Beijing Film Academy (BFA) is the only film academy in China and the largest film academy in Asia. Through 66 years’ development, it has built up a multidisciplinary and multilevel cultivation system that embraces the entire spectrum of film-making, including production, teaching, creation and research for training advanced film talents. BFA has about 4000 students including 146 international students from 49 countries.
1. History
Beijing Film Academy was established in May 1950, the BFA was first named Performance Art Institution of the Film Bureau of the Ministry of Culture. 38 Chinese students enrolled during its first year. The school was renamed Film School of the Film Bureau of the Ministry of Culture in July 1951, then Beijing Film School in March 1953 and finally, Beijing Film Academy on June, 1956.
Upon its first establishment, the academy contained 2 schools namely the School of Photography and the Animation School with the associated departments and their subsequent specialties. The Screenwriting Department was one of the earliest departments to be established at the academy in 1951. Gradually, the academy expanded its number of schools and departments. On September 14, 1950, BFA offered its first undergraduate course in performing arts. The course attracted a class of 30 students, many of which were notable figures in film and television. Due to its success, BFA established the Performance Institute in June 1956. In 1952, BFA offered its first programs in sound recording. The Department of Sound Recording was officially founded in 1959. The Department of Sound Recording continued to grow throughout the years. In 1960, BFA's Department of Sound Recording and the School of Engineering were joined together. BFA began offering a two-year course in film and television production management in September 1955. Although the first class only graduated 28 students, the popularity of the course grew, and a Department of Management was formally established in 1987.
In 1966, the Cultural Revolution brought hardships for schools throughout the People's Republic of China. BFA was equally affected; many of its professors left the academy. However, in the beginning of 1976, after the end of the Cultural Revolution, many faculty members returned to BFA. By 1977, the academy had recovered from the Cultural Revolution. Finally, in 1978, the academy allowed new students to apply.
In 1989, the International School of the Academy was set up, along with the Information Research Center in October 1999. Individual departments have also developed recently. Major development of the screenwriting department was the establishment of a postgraduate course with master's degree in Screenwriting in 1985, followed by the construction of the undergraduate program on Film Theories in 1987. Further postgraduate courses for Ph.D. students in Screenwriting were set up in 2004.
2. Discipline and Programs
Beijing Film Academy offers associate, bachelor, master and doctoral degree programs in many areas of film. BFA offers courses in script writing, film theory, film directing, film and television production, film acting, film and television art design, advertisements, animations, sound art, cinematography, photography, and entertainment management.
Presently, there are five schools and eight departments that make up the Beijing Film Academy. The departments are: Department of Art Direction, Department of Film Theory, Department of Management, Department of Photography, Department of Screenwriting and Cinema Studies and Department of Sound Recording.
3. Academic Facilities and Scientific Research
Beijing Film Academy facilities include four studios equipped to professional production standards, with advanced cinematography and production equipment from recognized industry suppliers including ARRI Alaxa, ARRI Lights, Kino Flo, Panther, Steadicam, and with top-level postproduction and grading suites from Quantel and Da-Vinci. One of Beijing Film Academy's strengths is its vast amount of facilities and state-of-the-art equipment. Facilities and research centers present at the BFA include: Audiovisual Publications Publishing House; BFA Library, Digital Art and Technology Research Center, Editorial Board of the BFA Journal, Film and Television Experimental Laboratory, Television Program Production Center, Theoretical Studies Center, and Youth Film Studio.
4. Beijing Film Academy Achievement
The youth film studio of BFA is the site of many faculty and student productions. Over 70 films have been produced there since the studio opened in 1979. Films produced at the studio have won local, national, and international awards. Additionally, the youth film studio is a center where many international films are dubbed. For over 65 years, graduates of BFA have won national and international acclaim for their contributions to film and television. Their notable alumni include directors, producers, screenwriters, as well as actors and actresses. The majority of famous recent graduates are actors and actresses, as well as a few directors. BFA's older famous graduates mostly consist of fourth-generation, fifth-generation, and sixth-generation directors. The most well-known fourth-generation directors include Wu Tianming, Wu Yigong, Teng Wenji, and Zhang Nuanxin. Modern Chinese-American filmmaker Dayyan Eng, who has won awards at the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, transferred to Beijing Film Academy.
5. Communication and International Cooperation
Currently, Beijing Film Academy has approximately 146 long-term international students from 49 countries for degree studies. Beijing Film Academy stands above more than 100 film schools in the world in its academic structure, school scale, professional direction, the strength of teaching, course design, teaching facilities, artistic creation, the quality of its graduates, the level of teaching and management, as well as the achievements of theoretic research in film. Likewise Beijing film academy is the most unique academy in Chinese higher education of arts, the largest in its scale in Asia and a well-known film academy in today’s world. Since its first enrollment of overseas students in the 1950’s, Beijing Film Academy has made enormous progress in the education of overseas students. The International School has established close links with a great number of counterparts from other countries. The capacity of overseas student enrollment has been increasing each year. Today, BFA has become one of Beijing’s 9 influential institutes of higher education for overseas students, and won many times the honor “Advanced Unit in Teaching and Management of Overseas Students in Beijing”.
The final information is subject to the University If there is any discrepancy!