Internet sites for Film Studies

There are a large number of Film resources available on the Web and some selected sites are listed below. There are many other useful and relevant sites available.

Film Web sites

Further help on Internet searching

General film sites

Film databases
  • Internet Movie Database is the most comprehensive datababase of film information available on the Internet.
  • All Movie Guide is a comprehensive film database.
  • About.com: Classic Movies contains articles, features and many links to selected relevant Internet resources.
  • Moviemail is a mail order company supplying videos and DVDs, specialising in UK, foreign language, independent and classic films. The site includes a database of films currently in print.
  • indiemoviesonlien.com is a new, fully licensed and legal video-on-demand site. Their aim is to support filmmakers and make independent films available to as many people as possible. You'll also find news, cinema and DVD reviews and interviews on the site.
Gateways and networks
  • Cinema Sites has listings of film-related Internet sites.
  • Screen Research is a new social network established by Dr Luke McKernan, Curator of the Moving Image at the British Library. The network is designed to be an online centre for anyone interested in the study of the moving image, including researchers, lecturers and students. It provides news about upcoming conferences, festivals, and publications; information on resources, technologies and discoveries; a calendar of UK events and discussion forums on individual subjects. Members of the network can also set up their own special interest groups.

For other subject gateways that cover Film Studies see Gateways and search engines

Articles, features and reviews
  • The BBC Film site has features and reviews on a wide range of topics including:
    • British films
    • Bollywood
    • Alternative film
    • In-depth film stories
    • Reviews
    • Filmmaking advice
    • Short film showcase
    • Festival calendar
  • CineFiles A database of reviews, press kits, festival and showcase program notes, newspaper articles, and other documents from the collection of the Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley.
  • The Film Programme on BBC Radio 4 has a web site providing features and interviews. The web site for the Radio 4 Arts programme Front Row also offers film reviews.
  • Guardian Film is part of The Guardian newspaper's Web site and film-related articles, interviews and reviews.
  • Movie Gazette is a UK-based site which contains reviews of recent screen and DVD releases. Although the majority of films covered are from Hollywood, the site also provides coverage of British, European and Asian film releases.
  • Women in Cinema: a Reference Guide A guide to the resources available for the study of women in cinema.

Online film journals

A number of free online film journals are available. Some provide access to full text articles, while others may offer only recent articles/reviews to non-subscribers. For details of electronic journals which the Library subscribes to, see the Electronic journals for Film Studies page.

  • Empire Online Web site for the British monthly film magazine including archive of their reviews.
  • Films in Review has been published for some sixty years. Formerly a print journal it is now only available online. The web site includes a review section and the FIR Archive which provides articles from past issues, including contributions by famous filmmakers.
  • Film-Philosophy "A philosophical review of film studies and world cinema" is a UK-based journal published since 1996. As well as providing articles, the web site includes a Portal which has links to useful web sites and information about new publications and a Salon which offers a discussion forum.
  • Framework: The Journal of Media and Cinema the Web site provides contents pagesand selected articles from this journal as well as useful web links. For access to all full text articles, you must subscribe to the journal.
  • Images - a Journal of Film and Popular Culture is an online journal providing film reviews and articles. It includes an In Focus section giving features on topics such as Film Noir, the Western and Alfred Hitchcock.
  • Jump Cut - A Review of Contemporary Media is a journal which focused on the media in its social and political context.
  • Scope is a free online journal of film studies from the staff and students of the University of Nottingham. It features articles, book and film reviews plus conference reports.
  • Screen Daily provides regularly updated news bulletins on the film industry.
  • Screening the Past is an international, refereed, electronic journal of visual media and history. It is published with the support of the La Trobe University Publications Committee and the Media Studies Program in the School of Communications, Arts and Critical Enquiry in Australia.
  • Senses of Cinema is an online film journal "devoted to the serious and eclectic discussion of cinema". The journal is published by the Cinema Studies Program at the University of Melbourne. The web site includes a listing of film festivals worldwide with relevant links
    and a critical database of great directors.
  • Sight and Sound is a monthly journal published by the BFI. The web site includes an archive of reviews and articles from the latest issue. The printed journal is available in the Headington Library at J 791.43/S and selective online issues via our A-to-Z electronic journals service .
  • Variety Web version of the American film industry journal offers news bulletins and reviews, although older articles are only available to subscribers.

