Niehoff Center for Film and Media Studies
The Niehoff Center for Film & Media Studies is the University of Cincinnati's hub for film scholarship, creative practice, and community engagement. It is the only institution in the region that brings all three together. The Niehoff Center unites students, faculty, and resources across UC and connects the university to Cincinnati's thriving film and media industry and cultural institutions. We train local talent, foster critical dialogue, and build the intellectual infrastructure that turns a thriving arts community and booming production industry into lasting cultural identity. The Niehoff Center is where UC and Cincinnati come together to ensure that film doesn't just pass through this city—it lives here.
I wanted to help create a film ecosystem for our city. It’s important for each generation to take ownership and facilitate change for the future.
Peter Niehoff, Trustee
Community Partnerships
The Niehoff Center has built deep, lasting relationships with the institutions that define Greater Cincinnati's cultural life:
Our students intern and train with top regional festivals and production companies, while our faculty collaborate with cultural leaders across the city.
Numbers at a Glance
50+ screenings, lectures, and workshops every year
25+ student scholarships every year for travel, research, and creative projects
20+ faculty research and creative projects funded every year
100+ books, articles, films, and media projects produced by Niehoff professors and fellows
8 major institutional partnerships across the city
1 institution uniting film studies, creative practice, and community across UC and Cincinnati
10 years at the center of Cincinnati's film scene
Vision: The Next Five Years
Cincinnati is at a turning point. Our momentum—from our historic Sundance Film Festival bid to the success of Cineposium 2025—proves what is possible. The Niehoff Center's next chapter focuses on four priorities:
A Campus Film Hub — We seek to build UC's first dedicated screening venue: a professional 60–80 seat facility for everything from 16mm retrospectives to state-of-the-art digital presentations.
Top Talent, Retained — Expand scholarships, research support, and international partnerships to attract and keep the region's best emerging filmmakers and scholars.
Innovative Scholarship & Creative Work — New funding for cross-disciplinary research and media projects that advance the field and put Cincinnati on the national map.
Deeper UC–City Connections — Formalize partnerships that sustain a lasting exchange of people, ideas, and resources between the university and Cincinnati's industry and cultural institutions.
Our goal: a Cincinnati where films aren't just watched and made— they're studied, debated, celebrated, and remembered.
Cincinnati has everything it takes to be a world-class film city—the talent, the energy, the institutions. The Niehoff Center exists to connect those pieces: the university and the city, the classroom and the industry, the scholarship and the cinema screens.
Todd Herzog, Director