MEET OUR GRADUATES

Noemi Lemoine Blanchard (2017) describes her experience on the programme here, and you can find a further list at the bottom of the page of examples and news from our alumni:

Experiencing the Masters in Film, Exhibition & Curation 2016-2017

nlb2 When I applied for Film Exhibition and Curation, I could not imagine how much I would learn, achieve and develop on both an academic and personal level. I knew it would teach me about exhibiting and mediating films, and give me a deeper understanding of cinema, but the course outline could not properly describe how the innovative methodology and pedagogical approach taken by the teachers would affect our modes of learning and approaching projects.

Self-discovery and professional career

On a personal and professional side, I noticed I had a much clearer idea of what I wanted to do, and I gained confidence in my choices, in my work and in myself. We were encouraged to express our opinions and share our thoughts on films and readings with others. In presentations, essays and weekly logs, it was liberating to explore each of our own preferred topics, build arguments with new approaches on certain topics, and eventually, learn to feel like we could make a difference in the field by having the responsibility to write about unexplored territory.

nlb3 This “confidence factor”, is something that I can say most of us in the class gained. This might not seem essential for a masters degree, but in the cultural industries, it is really important to build a career-compass which will enable you to insert yourself in an industry which is in constant flux. Being able to build and maintain a network in today’s job market, and finding a job, requires a great deal of confidence in one’s knowledge and skills, which this masters gave us the tools to build.

Diversity

Film Exhibition and Curation might sound like a very niche subject, but it encompasses so many subjects and sub-subjects, and can be combined with so many fields of study, that it is not reducing our perspectives by forcing us to specialise in one area. Classes give us the ground knowledge for different aspects such as exhibiting films, understanding the film festival circuit, archives, taste cultures etc. which we can decide to research further by writing essays, and final projects on our chosen topics. For example, I had the opportunity to combine my previous area of research, Chinese cinema, into the realm of film exhibition and curation. It was really exciting to take my previous knowledge and studies into a new territory. It allowed me to have different perspectives on it.

nlb5 It was also incredibly enriching to be part of a cohort with people from so many different cultural and academic backgrounds and interests. It gave us a range of ideas and perspectives from which to look at FEC, but also positive and diverse feedback on our own research from our peers.

Weekly logs

Writing a weekly log was a significant and invaluable aspect of the course for me. Although it was difficult to keep up with everything from readings and writing to group projects, it was really good professional and academic practice. I always had difficulties getting words on the page, expressing my ideas clearly, and having confidence in my writing. Writing this log every week helped me to overcome this problem. Writing became easier week by week, and when the time to write our first essay for Exhibiting film came, I could not believe how easier it was compared to my undergraduate essays.

Speaking in public skills and team work

NLB1 Throughout my undergraduate, I got few opportunities to work in teams and practice group work. But during this master, we had to work in different groups every week and gained flexibility in our working patterns while identifying our strengths and getting to know each of our classmates individually. It was also very good practice for our public speaking and presentation skills which proved very useful in a recent group interview I had for a job!

Work experience

nlb4 On a work experience level, I have added valuable skills and experiences to my CV. The course involved some applied work to organise and deliver events which I am confident to write about and explain to employers. I also had the opportunity to work on a placement in a cinema for my final applied research project, which the course organiser arranged for me and for other students. This has given many of us insights into the industry, and left a positive impression of our course on the employers and companies we have worked with.

In February, we organised an event for the Glasgow Film Festival called MOVE which involved acquiring some films and exploring the Glasgow Moving Image Archive, design the event’s setting in collaboration with a venue, organise it with action plans and cue sheets, and deliver it to a professional standard. Working in a real professional environment gave us a sense of responsibility and professional recognition. It also encouraged us to be both creative and professional, and be fully immersed into a creative project which we would eventually deliver to an audience.

Noemi LB

RESEARCH & CAREERS

Our graduates have gone on to a range of different professional placings in film, in exhibition, in festivals, in cultural mediation and in communications – ranging from posts in festivals across the world, working with an international theatre group in Taiwan, employment in the gallery sector, working in broadcast at institutions such as National Geographic and WGBH in the US, developing social media strategies for a range of arts organisations and businesses, working in fashion film and building independent curatorial careers. Fed 1

Many of our graduates have highly mobile and international careers; you can read more recent updates about our graduates’ activities at MEET OUR GRADUATES (some examples highlighted below)

Some of our graduates are pursuing further academic research in the growing fields of exhibition, curatorial and archive study. To date three have won fully funded scholarships in the UK to fund PhD research into film policy; experimental cinema; and film tourism.

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