Video Essay for Communications, Culture and Society

In the 21st century, the video essay has become increasingly prominent as an audiovisual form of writing, using images and sounds to explore diverse topics and disseminate knowledge in ways that are not possible with text alone. By taking a hands-on approach, students will conceive, develop and produce their own analytic video essays, while developing skills with editing software. Through weekly assignments, viewings and group critique sessions, students learn to express themselves more effectively and creatively in audiovisual media. Students will also reflect critically on the relationship between knowledge and audiovisual aesthetics in producing different rhetorical effects and states of spectatorship.

This year's edition is built around a partnership with the Cinémathèque suisse — one of the largest film archives in the world — and the Locarno Film Festival, which will celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2027. Students will access the Festival's archival holdings — films, documents, and audiovisual materials spanning eight decades — during a two-day research visit to the Cinémathèque suisse's Research and Archiving Centre in Penthaz (near Lausanne) in October. Students will develop a video essay in response to the archive, guided by research parameters established during the site visit. Works will be considered for public presentation as part of the Locarno Film Festival's 80th Anniversary programme, in one of cinema's most prestigious international festivals. Due to the exceptional nature of this collaboration, enrolment is limited to 20 students to ensure close mentorship and high standards of production.

This course provides students with a practical and critical engagement with the video essay as a mode of audiovisual research and scholarship, familiarising themselves with a media form that has applications across numerous academic and professional contexts. The course covers archival research methods and generative artificial intelligence as a tool for audiovisual production. This year's edition features a special collaboration with the Cinémathèque suisse and the Locarno Film Festival: students will have a rare opportunity to produce original video essays using the festival archives held at one of the world's leading film preservation institutions, with selected works considered for presentation at the Festival's 80th Anniversary programme in 2027. Attendance is mandatory.

• Industry, innovation and infrastructure
• Responsible consumption and production
• Peace, justice and strong institutions
• Partnerships for the Goals

In presence

This course combines lectures, screenings, discussion and practical application through video editing and post-production. A required two-day research visit to the Cinémathèque suisse in Penthaz (near Lausanne) in October 2026 forms a central component of the course, with transport and accommodation provided. Students are expected to actively participate in all sessions and devote substantial time outside of class to their video essay projects. Attendance at all class sessions and the study visit is mandatory.

It would be appreciated if students come with a video making and editing background, but the course we will offer support with the editing software via eLab.

Assessment is based on two components:

• Team exercises and individual assignments - 20%
• Final project trailer - 10%
• Final video essay project - 50% & Creator statement 10%
• Attendance and participation - 10%

Attendance at all class sessions and the Cinémathèque suisse research visit is mandatory. Only four absences are allowed throughout the semester and they have to be justified in writing (to [email protected] and [email protected]). Exceeding this limit will affect your final evaluation. 

• Cinematheque suisse, 10.10.26 - 10.11.26 (Compulsory)