Research Guides: Cinema studies: Home

VT Cinema Studies and the University Library

Cinema Studies, a part of the School for the Performing Arts housed in the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design is an area in the Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. It is an interdisciplinary field that provides students with "a well-rounded education in the history, art, technology, and methods of the cinema and theatre industries."

Per their webpage: To study cinema at Virginia Tech is to enter into a strong community of collaborators, both within the cinema program and in theatre arts. The program offers multiple opportunities to work through complex problems and gain experience by completing projects, internships, study abroad, and undergraduate research. Our students learn by doing – continuously!

This guide provides a collection of recommended resources for Cinema Studies research such as databases, journals, books, articles, and so on. The recommendations are not comprehensive, but these resources are very likely to contain materials useful for your projects.

A few recommended online resources beyond Virginia Tech

AMC Filmsite
The site includes rich reference material including Academy Awards history, film genres, film terms, film history by decade, trivia, and lots of lists of 'best' films, stars, scenes, quotes, resources, posters, etc.
BFI International
BFI National Archive holds one of the largest film and television collections in the world. Dating from the earliest days of film to the live capture of current television content, the collection contains nearly a million titles
Colonial Film Database
This website holds detailed information on over 6000 films showing images of life in the British colonies. Over 150 films are available for viewing online. You can search or browse for films by country, date, topic, or keyword. Over 350 of the most important films in the catalogue are presented with extensive critical notes written by their academic research team.
Open Culture
Watch 4,000+ movies free online. Includes classics, indies, film noir, documentaries and other films, created by some of our greatest actors, actresses and directors. The collection is divided into the following categories: Comedy & Drama; Film Noir, Horror & Hitchcock; Westerns (many with John Wayne); Martial Arts Movies; Silent Films; Documentaries, and Animation.
Internet Archive: Documentary
The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, people with print disabilities, and the general public. Our mission is to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge.
IMDB: Documentary
Internet Movie DataBase. A great source of information on movies, TV and entertainment programs and cast and crew members as well as information regarding the film industry.
International Documentary Association
International Documentary Association (IDA) supports the vital work of documentary storytellers and champions a thriving and inclusive documentary culture.