Film and Media taster days

Our taster days offer your students the best way to experience University life.

We hope you can join us on campus for one of them. Email [email protected] to find out how we can support your travel.

Taster days

Film and Media Taster Day

11 March 2026, Cambridge

Our Film and Media Taster Day is designed for students who want to explore what goes into creating films, binge-worthy series, documentaries, or content on platforms like TikTok or YouTube. Our Film & Media Taster Day is a hands-on experience which will give your students insight into creative industry careers and what it’s like to study Film and Media through a combination of theoretical and practical sessions. They'll get to explore our state-of-the-art facilities and get insight into Uni life from our current students.

Graduate Showcase

Every day 5 - 12 June 2026

Join us for our annual Graduate Showcase. Your students will be inspired by what they’ll be able to achieve by the end of a creative degree as well as gaining insight into the outcomes of specific subjects. Covering work from Fashion to Film, Graphics to Games, Animation to Art and everything in between, there’s lots to explore. We'll set your students challenges to help them connect with the work. They can also chat to some of our graduating students and find out more about the opportunities HE has to offer.

Taster sessions

Online or in person at your school or college* or at ARU we have a range of sessions for you to choose from. They can be delivered as a standalone session or as part of a build-your-own-taster day.

What can the Barbie movie tell us about media, culture and society? — 60-90 mins

An interactive lecture and seminar to experience a real taste of Uni study. Barbie will be analysed for its impact and reflection within media, culture and society.

Film and Media highlights (screening) — 60-90 mins

Have your own private screening of work by ARU students. From super 8mm filmmaking to digital means of making, we’ll share the stories and the approach to practice.

Why is Jeanne Dielman the GOAT? — 60-90 mins

In 2022 Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman (1975) was voted the best film of all time in the prestigious once-a-decade Sight and Sound poll, without ever having had a theatrical release in Britain. This talk introduces a filmmaker who is still not a household name.

Shooting a scene in the studio — 60-90 mins

We’ll set up a scene in the television studio using industry standard equipment and take you through the process of lighting and shooting a scene.

Comics and film — 45 mins

We explore comics, their history, early film adaptations, and a comparative exercise using the graphic novel and the film Sin City.

Talking Hands — 60-90 mins

We’ll explore the different ways to talk about film which also reflects the ways students learn about film at ARU: as film reviewers, assessing the film's qualities, as potential filmmakers, tackling filmmaking as a craft, and as theorists, considering the ideas behind the films.

This is just a small selection of the activities we can offer. For more info and to arrange your personalised sessions get in touch: [email protected]

*Not all sessions can be delivered online or at your school or college. But we will work with you to shape the best experience for your students based on the delivery format. Timings are approximate.

Meet our staff team

Dr Harriet Fletcher: celebrity culture, gender studies, feminist media studies, the Gothic, horror film and television, digital media, popular culture, fashion studies, ageing.

Dr Sarah Gibson-Yates: co-creation with AI, digital culture and narrative practices, narrative making across, screenwriting, filmmaking and children’s literature.

Josh Newman: storytelling, documentary and narrative, video for science and environmental communication, content personalisation through AR/VR and interactivity.

Jennifer Nightingale: artist’s film and video, experimental film and animation, materiality of media, media production, technologies and formats.

Hans Petch: short form online branded content, film in education, uses and applications of fragmented narrative for online platforms, British B movies.