The 15 Top Global Film Schools

Australian Film Television and Radio School

Australia’s leading screen arts and broadcast school benefits from a beautiful Sydney campus and a deep pool of industry lecturers and close ties with the Australian film community. Notable alumni include multi-Oscar nominee Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), Phillip Noyce (The Quiet American) and Black Widow filmmaker Cate Shortland, plus a slew of esteemed craftspeople like Margaret Sixel (editing on Mad Max: Fury Road), David White (sound editing for Mad Max: Fury Road), Andrew Lesnie (cinematography for The Lord of the Rings) and Tony McNamara (best original screenplay Oscar nominee for The Favourite).

Beijing Film Academy

The USC of the world’s second-largest film industry, China’s most prestigious film school offers its graduates a wealth of industry ties to some of the country’s most prominent working actors and directors. BFA also now has an undergraduate film program taught in English. Graduates include such local directing legends as Zhang Yimou and Jia Zhangke and A-list actors Yao Chen and Huang Bo.

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Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (Italy)

Europe’s oldest film school (established in 1935), Italy’s CSC remains the gold standard on the continent, with a unique countrywide structure that offers three-year study programs across all top and below-the-line professions — from directing, acting and screenwriting to producing, VFX and even film restoration — in campuses from Lombardy to Rome to Sicily. A new campus, specializing in virtual reality production, is set to open soon in Venice on the island of San Servolo. Classes are small (about six people per class, 14 for the acting course, evenly split between men and women), and so selection is highly competitive. A solid knowledge of Italian and English is essential.

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie (Germany)

When it comes to film schools, Germany is spoiled for choice — and the country’s tuition-free higher-education system means they are truly open for all — but for cinema purists, Berlin’s DFFB stands out. The instruction at the acclaimed film school, set up in 1966 in what was then West Berlin, is all behind-the-camera action: directing, screenplay, cinematography, production and editing, with no acting courses on offer. The school prides itself on an artisanal approach to filmmaking that emphasizes personal expression while still focusing on the practical aspects of the business, including financing and distribution. Acclaimed alumni include Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot), Christian Petzold (Afire) and Emily Atef (3 Days in Quiberon).

ECAM (Spain)

Located just outside Madrid, Spain’s leading film school offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the nuts-and-bolts of filmmaking, from production and direction to screenwriting, editing and set design (but not acting), with a focus on practical training and industry networking to help alumni find a job postgraduation. Its job-oriented syllabus includes the annual ECAM Series Market, in which students from its TV scriptwriting master’s course present their final projects to Spanish industry professionals.

La Fémis (France)

La Fémis is notorious for its rigorous and exhaustive selection procedure — with fewer than 5 percent of applicants accepted for each of its seven core programs, including directing, producing and screenwriting, with just six students per program — but those who get in tend to make their mark. Alumni include cinema legends Claire Denis, Costa-Gavras and Louis Malle as well as a who’s who of the new generation, among them 2001 Palme d’Or winner Julia Ducournau (Titane), Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) and Léa Mysius (The Five Devils). School president is The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius. All courses are in French.

Filmakademie Wien (Austria)

“The Vienna Film Academy is a place of action,” reads the mission statement from Austria’s top cinema school, emphasizing the importance the Filmakademie puts on practical experience, where would-be art house auteurs can learn in close collaboration with directors and professors such as Cannes regulars Michael Haneke (Amour, Funny Games) and Jessica Hausner (Little Joe, Club Zero). The 1-to-4 teacher-to-student ratio ensures you won’t get lost in the crowd. German fluency is a must.

Gobelins, l’école de l’image (France)

Arguably the No. 1 animation school worldwide, Gobelins has two campuses in Paris (in the 13th and 20th arrondissements) and one in the heart of Annecy, in the French Alps, famed for its international animation festival. Offering both English- and French-language instruction, Gobelins boasts a phenomenal student-to-worker conversion rate, with some 87 percent of graduates working in the industry within six months of graduation. Famed alumni include Despicable Me and Minions director Pierre Coffin, The Swallows of Kabul animator and co-director Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec and Ernest & Celestine filmmaker Benjamin Renner. In September, Gobelins will open a new one-year, full-time motion-design program tailor-made for international students.

