PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Movie

How to Cite a Movie in APA 7

An APA 7 movie reference lists the director with the label (Director), the year the film was released in parentheses, the film's title in italics and sentence case, the description [Film] in square brackets, and the production company or companies, separated by semicolons: Forman, M. (Director). (1975). One flew over the cuckoo's nest [Film]. Fantasy Films. Where you watched it (Netflix, a DVD, a theater) doesn't change the reference. The in-text citation is the director's last name and the year: (Forman, 1975).

The format

Director, A. A. (Director). (Year). Title of the film [Film]. Production Company; Second Production Company.

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Choose Film & Movies, then Domestic film, or Film in another language when the original title isn't in English. Add the director in the Director role, type the title in the Film Title box, and type the year in Release Year. Type each production company under Production Company, using Add company for each one after the first. PERRLA adds (Director), the italics, [Film], and the semicolons between companies. If you type the title in title case, PERRLA points it out and offers Fix it for me to put it in sentence case.

The Platform box is for MLA. You can type Netflix or Apple TV+ there, and PERRLA leaves it out of the APA reference, because APA doesn't name the service you watched on. Leave URL blank unless the film is only available on one website.

PERRLA can also look a film up: type its title followed by the word movie (for example, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975 movie) or paste its IMDb link into the reference search. It fills in the director, the year, and the production companies it can find. Before you save it, check four things against the film's credits: the year, the production companies, the title in sentence case (use Fix it for me), and the URL box, which should be empty for a film you didn't watch on one specific website. For a film in another language, the search brings in the English release title, so add it by hand as a Film in another language instead.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Director

For a film, the director takes the author's spot. Write the director's last name and initials, then the label (Director) and a period.

Forman, M. (Director).

Two or more directors share one label at the end, in the plural: Newnham, N., & LeBrecht, J. (Directors). List them in the order the film's credits do. APA credits the director, so actors, writers, and producers usually don't go in a film reference. If a film credits no director, its title moves into the author's spot.

2. Year

Give the year the film was released, in parentheses, followed by a period. Films take the year only, never the month or day.

(1975).

Use the year of the film itself, not the year of the DVD or the year a streaming service added it. An old film you watched last week still gets its original release year.

3. Title and [Film]

Italicize the title and put it in sentence case: capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. Then add the description [Film], not italicized, and a period.

One flew over the cuckoo's nest [Film].

Keep a title's acronym in capitals, as in CODA [Film]. If you watched a special version, like an extended edition, PERRLA's Special Edition Title box adds it inside the same brackets after a semicolon.

4. Translated title (films in another language)

When the film's original title is in a different language than your paper, keep the original title in italics and add an English translation in square brackets right after it, before [Film]. The translation isn't italicized.

Mar adentro [The sea inside] [Film].

5. Production companies

End with the company or companies that produced the film. Separate two or more with semicolons, and leave off endings like Inc. and LLC.

Vendome Pictures; Pathé.

The production company is not the same as the distributor or the streaming service. Apple released CODA on Apple TV+, but the film was produced by Vendome Pictures and Pathé, so those are the companies in the reference. Look for the companies in the opening or closing credits, the film's press materials, or a film database like the AFI Catalog.

6. URL (usually none)

Most film references end with the production companies and no link. A Netflix, Hulu, or IMDb address doesn't belong in the reference, because readers can find the same film in many places. Add a URL only when the film is available from one website and nowhere else.

Examples

A movie with one director and one production company

Miloš Forman's 1975 film of Ken Kesey's novel, set in a state psychiatric hospital and still discussed in mental health nursing and ethics courses. The AFI Catalog lists Fantasy Films as its production company.

  • Parenthetical citation(Forman, 1975)
  • Narrative citationForman (1975)

A movie based on a book

Penny Marshall's Awakenings, based on neurologist Oliver Sacks's book about patients with encephalitis lethargica. When you write about the film, cite the film: its director, its year, and its production company, Columbia Pictures. Cite Sacks's book separately only if you used the book too.

  • Parenthetical citation(Marshall, 1990)
  • Narrative citationMarshall (1990)

A movie you watched on a streaming service

Siân Heder's CODA, about the only hearing member of a Deaf family, which Apple released in theaters and on Apple TV+ in 2021. Apple's announcement names the production companies as Vendome Pictures and Pathé. The student typed Apple TV+ in the Platform box, and the APA reference still leaves it out.

  • Parenthetical citation(Heder, 2021)
  • Narrative citationHeder (2021)

A movie in another language

Alejandro Amenábar's Spanish film about Ramón Sampedro and his fight for the right to die, often used in end-of-life ethics discussions. Spain's Ministry of Culture film catalog lists four production companies: Sogecine, Himenóptero, UGC Images, and Eyescreen. The Spanish title stays, with its English title in brackets.

