F4F teaching offers modular training courses in audio-visual research methods, ethnography and documentary filmmaking. We also support those with established filmmaking practice who want to develop research outputs, or professional academics looking to explore and represent their field site with film. We teach at universities across the globe and independently as F4F™. Our Summer School began in 2009 and recently we brought this online as a way to reduce our contribution to climate change and to offer our participants better value for money. The Summer School offers an introduction to ethnography and documentary particularly suited to those wishing to direct and produce, with an emphasis on the ways that filmmaking can be used to explore and represent academic research topics.
Our instructors guide participants through a series of workshops, practical exercises and screening events that lead to open discussions on methodologies, ethics, technology and more. Through hands-on practice our courses introduce participants to basic skills in camera operation, sound recording and editing with the aim of building the confidence and skills necessary to make your own documentary films. Many of our Alumni have achieved significant success at film festivals and beyond, for example; Sikkimese filmmaker Dawa Lepcha (F4F2011) with The Keeper (2017); Daisy-May Hudson (F4F2014) with her multi award-winning documentary about homelessness, Half-Way (2016); Professor Stephen Linstead (F4F2013) with his film about England's worst ever mining disaster, Black Snow (2017); Dr Elena Barabantseva (F4F2014) with her two films about identity politics, British Born Chinese (2015) and Border People (2018); Jón Bjarki Magnússon with his Netflix documentary, Half Elf (2021); and Olaf Lawrence with his directing debut, the eco-film Green Ocean Gold (2024).
Our courses are supported by Filmmaking for fieldwork: a practical handbook (2020) published by Manchester University Press and available in print and digital at all good booksellers. We recommend that anybody interested in our work at F4F first consult this book.
"F4F has been one of the best educational investments I have made…..My journey began with a hands-on Filmmaking for Fieldwork course and for my first feature-length documentary, about stories of migrant women, I took F4F Project Support modules. The whole experience has been extremely insightful. At every step I was encouraged with concise, timely and helpful advice about approach, cutting, sound, colour, subtitles and more. I really enjoyed making this film and credit here goes to the project support I received from F4F."
Megha Wadhwa Ph.D, Research Associate at the Institute of East Asian Studies/Japanese Studies, Free University Berlin (F4F Project Support 2021-24)
Megha Wadhwa Ph.D, Research Associate at the Institute of East Asian Studies/Japanese Studies, Free University Berlin (F4F Project Support 2021-24)
Some of our clients
