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Updated . Example details checked against Lady Bird (2017), written and directed by Greta Gerwig, released by A24.
The APA format
Pattern
Last name, A. A. (Director). (Year). Title of film [Film]. Production Company.
- Director with (Director) after the name.
- [Film] in square brackets after the title.
- Studio or production company as the publisher; separate two with a semicolon.
- Streaming services are not named unless the film is only available there (APA 7, 10.12).
A real example
Reference entry
Gerwig, G. (Director). (2017). Lady Bird [Film]. A24.
In-text citation
(Gerwig, 2017, 01:12:30)
When details are missing
- A quotation: give the time stamp: (Gerwig, 2017, 1:12:30).
- No director credited: move the title to the author position.
Common mistakes
- “[Motion picture]” That was APA 6. APA 7 writes [Film].
- Netflix as the publisher. Name the production company. Name the platform only for a film it made itself.
Or let Format do it.
Choose Film and fill in the title, director, studio and year, plus the streaming service if you watched it on one. Format writes the References entry and the in-text citation in APA 7, exactly as shown above, and builds the References page when you export to Word or PDF. MLA and APA are free.
Questions
Is the title in sentence case?
Yes, but a name stays capitalized: Lady Bird.
How do I cite a film in another language?
Give the original title, then an English translation of it in square brackets.
More citation guides
The same source in other styles
Similar sources in APA
Every source kind is on the APA page, and every style is on How to cite.