Selecting where to study film is a tough decision. Most other professional schools, such as business, IT or engineering, have established ranking and benchmarking systems in place. Film, animation and other media schools, however, do not. In a globalized world, this creates a bewildering range of options for the aspiring filmmaker.
This website – World’s Best Film Schools – was created to help students navigate the maze and to provide an inside perspective into the world of filmmaking. In truth, there is no way to simply rank film schools from 1 to 10 (sorry Hollywood Reporter). Every film school is unique, based significantly on the vision, philosophy and experience of the faculty and management. Other important factors include the location, facilities, industry connections, alumni networks and academic accreditation.
We will travel around the world, visiting countries and selecting the film schools that deserve your consideration. Enjoy the journey!
Country List
US Film Schools
Indian Film Schools
UK Film Schools
Australian Film Schools
Indian Film Schools
Indian Film Schools
US Film Schools
Of all countries, the US is where you are most spoiled for choice as a film student. In fact, with most of the ‘top’ schools at vaguely similar levels in terms of facilities (lots of gear) and academics (all offer recognized degrees), much of the choice is about what type of filmmaker you want to become.
Best Commercially-Focused Film Schools.
Two very strong competitors here. Chapman and USC.
Over the last decade or so, Dodge at Chapman has been slowly and steadily collecting fantastic faculty and raising funds to build some pretty incredible facilities. Where Dodge excels is in preparing students for the commercial realities of the industry – filmmaking is collaborative and requires successful team work. The only thing that Chapman is short on is the prestige that comes from studying at a school like…
USC is often ranked as the top film school in the US. Cutting edge facilities spurred by rich donors, beautiful campus, great teachers and… yeah yeah we know… it’s actually in LA.
Best Indie Film School
NYU – If you hate the studio system, see yourself as more of an independent film warrior/auteur and think that suntans are unrelated to great filmmaking, NYU is probably the right place for you. NY city provides a lifestyle like no other, as long as you can afford it.
Runners Up
Columbia, UCLA, Cal Arts, UT Austin.
Most Overrated
It’s a fairly poorly-kept industry secret that the AFI school is pretty much trading off its old reputation. Many of the top faculty have moved on and the school has under-invested in facilities. If the current AFI school were to open today as a brand new school, it would never be ranked with the schools listed above.
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Indian Film Schools
The idea of studying film in India is still a concept that most of the world is waking up to, including Indians. The film industry is huge: over 1000 films are made each year, there are over 600 TV channels and the entire industry is growing at a frantic pace – around 14% each year. Unlike western countries however, only a tiny percentage of the workforce has any formal training, most people learn on the job or through apprenticeships.The main reason for this is that until recently there were only a couple of small, government-managed film schools (and these were/are disconnected from the commercial industry).
The last few years have seen some truly world-class film schools opening in India. These have been attracting their fair share of international students. Why? Firstly, it’s much cheaper to study film in India – same technical training for less money – and secondly, the Indian media industry is going to become a significantly more powerful player on the world stage over the next 5-10 years. Forward-thinking students use their studies to establish a network of contacts that they can later draw upon.
Best Film School in India
The standout choice here is the International School of Film and Media, in Hyderabad. The school is set inside a 23 acre working film studio and claims to be the largest film school in Asia. It is the only film school in India that offers degree programs, in both undergraduate and postgraduate streams. They have a partnership with RED cameras and have the latest Red offerings on campus for student classes. Supposedly, ISFM has a film fund that will produce commercial films with student involvement. They also accept exchange students, so film students from around the world can apply to join the school for a single semester.
Best (almost) Free Option
FTII, the government film school in Pune, is old, bedraggled, teaches an outdated curriculum and is often on strike over random and bizarre issues. The upside is that many courses are government subsidized, so it is almost free (by global standards). If you are weird enough, it might be for you.
Runners Up
The only other serious option is Whistling Woods International in Mumbai. It offers beautiful facilities inside Mumbai’s filmcity, however the school is not accredited and provides its own certificates rather than degrees. Sadly, the school is also currently in litigation over land ownership, and may be relocating to another state. We’ll try to update this as we hear more. [edit - April 2012: the school has been ordered to hand back most of their land immediately and the rest in 2 years. Although the better faculty and staff will be looking for other options, this school might still be feasible for short courses.]
There are a bunch of smaller schools that promise ‘international teaching’ and ‘guaranteed jobs’. Most of them are dreadful. Don’t risk it.
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UK Film Schools
Australian Film Schools
Considering the relatively small film industry in Australia, there are a bunch of strong options here.
The best known film school in Australia is AFTRS. When the school moved its campus a couple of years back from a enormous, sprawling tract of land on the edge of Sydney, to the middle of Fox Studios, there was some apprehension about whether the soul of the school would survive. Happily, it has, and the school is stronger than ever.
Other sizable, top schools are the Griffith University film school, Victorian College of Art and Queensland School of Film and TV
French Film Schools
South East Asian Film Schools
There are a couple of options here, the major ones being outreach branches of top US schools.
While neither Singapore nor the Philippines have major film industries, these schools feed talent into film industries around the region, as well as providing a lower cost alternative to the US, UK or Europe for students who wish to study abroad.
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