Film Studies/Media Studies

This guide is designed to help Film Studies students in the English Department, as well as Media Studies students in the Communication Department.

Featured Web Sites

NOTE: The blue titles below are hot links.

National Film Registery
Includes over 550 American films, selected by the Library of Congress' National Film Preservation Board, and deemed culturally, artistically, or historically significant. The Registry includes Hollywood classics, documentaries, animation, home movies, avant-garde shorts and experimental motion pictures. Selected films are at least ten years old when nominated. 
The list on IMDB is organized by induction year, and allows you to link to film credits. http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000468/overview

Based on the Book
From Mid-Continent Public Library: 'Based on the Book' is a compilation of over 1,100 books, novels, short stories, and plays that have been made into motion pictures. Utilizing the Internet Movie Database as the authority, all movies in this collection have been released as feature-length films in the United States, in English, since 1980."

Box Office Guru

A database containing comprehensive box office data on motion pictures released between 1989 and the present. Over 3,600 films are included and can be browsed alphabetically. Each film has an Opening and a Closing date.
A good tool for assessing public tastes.

Independent Lens
"Airing weekly on PBS, the four-time Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens is like an independent film festival in your living room. Each episode introduces new documentaries and dramas made by independent thinkers: filmmakers who are taking creative risks, calling their own shots and finding untold stories in unexpected places." (from their web site)

DVDs: Frequenty Asked Questions

Film Locators

Simultaneously search the online film catalogs of eight popular film distributors for documentary, independent, educational and social issue films etc. Includes 3,200+ titles. The distributors are Bullfrog Films, California Newsreel, Direct Cinema Limited, Fanlight Productions, First Run/Icarus Films, Frameline, New Day Films, and Women Make Movies.
This free online index contains information on over 446,000 films produced around the world between 1888 and 2009. Includes film details and references to published materials. Though also a subscription database, searchers can access contents by using the "Free access..." link.

Film Festivals

Inside Film Magazine Online

Links to film festivals around the world - by region, and by date.

Box Office Numbers, Ratings etc.

Local Resources for Filmmakers

Film Scripts