AƬ��Դ��

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Updated July 22, 2025

Where can I see the new degree requirements for the Film Major?

SFU will publish updated degree requirements on or after June 20, 2025.

Why was the film curriculum updated and how will this impact my progression towards my degree?

The film program updates were created to address a several hurdles facing students in the Film program, including lack of opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary coursework throughout the program, and high upper-division credit requirements which created enrollment bottlenecks and routine substitution requests. The updated curriculum will:

• Create greater interdisciplinary exploration at both the lower and upper division level
• Allow students to enroll in “Film Forms” electives that emphasize artistic approaches to creative production and contemporary trends in cinema
• Create more consistency and transparency in course numbering and unit counts across courses

What is Film Forms?

Film Forms courses will be offered every semester by different faculty and will offer rotating topics in filmmaking to both Film majors and non-Film majors. Topics may include Analogue Filmmaking, Counter-Archive, Hybrid Cinema, Documentary, and other topics. These courses are intended to offer students another opportunity to make films outside of the year-long core production courses, and will give students greater flexibility to choose courses during their journey at the SCA that align with their expanding curiosities and interests.

I’m an incoming 2nd year student. What should I do?

We recommend moving to the new curriculum. It will allow you the most flexibility, and no waivers or substitutions will be needed. You can simply pick up the new curriculum with CA230 in the Fall. If you have already taken CA238W – and a good number of you have – we will allow it to count for the 3 credits of CA338W in the new curriculum. We will do this by waiving the CA338W course and credits, and then you will only need to do 29 upper division CA units for the Film major (but you would still need to do 44 upper division units overall for your degree).

As an incoming 2nd year student, what if I want to stay under the old curriculum?

If you choose this route (which we don’t advise), you will need to take two additional lower division CA course to get to 44 lower division CA units total (because the units on CA 230 and 231 are changing from 5 to 4, and because CA232 and CA238W are no longer offered). One of these courses can be made up with any lower division CA course. You may need to take an additional one or two Film production courses to reach 17 Film Production units overall.

I’m an incoming 3rd or 4th year student. What should I do?

We recommend staying with the previous curriculum. You may need to take an additional film production course to reach 17 Film Production units overall since CA430/CA431 were reduced from 6 credits to 5 credits each. You can apply some of the new courses, such as Film Forms (CA332, CA333, CA334, CA339) or Creative Producing (CA438) to reach the necessary number of units if you are short. With new course numbering in place, your core production course planning might look as follows:

• Fall 2025: CA 330 (substitute for 390)
• Spring 2026: CA 331 (substitute for 393)
• Fall 2026: CA 430 (optional)
• Spring 2027: 431 (optional, substitute for 432)

I was checking GoSFU to check the "My Academic Requirements" section and I noticed that GoSFU hasn't been updated to the new curriculum. When will this be updated? 

GoSFU must be updated manually to conform to the new curriculum requirements. It is best to do this by emailing your academic advisor AFTER your enrollment appointment, as sometimes making the update prior to enrolling can create confusion in the system. Your academic advisor can switch you over at that point. Prior to then, please rely on the Course Calendar for determining your necessary coursework.  

I would like to move to the new curriculum and have already taken CA238W, which is no longer required as part of the new degree. Can I still use this course to count towards my degree requirements? 

Yes, if you have already taken CA238W,  and pending a meeting with SCA’s academic advisor and a review of your transcript, we will waive the 3 credits of CA338W, which is essentially the same writing course moved to upper division. We can't use a 100/200-level course as a substitute for an upper division 300/400-level course. But upon review and approval by the SCA Advisor, we will waive CA 338W (course and credits). Please note, while this waiver will address the course requirements for the Film major, it cannot substitute for overall number of upper-division credits required by SFU. It is your responsibility to review your degree progression with your advisor early on to make sure you are working towards the overall upper division credit obligations required by SFU.   

I am an upper-division student completing my program requirements under the previous curriculum. Some of the previous courses like Production Seminar (CA332) and Directing Actors (CA339) are no longer offered. What should I do?

Students remaining with the previous curriculum may use any of the new Film Forms courses (CA 332, CA333, CA334, CA339) or Creative Producing (CA438) towards their 17 units of film courses. If you are an upper-division student and have not yet taken what used to be Film Production Seminar (CA332), we strongly recommend you enroll in Creative Producing (CA438), which will be offered in Spring 2026.   

I am an incoming 4th year student completing my degree requirements under the previous curriculum, but I noticed the credits for CA430 and CA431 are now 4 units each instead of 6 units. This reduction in credits will leave me 4 units short of meeting my 120 required units AƬ��Դ�� to graduate.  What do I do?  

Students in this situation have two options. For students who are “grandfathered” into the old curriculum and who will have completed all their film major requirements by the end of their 4th year but will still find themselves up to 4 units short of the 120 units needed to graduate may enroll in a CA400 Directed Study for up to 2 units in the fall and up to 2 units in the spring.  This option is only available to those enrolling in CA430 and CA431 who had planned their coursework with the assumption that their final year in film would include six units each (12 total) from CA430/CA431. Please note: These courses are an administrative solution and would not constitute substantial coursework beyond what is already required in CA430 and CA431. Alternatively, students who feel inspired to take an additional film or interdisciplinary courses to support their capstone work may do so in place of the directed study courses.  

How do I enroll in the Directed Study above for the fall?

See instructions here. For the “email approval” and “statement of work” attachments, see the attachment in the email sent to all incoming 4th year students.