Film, Video, New Media & Animation at SAIC

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Film, Video, New Media, & Animation

The department of Film, Video, New Media & Animation has long been central to the development of highly influential independent and experimental media practices in the field. The international character of our department and the cultural diversity of our community have produced an array of expanded approaches and driven many of our working procedures toward expansive trans-cultural practices that push boundaries while engaging in formal experimentation, technical innovation, and critical investigation.

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Undergraduate Admission Deadline: January 1

Submit your application and portfolio by January 1 for priority fall 2025 merit scholarship consideration.

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Graduate Programs Application Deadline: January 10

Apply to SAIC's Graduate and Post-Bacc programs by January 10 for fall 2025 admission.

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File Your FAFSA

In order to be eligible for need-based aid such as SAIC, state and federal grants, loans and work study you need to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at fafsa.gov.

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Challenging Convention

Students reach beyond conventional approaches to media, investigating new directions for nonfiction and narrative film and video, moving-image installation, analog and digital animation, interactive art, web-based projects, and media art histories. Students explore moving images in all their contemporary venues—from the cinema and performance sites to the internet and mobile devices, as well as museums, galleries, festivals, and community-based projects.

Personalized Pathways

Working with graduate advisors of their choice, students create a course of study informed by their own interests and artistic goals. Within this personalized framework, they establish a theoretical and historical context for understanding their work, the work of other artists, and work from the broader media ecosystem. Students are encouraged to explore courses in other departments to enrich their practice.

International Recognition

The department has helped to produce eleven Guggenheim Fellows, as well as multiple winners at international festivals, including the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Most recently, our graduates have earned top prizes at the Berlin Film Festival, Cinema Du Reel, the Montreal Film Festival, and the Rotterdam International Film Festival, among others.

Video Data Bank, the leading resource in the United States for videos by and about contemporary artists.
The Gene Siskel Film Center, one of the country's premiere screening venues dedicated to promoting alum, student, and faculty work, as well as bringing internationally acclaimed filmmakers to Chicago and SAIC.
Conversations at the Edge, a Thursday night series at the Film Center dedicated to the FVNMA department.
The Donna and Howard Stone Gallery for film, video, and new media in the Art Institute of Chicago's Modern Wing

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Martine Syms

Martine Syms is an artist who has earned wide recognition for a practice that combines conceptual grit, humor, and social commentary. Syms has shown extensively including solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and ICA London. She is a recipient of the Creative Capital Award, a United States Artists fellowship, the Tiffany Foundation award, and the Future Fields Art Prize.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, film producer, and professor at Tama Art University in Tokyo. His art projects and feature films have won him widespread recognition and numerous festival prizes, including two prizes from the Cannes Film Festival. His acclaimed 2006 feature, Syndromes and a Century, was the first Thai film to be selected for competition at the Venice Film Festival and was acclaimed in a number of international polls as one of the best films of the last decade.

Jennifer Reeder

Writer-director Jennifer Reeder constructs personal fiction films about relationships, trauma, and coping. Reeder’s innovative, award-winning narratives borrow from a range of forms, including after-school specials, amateur music videos, and magical realism. Her films have screened around the world, including at the Sundance Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival, the Venice Biennale, and the Whitney Biennial.