The acclaimed actress and Cambridge alumna Tilda Swinton will return to the University this weekend to celebrate the official launch of its first ever course in media and film studies.

Ms Swinton, who graduated from New Hall in Social and Political Sciences in 1983, will be joined by the director Isaac Julien and the producer Colin MacCabe for an early screening of a new film they are making about the director, Derek Jarman.

The free event is open to all and will formally mark the arrival of film studies in Cambridge. The University's first ever programme in media and film studies – an MPhil course in Screen and Media Cultures – began this year.

After graduating from Cambridge Tilda Swinton became a stage and then a film actress, and in particular embarked upon a professional association with the late Derek Jarman. They made several films together including ‘Caravaggio', ‘Aria' and ‘The Last Of England'. Swinton has since appeared in big screen movies including ‘The Beach', ‘The Chronicles Of Narnia' and ‘Constantine'.

Although it is based in the Department of Modern and Medieval Languages, the new MPhil in Screen Media and Cultures is an interdisciplinary course, supported by departments throughout the University. Students have the opportunity to learn about the history and theory of modern screen media in connection with the history and theory of modern culture in general. As well as a core course, the MPhil offers modules covering African cinema, Italian film, experimental filmmaking and the relationship between music and film to name but a few.

Professor David Trotter, who founded the course, said: “Screen media - from film through television and video to the new digital arts - are currently the focus of a rich and rapidly evolving array of research initiatives in the humanities and social sciences.

“The opportunity has never been greater to develop and understand the historical and theoretical relationship between the moving image and the cultures which gave rise to it and we hope that the course at Cambridge will in time make an important contribution to that process.”

The screening will take place in Room LG15, Law Faculty, Sidgwick Site, on Saturday 5 May at 2.30pm. It will be followed by a discussion about the film. Admission is free and all are welcome.

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