, prestigious prizes around the world. In recent years they have been consistent winners at the Grierson Awards, as well Sheffield DocFest, BAFTA, Student Academy Awards, Royal Television Society, Hot Docs, Poitiers and many others.
Recent credits include...
Subnormal
Director Lyttanya Shannon
Lyttanya was named as one of BAFTA's 2021 Breakthrough talents.
Graduate Success
The level of quality of both our students and the course means that students are regularly nominated for, and win, prestigious prizes around the world. In recent years they have been consistent winners at the Grierson Awards, as well Sheffield DocFest, BAFTA, Student Academy Awards, Royal Television Society, Hot Docs, Poitiers and many others.
Recent credits include...
The Changin’ Times of Ike White
Director Daniel Vernon
Winner of the Best Documentary category at the 2020 Royal Television Society Northern Ireland Awards.