British film

  • Britfilms.com is produced and updated by the Film and Literature Department of the British Council and provides information about the activities of the British film industry. The site has various searchable databases including British Films in progress; Directory of International Film and Video Festivals and British Film Directors and also provides news about British films and the UK film industry.
  • British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) includes details of film-related events in the UK.
  • BBFC: official site for the British Board of Film Classification. Features include comments on cases of particular public interest, and a database of works classified by the BBFC, which gives details of the final classification, whether or not cuts were made before classification, and information on the director and principal cast members.
  • The British Cinema History Research Project based at the School of English and American Studies in the University of East Anglia.
  • British Film Insitute (bfi) is an organisation which exists to promote greater understanding and appreciation of, and access to, film and moving image culture in the UK. Their web site features information on exhibitions, collections, production and education, and describes the Museum of the Moving Image and the National Film and Television Archive.
    • The site has a Learning section designed to help students identify possible starting points for their research. This includes a Features section which provides in-depth resource guides on film themes and fim-makers.
    • The site also has a Research section which includes a Researchers' Guide, plus a link to the Film & TV Database and other searchable online databases produced by the bfi.
    • The bfi have also produced the Web site Screenonline which is dedicated to the history of film and television in Britain.
  • British Library listing of the British and Irish cinema and film journals they hold.
  • Britmovie is a Web site dedicated to British cinema. It includes information about films, directors and studios plus links to other film-related Internet sites.
  • BUFVC: British Universities Film & Video Council aims to promote the production, study and use of film and related media in British higher education and research. The site includes the following services:
    • The Film Archive Forum body representing the UK's Public Sector Moving Image Archives.
    • Moving Image Gateway a catalogue of over 600 web sites relating to moving images and sound and their use in higher and further education.
    • Researcher's Guide Online (RGO) database of over 530 film, television, radio and related documentation collections in the United Kingdom and Ireland, designed for use by researchers.
  • The Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) Centre for British Film and Television Studies promotes academic research on British Film and Television.
  • Film Education is a registered charity funded by the film industry in the UK which aims to encourage and promote the study of film and cinema within schools. The site includes access to free online study guides on specific films or topics. For study guides coverings topics or film genres, choose "Free Resources" from the links at the top of the front page. For study guides covering specific films, choose "Download study guides in the Film Library" from the menu on the left hand of the front page. This will take you to an A-Z listing of film titles.
  • AHDS Performing Arts Collections has links to a growing number of digital collections relating to the performing arts. These include:
    • The Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture Based at the University of Exeter, contains both a public museum and an academic research centre, housing one of Britain's largest public collections of books, prints, artefacts and ephemera relating to the history and prehistory of cinema, from Georgian and Victorian times to the present day.
    • EVE (Everyone's Virtual Exhibition) was designed to open up virtual access to the collection held at the Bill Douglas Centre. The service offers a fully searchable, image rich catalogue listing all items in the collection (including a number of digital interactives and over 2,400 digital images). There is also a personalised 'your collection' facility through which registered users can deposit and edit text and images from the catalogue; and an exhibitions feature, where registered users can select, organise and annotate images and adapt text to create their own online exhibition.
    • British Artists Film and Video Database lists British works gleaned from cinema and gallery programmes and the literature of the art form.
  • Screenonline produced by the bfi is dedicated to the history of film and television in Britain. It provides access to a range of resources including still images, analyses, biographies, posters, press books, student guides and pointers to resources for further study. Staff and students of Oxford Brookes can also access video clips and recorded interviews from the collections of the bfi National Film and Television Archive. Note that these clips can only be accessed from Brookes PCs - there is no off-campus access to these features.
  • UK Film Council newly-formed strategic agency for developing the film industry in the UK.

