Beijing Film Academy

(Beijing dianying xueyuan)

The Beijing Film Academy (BFA: http://www.bfa.edu.cn/) was founded in 1950 and has since become China’s premier institution for film studies. An outgrowth of the film department of the Central Cultural Ministry Graduate School of Acting and Arts, it attained its final name as Beijing Film Academy in 1956. After a forced hiatus during the Cultural Revolution, the academy was completely re-established in 1977.

In 1979, the Youth Film Studio was established, which enabled the academy to produce its own films. It is one of the cinema studios officially approved by the Chinese government and a foundation for the production activities of students and teachers. It is also where films are dubbed and television programmes produced. In 1995, noted director Jia Zhangke established the well-received Youth Experimental Film Group there.

According to the most recent data, BFA consists of seven departments, two institutes, four centres and a separate College of Photography. These offer degrees in twelve disciplines: cinematography, production, directing, advertising, dramaturgy, performance studies, recording art, TV broadcasting and advertising, TV and film production design and management, animation, film theory, and screenwriting and editing.

As the only institute of higher learning for film studies in China, BFA has brought forth a large contingent of famous directors, actors, and film technicians, and it is the alma mater of most of the filmmakers known as the Fifth Generation and Sixth Generation directors, most notable among them Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Zhang Yuan, Ning Ying and Jia Zhangke.

See also: Xi’an Film Studio

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