Swank Digital Campus is a major streaming platform specializing both new and legacy feature films. Access our library’s subscription to Swank with this link.

For Instructors: We do not subscribe to Swank’s entire catalog. If there is a film you would like to use in a course, and it is available through Swank, you may request a license for the film through the procedures described below.

Step 1: Log in to Swank as an instructor. Access Swank through the link above. If you already have an account in Swank, click on “I already have an account” and sign in to your account. Otherwise, click on the “Instructor” button and register your account in Swank. Be sure to use your DU email address and to enter a password with one capital letter and one numerical digit. You will receive a confirmation email from Swank. Click on the link in that email and it will take you to your account in Swank.

Step 2: Find the film you want. Once you are logged into Swank as an instructor, use the search bar in the upper right corner of the page to search for films by title. Note that this “simple” search bar will only search for titles. If you want to search by director, name of a cast member, or some other variable, click on “Advanced Search.”

You cannot browse the films available for subscription through our subscription interface, but the Swank Digital Campus website has a list of all the films Swank offers. It goes on for more than 250 webpages, at 60 films per page – but you can download the title list in Excel or PDF format. You should know that the download can take several minutes to be ready. You will have to be patient, but it should work. You can then browse this list to help you locate a film to search for. 

Step 3: Request the Film. Once you have searched for and located a film you would like to request, click on the “Request” button under the film you want. (If we already have access to the film, instead of a “Request” button you will see the words “Currently Licensed” and the date the license expires.) The form that now opens has three fields: “Needed by,” “Course,” and “Academic Use.” Please by sure to let us know the first day you will need to have the film available, and the number of the course you are using it for. When you are done putting information into the form, click “Send Request.”  (You may click “Add to Queue” if you would like to queue several requests to submit at once, but this is generally not necessary.) When you submit your request, you should see a small green box in the upper right corner of the screen, with the words, “Request Sent.” You will receive an email confirmation of your request at the address you used to register your account.

Once your request is submitted, it will go first to the library administration, who will confirm that you are a current faculty member and teaching the course you specified. The library will then forward the request to Swank. When access to the film is turned on by Swank, you will receive an email with a direct link to the film, and it will become discoverable through our subscription. 

Important: We usually have a 48-hour turn-around on requests for films in Swank, but this time may be longer during busy periods, like right before and after the beginning of the academic term. We encourage you to plan your subscription requests well in advance, and to submit requests two weeks in advance of the date you will need the film, just in case there are any unexpected hiccups in the process. 

Also Important: Films licensed through Swank are licensed for ONE YEAR. If you will need the same film the following year, you will need to request it again.

If you have any question or problems while requesting access to a film from Swank, please contact Collection Librarian Shannon Tharp.