MarxistPotato

Hi guys, I'm a class of 2020 undergraduate from Pakistan (woman). My training/ major was English which was very post-col heavy due to the nature of the department. I haven't had any instruction in film studies or Marxism but have identified these fields as my ultimate area of interest . The program that is perhaps the dream is Duke's Literature program because it's very theory heavy with a clear Marxist bent but my problem is that A) I know it's extremely competitive B ) generally, I want more options to look at. I don't think I know how to go about research in this process. I know I'm supposed to look at individual universities, the dept of interest, and then faculty publications but I'm just overwhelmed by the number of publications, and not being whether to read entire books or just chapters? I don't know in what detail I'm supposed to know about the interests of individual dept members and I also don't know how to build my profile (considering my undergrad wasn't film and cultural studies heavy)? Also, I don't know to what extent my interests should overlap with the department's? Is it good enough to show ability to research and a theoretical inclination or do I need to find people who specialize in Marxist theory and cultural media criticism? I know these questions show a lot of ignorance but I really have been trying to figure out this process more or less on my own and I would appreciate any help?