European film

  • 100 Years of Cinema in Europe gives potted histories of the cinema in most European countries.
  • BiFi (Bibliotheque du film) is a French language site providing extensive information about film. It includes online articles and "Dossiers thématiques" which give details and bibliographies on specific themes.
  • CINEFIL gives news and information on French films.
  • Cinegraph provides information on the history of German-speaking films.
  • La Cinémathèque française is an association based in Paris which is devoted to preserving and promoting French cinema. Its Web site includes articles about exhibitions and events.
  • The DEFA Film Library at the University of Amherst, Massachusetts is dedicated to the cinema of East Germany. The site provides an extensive bibliography, as well as other resources, links and conference announcements.
  • Filmportal.de is a freely available site giving a host of information about German film, from its beginnings in 1895 to the present . The site contains details about 38,000 German films, 3,000 of which are covered in-depth by synopses, reviews, photos or posters. There is also a wealth of information about German filmmakers and a section "Theme Worlds" which allows you to study the history and development of German film. The site is also accessible in an English language version.
  • The Association for Studies in French Cinema (SFC) produces the journal Studies in French Cinema which is available to Brookes staff and students via our Electronic Library. The SFC Web site includes useful links and a Download Area area which contains a variety of downloadable archive material, such as a list of theses and a list of recent books in French and English on French Cinema.

Hollywood film

  • Box Office Mojo gives box-office statistics, plus articles and reviews. You need to register to view certain parts of the site, but there is no charge.
  • Moderntimes Classic Film pages includes features on Hollwood film genres, actors and studios.

Independent, arthouse and world film

  • IndieWire offers in-depth coverage of the independent film scene
  • Kamera is a UK-based website providing features and reviews on arthouse, independent and world cinema.
  • Left Field Cinema aims to provide alternative analysis for mainstream films, whilst showcasing masterpieces in world cinema and examining the works of some of the greatest and most influential filmmakers. The searchable website contains podcasts, reviews, articles and a forum, contribution to which requires user registration.

Film libraries and archives

  • bfi (British Film Institute) National Library is the country's major national research collection on film and television. The main priority is to provide comprehensive coverage of British film and television, but the collection itself is international in scope. Users need to buy day, annual or weekly passes for the Reading Room, and annual passes for the Special Collections room.
  • FIAF - International Federation of Film Archives is a collaborative association of the world's leading film archives. Their Web site includes contact details for all member film archives, and details of FIAF publications, conferences and educational activities.
  • Library of Congress list of "Public Moving Image Archives and Research Centers".

Local cinemas

Brookes links

Gateways and search engines

Search engines such as Google and Yahoo! can be useful for searching for a known item on the Web, e.g. a famous person, company, event or product. To make best use of a search engine, you must be as specific about what you are looking for as possible. Search engines look for the terms you have entered in the full text of Web pages. This means that for every search you may get thousands of results, many that are not relevant for your needs, so they are not the best way of tracking down serious academic research.

Subject gateways are a useful alternative to search engines, offering online catalogues of selected subject specific web sites. They are usually producded by the academic community and can help you to locate good quality material on the Web.

Links to subject gateways:

Further help on Internet searching

Internet tutorials

If you are new to using the Internet, try an Internet tutorial which can teach you the basics of searching effectively:

  • The Library has set up a Brookes Virtual tutorial called Searching the web - Google and gateways to help you find out more about using search engines and gateways. To access this:
    • Go to the Brookes home page and select Brookes Virtual.
    • At the Brookes Virtual Gateway, click on the link for Self-Registration courses
    • Log into PIP as prompted
    • From the list of courses available, click the Register button for the course you want
    • On the next page to appear, click on the Register button
    • Click on the Go to the Brookes Virtual Gateway button
    • Log into the VLE and the tutorial will be available in your Courses List

  • Internet Detective Free Internet tutorial to help develop your skills in online research.
  • The Virtual Training Suite offers various free , "teach yourself" tutorials that allow you to practise your Internet Information Skills. These include an Internet Tutorial for Art, Design and Media which covers Film Studies.
  • TONIC the online netskills interactive course