School of Film Directing at the University of Gothenburg

The School of Film Directing is part of the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts at the University of Gothenburg, and it is the most recent addition to film directing programmes in Sweden. The School was established in 1997.
The school's vision is to train filmmakers who express themselves in a personal film language and who are well aware of what their approach is with regard to artistic expression and artistic research.

Our goal is to higher the quality and to increase the breadth and diversity in the entire field of the moving image.

This means that we prioritise the development of filmic means of expression in both feature film and documentary film. In order for work to include visual experiments of artistic excellence as well as filmic projects of the everyday kind, students will be offered an abundance of varying approaches and methods.

The guiding principle of our programmes is to express the diversity and complexity of man and the world he lives in.

Our school's core philosophy is to be part of the new position film and the moving image is taking in the development of our society, and work for equality and humanistic values.

Number of students/full time/part time workshops: 2

Number of students in film/animation studies: 30 (no animation studies)

Filmmaking is a collaborative process in which the ability to cooperate is of vital importance. The students are encouraged both to develop their own independent powers of critical thinking and to find their own personal stance in relation to research and development in the art of cinematic narrative.

Practical and theoretical training are offered in workshop and seminar form, and are based on a methodology whereby learning is problem-based. Exams are in the form of continuous assessment and take place in directing seminars held by our teachers. These seminars are attended by all the students and teachers for each respective programme and year.

Since our emphasis is on visual narration as a whole, we make no distinction between feature and documentary films.

During the first year, coursework concentrates on the basic methodologies of film and moving pictures, as well as cinematic representation and imagery in documentary films. In the second year, training has a free-ranging kind of approach, providing advanced experience of film narration through feature film projects. Studies in the third year become increasingly individualised and are orientated towards professional life and film production. As part of their advanced studies, students complete a project of their own choice, a degree project and a final essay.

This programme is based on alternating practical work and theoretical subjects. The latter include studies in film history, film analysis and drama, as well as policy matters related to the world of film, the world of the arts and the world of media.

This programme is run in close collaboration with the Academy of Music and Drama, where courses in acting and directing for the camera are offered.

Six students are admitted to this programme every other year.

MFA (Master of Fine Arts)

The aim of the Master's Programme in Independent Filmmaking is for each student to produce a work of cinematic art through which he or she gains in-depth experience of film directing and cinematic narration.

Students spend one year at the school, during which the emphasis is not only on the creative process of making independent films of all kinds, such as feature films, documentaries, experimental films or any composite form, but also on the distribution and screening sides of the film industry. This programme is characterised by it being firmly based in the artistic process and in cinematic narration, in combination with the process of critical reflection about one's own work.
This programme is a preparatory programme for further research studies in the arts, with a specialisation in cinematic narration.

Six to eight students are admitted to this programme every other year.

Entry Requirements:

The language of instruction in all programmes is Swedish. Excellent skills in written and spoken Swedish are essential. A complete leaving certificate from upper secondary school is required together with documented experience of creative work in filmmaking.
The admission procedure consists of a written application, interviews and entrance tests. It is conducted over a long period of time. During part of the process, applicants are required to come to the school in person, at their own expense. There are many applicants to our programmes; only a limited number of students are, however, finally admitted.

The School of Film Directing only accepts applications for entire programmes. We are not able to accept students on an exchange programme basis.