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Assistant Professor - Critical/Experimental Film and Video Production - Department of Film & Media
Position overview
Application Window
Open date: July 20, 2026
Next review date: Wednesday, Sep 30, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.
Final date: Wednesday, Sep 30, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date.
Position description
The Department of Film & Media at the University of California, Berkeley seeks applications for an Assistant Professor (tenure track) in the area of Critical/Experimental Film and Video Production.
The Department of Film and Media at the University of California, Berkeley is one of the oldest film programs in the United States with a strong foundation in national and transnational film histories and theories and growing interest in a wide range of media practices, industries, and cultures. The Department holds a strong intellectual commitment to innovative interdisciplinary approaches to film and media research, evidenced in the scholarship of its thirteen current ladder faculty, five of whom have officially shared appointments with other departments in the Division of Arts & Humanities. The department offers both a BA with approximately 320 current majors and a PhD in Film and Media with between 20-30 graduate students enrolled at any one time. It is currently one of the fastest-growing undergraduate majors in the Division of Arts & Humanities, and focuses on film and media scholarship, criticism, and production.
The successful candidate will join in the program’s effort to build a community of scholars and students whose scholarship, pedagogy, and background move the discipline of Film & Media forward by engaging with critical questions through media production.
The Department seeks an Assistant Professor in Film and Video Production to join the Film & Media Department and to build on the faculty’s critical and experimental approaches to media history, theory, and aesthetics. The position will include teaching, research, and service to support the production of experimental and avant-garde cinema or experimentation in and across genre forms, potentially including narrative.
The aim of the Film and Media Department’s production program is to teach students the grammar of cinema and how to use it to experiment with forms of self-expression, historical investigation, and aesthetic analysis, among others. The Assistant Professor in Film and Video Production will convey to students creative approaches to low-budget, small crews, street-level production, a capacious understanding of what can be achieved beyond Hollywood, and an understanding of film production as a means of generating new, critical, and experimental media theory and history.
The department is committed to addressing the family needs of faculty, including dual career couples and single parents. We are also interested in candidates who have had non-traditional career paths or who have taken time off for family reasons, or who have achieved excellence in careers outside academia. For information about potential relocation to Berkeley, or career needs of accompanying partners and spouses, please visit the Office for Faculty Equity and Welfare's website via this link.
Qualifications
MFA or PhD (or equivalent international degree), or enrolled in MFA or PhD or equivalent international degree-granting program at the time of application.
We seek a film/video-maker with an active practice and demonstrated ability to build on the Film & Media Department's history of critical and experimental approaches to media history, theory, and aesthetics. We seek candidates with a track record of public screenings, undergraduate teaching experience, and familiarity with a wide range of filmmaking concepts and methods. Applicants should have the capacity to integrate theoretical concepts into the teaching of editing and cinematography. Experience teaching as well as expertise in sound recording/design/mixing and advanced editing/special effects.
Application Requirements
Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
Cover Letter - Up to 2 pages
Creative Work Sample - Please include links to streaming content of applicant’s film and video production work. Two different works should be submitted. They may be completed or in progress. If the work submitted exceeds ten minutes, applicants can indicate the specific selections (by timecode) that the committee should view. Sample material should include no more than two individual works and no more than ten minutes in total. If more than two samples or more than ten minutes are included, the first two samples/ten minutes will be viewed.
Statement of Teaching Experience and Philosophy - Please discuss prior teaching experience, teaching approach, and future teaching interests. This can include, for example, specific efforts and accomplishments, and future plans to support the success of all students through inclusive curriculum, classroom environment, and pedagogy. Please also discuss your mentoring experiences and approach. This can include, for example, past efforts and future plans to support the success of all students, and to foster an inclusive research environment that removes barriers and promotes equitable access and advancement of the research program.
Authorization to Release Information Form - An institutional reference check will be completed only if you are selected as the candidate to whom the hiring unit would like to extend a formal offer. Download, complete, sign, and upload the Authorization to Release Information form.
- 3 required (contact information only)
References will only be contacted for those candidates under serious consideration and we will seek your permission before doing so.
Help contact: rfahacademichr@berkeley.edu
About UC Berkeley
UC Berkeley is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in our public mission of research, teaching, and service, consistent with UC Regents Policy 4400 and University of California Academic Personnel policy (APM 210 1-d). These values are embedded in our Principles of Community, which reflect our passion for critical inquiry, debate, discovery and innovation, and our deep commitment to contributing to a better world. Every member of the UC Berkeley community has a role in sustaining a safe, caring and humane environment in which these values can thrive.
The University of California, Berkeley is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status.
For more information, please refer to the University of California’s Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment Policy and the University of California’s Anti-Discrimination Policy.
In searches when letters of reference are required all letters will be treated as confidential per University of California policy and California state law. Please refer potential referees, including when letters are provided via a third party (i.e., dossier service or career center), to the UC Berkeley statement of confidentiality prior to submitting their letter.
As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.
The University of California is committed to creating and maintaining a community dedicated to the advancement, application, and transmission of knowledge and creative endeavors through academic excellence, where all individuals who participate in University programs and activities can work and learn together in a safe and secure environment, free of violence, harassment, or discrimination. Consistent with this commitment, UC Berkeley requires all applicants for Senate faculty positions to complete, sign, and upload an Authorization of Information Release form into AP Recruit as part of their application. If an applicant does not include the signed authorization, the application will be considered incomplete, and as with any incomplete application, will not receive further consideration. Although all applicants for faculty recruitments must complete the entire application, applicants will only be subject to institutional reference checks if and when they are selected as the candidate to whom the hiring unit would like to extend a formal offer. More information is available on this website.
As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct.
- “Misconduct” means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment or discrimination, as defined by the employer.
- UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
- UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
- APM - 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment