SVA MFA Social Documentary Film — SocDoc — helps you to create films that bring distant stories close or illuminate the ideas right in our neighborhoods; films that inspire deep reflection or bold action. SocDoc represents the convergence of the art of filmmaking, journalistic research and social activism.

We continue to make an impressive impact in the world of documentary filmmaking.

Collectively, SocDoc alumni films have received millions dollars in production financing and support from essential film organizations including Sundance Institute, ITVS, Frameline, Center for Asian American Media, Chicken and Egg Pictures, IDFA BERTHA Fund, BAFTA New Filmmakers, Canadian Academy Directors Program, Durban FilmMart and more.

Graduates have won Emmys, Peabody Awards, a Student Academy Award and many other nominations for their work. Alumni features and shorts are released across the U.S. and worldwide, and play in top festivals and film markets including Sundance, Tribeca, Berlin, IDFA, SXSW, Full Frame, Hot Docs, Fresh Pitch China, Doc Buenos Aires, Gotham Week and DOC NYC — where a recent thesis film took the Grand Jury Prize.

In your first year in SVA’s MFA Social Documentary Film program, you will explore the past, present and future of the art of documentary film, while mastering the tools and techniques needed to tell compelling stories. Experiential learning begins immediately; you will complete five to seven documentary shorts in this first year alone.

In the summer between your first and second academic year, you will begin filming your thesis project, which you’ll edit and refine in your second year, informed by rigorous coursework and faculty guidance. You will also serve as a key production crew member on at least one other student’s thesis project, allowing you to experience several essential roles that contribute to a successful film. A final screening for the department chair and thesis committee culminates the program leading to your degree. Following graduation, all students screen their films in a public Thesis Showcase, introducing their work to the larger film industry.

All students receive mentorship on their thesis films from a faculty advisor, a SocDoc alumni advisor, and engage in a post-graduation career consultation with an industry expert.

SocDoc also offers an Extended Three-Year MFA. The curriculum is the same as our traditional two-year graduate degree, but spread across three years, allowing more flexibility for working professionals in documentary and other fields to participate.

Degree candidates must successfully complete 60 credits, including all required courses, with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0, and a residency of two or three academic years is required.

The MFA Social Documentary Film department offers top-of-the-line professional grade equipment, including the latest 4K video cameras, lighting and sound recorders, to all students in the program. There is a 2:1 (or better) student to camera ratio, and students are lent a camera package for thesis production, wherever in the world that takes them. The department houses state-of-the-art editing suites, a voiceover booth, allowing for a film’s completion through the post-production process.