For more information email info@aftrs.edu.au or call 1300 223 877 or for future offerings register your interest
Become a creative leader in the global screen industry
In the digital era, documentary film and series have engaged and impacted international audiences like never before.
The Master of Arts Screen: Documentary will develop your directing, storytelling and leadership skills through hands-on specialist workshops, masterclasses and industry mentoring. You will work closely with students across all disciplines including Producers, Cinematographers and Editors to create world-class, market-ready projects.
AFTRS has repeatedly been hailed in the top 15 film schools internationally. This course will provide the skills required to become a successful documentary maker in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
Is the Master of Arts Screen: Documentary right for you?
WHY DO THIS COURSE
You will get access to tutors and guest lecturers with high level industry experience, who will deliver hands-on specialist workshops, masterclasses, academic expertise and mentoring.
You will learn about visual storytelling and screen business, expanding your understanding of all aspects of documentary making – from story conception, development and pitching, through to shooting, editing and industry marketplace.
You will collaborate with fellow students in small cross-disciplinary groups, developing and building future industry networks and collaborators. You are also expected to know how to work independently.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
You will direct at least four films during the MAS Documentary course, with shoots both on-location and at AFTRS world-class studios.
You will develop your creative voice through intensive practical workshops. This will deepen your understanding of documentary and best practice collaborations, supporting you in becoming a creative leader. The first year will explore the fundamentals of visual storytelling through hands-on workshops that increase in scale and complexity, including: Writing for documentary; Observational cinema; Interview techniques; Archival and Experimental cinema. In the second year, you will direct a major project and a strategically aligned research project.
During the course, there will be an opportunity for a professional placement, which aims to support your transition into the industry upon graduation.
Career opportunities
AFTRS Documentary graduates have screened their features and shorts all over the world, winning major prizes. Many graduates have become leaders in the Australian documentary industry. AFTRS documentary alumni include: Robert Nugent, End of the Rainbow (2007); Rebecca Barry, I Am A Girl (2013); Sascha Ettinger-Epstein, The Oasis (2008), The Pink House (2017); Madeleine Hetherton, The Surgery Ship (2017), Larissa Behrendt, After the Apology, (2017); Hollie Fifer, The Opposition, (2016).
Meet Your Lecturers
Richard Welch
Richard Welch is an experienced documentary curator, lecturer and filmmaker, with over 20 years’ experience in the screen media industry.…
Dr. Alejandra Canales
Dr. Alejandra Canales is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with an extensive career in directing, producing, curating and programming, and teaching…
You will learn to
Demonstrate advanced knowledge of theory and practice as a documentary maker
Apply a deep understanding of cinematic storytelling to create audience-engaged work for the screen
Implement a creative practice that synthesises specialist knowledge and an understanding of personal process
Apply an adaptable skillset
Demonstrate an ability to collaborate across diverse projects
DISCLAIMER: Changes in circumstances may impact upon the accuracy or currency of information. While AFTRS takes all due care to ensure that the information is accurate, it reserves the right to vary any information described here without notice.
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