  • Parenthetical citation(Amenábar, 2004)
  • Narrative citationAmenábar (2004)

In-text citations

An APA 7 in-text citation for a movie uses the director's last name and the release year.

  • One director: (Forman, 1975) or Forman (1975)
  • Two directors: both names every time, joined by & in parentheses and by and in your sentence: (Newnham & LeBrecht, 2020) or Newnham and LeBrecht (2020)
  • Three or more directors: the first director and et al.
  • No director credited: a short form of the title in italics, and the year: (Title of the film, Year)
  • A quote or a specific scene: add the timestamp where it starts, since a film has no page numbers. A line that starts 1 hour, 2 minutes, and 3 seconds in: (Forman, 1975, 1:02:03). Under an hour, use minutes and seconds: (Marshall, 1990, 42:07).

Name the actors or characters in your sentence when they matter, and cite the director: Nurse Ratched's control over the ward is the film's central conflict (Forman, 1975).

Common mistakes

  • Heder, S. (Director). (2021). CODA [Film]. Apple TV+.Heder, S. (Director). (2021). CODA [Film]. Vendome Pictures; Pathé.The streaming service isn't the production company. APA names the companies that made the film, wherever you watched it.
  • Forman, M. (Director). (1975). One flew over the cuckoo's nest [Film]. Fantasy Films. https://www.netflix.com/title/...Forman, M. (Director). (1975). One flew over the cuckoo's nest [Film]. Fantasy Films.Leave off streaming and IMDb links. A film reference ends with the production companies unless the film is on only one website.
  • Forman, M. (1975). One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [Motion picture]. Fantasy Films.Forman, M. (Director). (1975). One flew over the cuckoo's nest [Film]. Fantasy Films.APA 7 adds (Director) after the name, puts the title in sentence case, and changed the 6th edition's [Motion picture] to [Film].
  • Nicholson, J. (1975). One flew over the cuckoo's nest [Film]. Fantasy Films.Forman, M. (Director). (1975). One flew over the cuckoo's nest [Film]. Fantasy Films.The director goes in the author's spot, not the star. Mention the actor in your sentence if you're writing about the performance.
  • Amenábar, A. (Director). (2004). The sea inside [Film]. Sogecine; Himenóptero; UGC Images; Eyescreen.Amenábar, A. (Director). (2004). Mar adentro [The sea inside] [Film]. Sogecine; Himenóptero; UGC Images; Eyescreen.Keep the original title for a film in another language and give the English translation in square brackets after it.

Quick checklist

  • The director's last name and initials, then (Director) or (Directors)
  • The release year only, in parentheses
  • The title in italics and sentence case, then [Film]
  • An English translation in brackets for a title in another language
  • Every production company, separated by semicolons
  • No streaming service, no IMDb link, no URL unless the film is on one site only

Questions students ask

How do I cite a movie I watched on Netflix in APA?

The same way as any other movie: director, year, title, [Film], and the production companies. APA doesn't include the streaming service or its link. If Netflix itself is credited as a production company, it goes in the list of companies like any other company.

Is the label [Film] or [Motion picture]?

[Film]. The 6th edition used [Motion picture]; APA 7 uses [Film], and its examples don't give documentaries a separate label.

Who is the author of a movie in APA?

The director, followed by (Director). If a film has two or more directors, list them all and use (Directors) once after the last name. Don't put the actors, the writers, or the studio in the author's spot.

Where do I find the production company?

In the film's opening or closing credits, often as "a ___ production," or in its press materials. For older American films, the AFI Catalog lists the production company. A distributor, like the company that "presents" or "releases" the film, isn't the same thing.

Do I cite a movie I watched in class?

Yes, if you use it in your paper. Cite it like any movie, whether your instructor showed it in class, assigned it through the library's streaming service, or you watched it at home. If you're citing your instructor's lecture about the film, that's a separate source.

How do I cite a quote from a movie in APA?

Put the quote in quotation marks and add the timestamp where it starts after the year, like (Forman, 1975, 1:02:03). Use hours, minutes, and seconds, or just minutes and seconds for the first hour.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.17, 8.28, 9.8, 9.10, 9.14, 9.19, 9.21, 9.29, 9.38, and 10.12, and the APA Style website's film and television reference examples, elements of reference list entries, and post on brackets in references. Director, year, and production company verified in the AFI Catalog for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Awakenings, in Apple's announcement for CODA, and in Spain's Ministry of Culture (ICAA) film catalog for Mar adentro, all on October 21, 2026.

PERRLA builds the movie reference with (Director), [Film], and every production company in place, and leaves the streaming service out.

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