Lodz Film School (Poland)

The history of Polish cinema is synonymous with that of Lodz Film School, with Oscar winners Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda and Zbigniew Rybczyński, art house pioneer Krzysztof Kieślowski and famed cinematographers including Pawel Edelman (The Pianist), Dariusz Wolski (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Martian) and Lukasz Zal (Ida, Cold War) among its alumni. The school offers full- and part-time instruction in film and TV directing, cinematography, film art, television production and acting, with a reasonable (for international students) 6,000 euros ($6,600) per semester tuition fee. All courses are in Polish, but those who pass the entrance exam qualify for a yearlong Polish-language course before beginning their studies.

National Film and Television School (U.K.)

It’s been another solid year for the U.K.’s most prestigious film school. In Cannes, NFTS cinematography grad Molly Manning Walker stunned audiences with her Film4-backed directorial debut, How to Have Sex, which was picked up by Mubi and later won the top Un Certain Regard prize, while Musa Alderson-Clarke’s Killing Boris Johnson, made as a graduation project, was the only U.K. student short film picked for the La Cinef competition. On campus, the college strengthened its existing ties with Disney to launch Disney Imagine U.K., a 10-month short-film incubator program to act as a springboard for upcoming filmmakers.

National Film School of Denmark

Denmark’s premier film school has produced pretty much every Danish director of note in the past 50-odd years, from Bille August (Pelle the Conquerer) and Lars von Trier (Melancholia) to Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round) and Susanne Bier (Bird Box). A strong focus on storytelling, particularly screenwriting, is a defining feature of the Copenhagen-based institution. Another is its notorious selectivity. Besides requiring Danish fluency, the school has a steep (for European film schools) tuition fee of about 20,000 euros ($22,000) per semester for non-EU residents and only admits one or two international students a year.

Prague Film School (Czech Republic)

Prague’s English-language film school strives to combine the best of the European art house tradition with a very hands-on American indie approach to filmmaking and focus on on-set training. Every student — the school offers degrees in screenwriting, directing, cinematography and postproduction as well as acting for film — works on up to 30 productions per year. Tuition, at €19,700 ($21,000) a year, is steep for European university standards but a bargain compared with U.S. schools.

Sam Spiegel Film and TV School (Israel)

Israel’s top film school has moved to a new campus in central Jerusalem, upgrading its facilities and providing a unique backdrop and inspiration for its 180-strong student body. The school also launched a preparatory program for Arabic speakers from East Jerusalem. Known for its practical approach to filmmaking — about 75 percent of its graduates are employed in the entertainment industry — Sam Spiegel also has a strong focus on the small screen. Its Series Lab initiative, backed by Netflix and Paramount, partners Israeli creators with international television professionals to develop high-end series. The final session last year was held in Los Angeles, with participants networking with U.S. professionals and Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos attending the awards ceremony.

Toronto Film School

With crucial industry access in Canada’s biggest media market, TFS offers diplomas in film production, film and TV writing and stage and screen acting. The private college, with a focus on launching careers in film, entertainment, fashion, design and video games, is also working with Hollywood studio partners on possible joint training in postproduction supervision, line producing and business affairs, among other advanced career options. TFS’ A-list faculty includes Schitt’s Creek exec producer Andrew Barnsley, former CBC programming exec Michelle Daly and Daytime Emmy-winning sound editor Jason MacNeill.

Toronto Metropolitan University

The USC of Canada recently launched Creative AI Hub, where students learn leading-edge artificial intelligence applications in film and media. Also new is the Red Bull Gaming Hub, focused on new design applications for video games and virtual production sets enabled by high-end computers and video game engines. Elsewhere, the Creative School and its industry-tied faculty offer cross-disciplinary instruction across film, photography, media production, new media, acting, podcasts, radio, video games, transmedia and performance production. Recent graduates include Andrew Cividino (director on Schitt’s Creek), Infinity Pool helmer Brandon Cronenberg and Jade Watson, whose Los Angeles-based Sickbird Productions specializes in digital unscripted content.

This story first appeared in the Aug. 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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