Beijing Film Academy
Institution Names
1950: Performance Art Institution of the Film Bureau of the Ministry of Culture
1951: Film School of the Film Bureau of the Ministry of Culture
1953: Beijing Film School
1956: Beijing Film Academy
(“Beijing Film Academy Introduction”)
General Information
Beijing Film Academy (BFA) is the only institution specializing in film in Chinese higher education. It offers diplomas, Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees, and PhD degrees (“Beijing Film Academy Introduction”). Students are recruited from Chinese high schools each year in February and March. Approximately 100,000 students audition each year, but only 400-500 are accepted. Acting is particularly competitive. The BFA is the most affordable of all higher education institutions in China, but also the most competitive. The BFA acceptance rate for women is the highest for all Chinese higher education institutions and women make up more than half the student body. The only department that has few women is the cinematography department. President Zhang Hui-jun attributes this to the heavy equipment. Most instructors are Chinese but throughout the year there is generally always several visiting scholars from Europe and the United States. All BFA instructors have actual, hands-on film experience and work in equal 1/3 cycles. For example, a BFA professor will spend six months teaching, six months working on films, and six months doing research, going abroad, attending conferences, or writing books (Hui-jun). For several majors (including directing), BFA doesn’t admit students every year (Zhen 40). The Beijing Film Academy insists that their students make their primary focus Chinese audiences and there are three career tracks after graduation: film track, TV/MTV track, and commercials and large scale performance track (Hui-jun).
There are 15 schools/departments at BFA, including:
School of Performing Art
-Four specialties: Performing Art, language skill, vocals, and body shaping.
Directing Department
-Three majors: Fiction film directing, documentary directing, and film editing.
Cinematography Department
-This department is currently undergoing reform and now has a new major: Image Studies, which focuses on digital technology.
-This department accepts foreign students.
Sound Recording Department
-Students focus on either Recording Art or Scoring
Department of Fine Art
Animation School of Beijing Film Academy
-Established in 2000
-Blends new digital technology with traditional animation production.
Department of Literature
-Has had over 1,000 graduates to date.
-Known as the cradle of Chinese filmmakers.
-Mantra: The script is the root of drama. From there, a film is born.
Photography School
-Oldest photography educational institution in China.
-Method of training: Substantial basic and all-around knowledge based on photography optics, chemistry, digital processing technology, photographic history and art theories with practical work at its core.
Film and TV Technology Department (Digital Media Institute)
-Established in 2003
Department of Film Studies
-BFA’s research department, established in 2002
-This department has the editors of the BFA Journal, a prestigious film journal.
(“Beijing Film Academy Schools and Departments”)
Sources
"Beijing Film Academy Introduction." Beijing Film Academy. Beijing Film Academy, 2009. Web. 28 Mar 2012.
"Beijing Film Academy Schools and Departments." Beijing Film Academy. Beijing Film Academy, 2009. Web. 28 Mar 2012.
Hui-jun, Zhang. "Interview with Professor Zhang Hui-jun, President of the Beijing Film Academy." Harvard Asia Quarterly. Interview. 28 Jan 2006. 28 Jan 2006. Web.
Zhen, Zhang. The Urban Generation. London: Duke University Press, 2007. Print.
NOTE
Reading in Turn on Beijing Film Academy given by Ris Ratliff 27 Mar. 2012. This wiki article by RisR 05:28, 6 April 2012 (UTC)