How to cite a film in APA 7

In APA the person who made the film is the author. For a film, that is the director.

Reference list format

Director, A. A. (Director). (Year). Title of the film in sentence case [Film]. Production Company.

Lindgren, K. (Director). (2022). The last lighthouse [Film]. Northern Frame Pictures.

• Director. Surname first, then initials, followed by (Director) in parentheses.
• Year. The year the film was released.
• Title. Italic and in sentence case.
• Description. [Film] in square brackets, after the title and not italic.
• Production company. The company or companies that made it. APA places production companies in the source position. Separate several companies with a semicolon.

In-text citation

Use the director’s surname and the year.

• Parenthetical: (Lindgren, 2022)
• Narrative: Lindgren (2022) shows the lighthouse as…

Two films by the same director in the same year

Alphabetize them by title and add a letter after the year: (Lindgren, 2022a) and (Lindgren, 2022b). The letters are given in the reference list too.

Television and streaming

An episode of a television series has its own format. APA’s film and television page gives the pattern.

Check before you submit

• The director. If the credits name more than one, check APA’s page for how to list them.
• The production company. Take it from the film’s credits or its official page.