On August 11, 2023, the famous “Hollywood Reporter” magazine (September issue) released online the 2023 edition of “The 15 Top Global Film Schools” list outside the United States; “The Top 25 in the United States” “Film Schools” (2023 Top 25 American Film Schools, Ranked).
Beijing Film Academy was once again selected into the list of “Top 15 Film Schools in the World” outside the United States.
1 - The 2023 edition of the “Top 15 Film Schools in the World” list in the United States and abroad is as follows:
Australian Film Television and Radio School
Australia’s leading screen arts and broadcast school benefits from a beautiful Sydney campus and a deep pool of industry lecturers and close ties with the Australian film community. Notable alumni include multi-Oscar nominee Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), Phillip Noyce (The Quiet American) and Black Widow filmmaker Cate Shortland, plus a slew of esteemed craftspeople like Margaret Sixel (editing on Mad Max: Fury Road), David White (sound editing for Mad Max: Fury Road), Andrew Lesnie (cinematography for The Lord of the Rings) and Tony McNamara (best original screenplay Oscar nominee for The Favourite).
Beijing Film Academy
The USC of the world’s second-largest film industry, China’s most prestigious film school offers its graduates a wealth of industry ties to some of the country’s most prominent working actors and directors. BFA also now has an undergraduate film program taught in English. Graduates include such local directing legends as Zhang Yimou and Jia Zhangke and A-list actors Yao Chen and Huang Bo.
Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (Italy)
Europe’s oldest film school (established in 1935), Italy’s CSC remains the gold standard on the continent, with a unique countrywide structure that offers three-year study programs across all top and below-the-line professions — from directing, acting and screenwriting to producing, VFX and even film restoration — in campuses from Lombardy to Rome to Sicily. A new campus, specializing in virtual reality production, is set to open soon in Venice on the island of San Servolo. Classes are small (about six people per class, 14 for the acting course, evenly split between men and women), and so selection is highly competitive. A solid knowledge of Italian and English is essential.
Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie (Germany)
When it comes to film schools, Germany is spoiled for choice — and the country’s tuition-free higher-education system means they are truly open for all — but for cinema purists, Berlin’s DFFB stands out. The instruction at the acclaimed film school, set up in 1966 in what was then West Berlin, is all behind-the-camera action: directing, screenplay, cinematography, production and editing, with no acting courses on offer. The school prides itself on an artisanal approach to filmmaking that emphasizes personal expression while still focusing on the practical aspects of the business, including financing and distribution. Acclaimed alumni include Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot), Christian Petzold (Afire) and Emily Atef (3 Days in Quiberon).
ECAM (Spain)
Located just outside Madrid, Spain’s leading film school offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the nuts-and-bolts of filmmaking, from production and direction to screenwriting, editing and set design (but not acting), with a focus on practical training and industry networking to help alumni find a job postgraduation. Its job-oriented syllabus includes the annual ECAM Series Market, in which students from its TV scriptwriting master’s course present their final projects to Spanish industry professionals.
La Fémis (France)
La Fémis is notorious for its rigorous and exhaustive selection procedure — with fewer than 5 percent of applicants accepted for each of its seven core programs, including directing, producing and screenwriting, with just six students per program — but those who get in tend to make their mark. Alumni include cinema legends Claire Denis, Costa-Gavras and Louis Malle as well as a who’s who of the new generation, among them 2001 Palme d’Or winner Julia Ducournau (Titane), Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) and Léa Mysius (The Five Devils). School president is The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius. All courses are in French.
Filmakademie Wien (Austria)
“The Vienna Film Academy is a place of action,” reads the mission statement from Austria’s top cinema school, emphasizing the importance the Filmakademie puts on practical experience, where would-be art house auteurs can learn in close collaboration with directors and professors such as Cannes regulars Michael Haneke (Amour, Funny Games) and Jessica Hausner (Little Joe, Club Zero). The 1-to-4 teacher-to-student ratio ensures you won’t get lost in the crowd. German fluency is a must.
Gobelins, l’école de l’image (France)
Arguably the No. 1 animation school worldwide, Gobelins has two campuses in Paris (in the 13th and 20th arrondissements) and one in the heart of Annecy, in the French Alps, famed for its international animation festival. Offering both English- and French-language instruction, Gobelins boasts a phenomenal student-to-worker conversion rate, with some 87 percent of graduates working in the industry within six months of graduation. Famed alumni include Despicable Me and Minions director Pierre Coffin, The Swallows of Kabul animator and co-director Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec and Ernest & Celestine filmmaker Benjamin Renner. In September, Gobelins will open a new one-year, full-time motion-design program tailor-made for international students.
Lodz Film School (Poland)
The history of Polish cinema is synonymous with that of Lodz Film School, with Oscar winners Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda and Zbigniew Rybczyński, art house pioneer Krzysztof Kieślowski and famed cinematographers including Pawel Edelman (The Pianist), Dariusz Wolski (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Martian) and Lukasz Zal (Ida, Cold War) among its alumni. The school offers full- and part-time instruction in film and TV directing, cinematography, film art, television production and acting, with a reasonable (for international students) 6,000 euros ($6,600) per semester tuition fee. All courses are in Polish, but those who pass the entrance exam qualify for a yearlong Polish-language course before beginning their studies.
National Film and Television School (U.K.)
It’s been another solid year for the U.K.’s most prestigious film school. In Cannes, NFTS cinematography grad Molly Manning Walker stunned audiences with her Film4-backed directorial debut, How to Have Sex, which was picked up by Mubi and later won the top Un Certain Regard prize, while Musa Alderson-Clarke’s Killing Boris Johnson, made as a graduation project, was the only U.K. student short film picked for the La Cinef competition. On campus, the college strengthened its existing ties with Disney to launch Disney Imagine U.K., a 10-month short-film incubator program to act as a springboard for upcoming filmmakers.
National Film School of Denmark
Denmark’s premier film school has produced pretty much every Danish director of note in the past 50-odd years, from Bille August (Pelle the Conquerer) and Lars von Trier (Melancholia) to Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round) and Susanne Bier (Bird Box). A strong focus on storytelling, particularly screenwriting, is a defining feature of the Copenhagen-based institution. Another is its notorious selectivity. Besides requiring Danish fluency, the school has a steep (for European film schools) tuition fee of about 20,000 euros ($22,000) per semester for non-EU residents and only admits one or two international students a year.
Prague Film School (Czech Republic)
Prague’s English-language film school strives to combine the best of the European art house tradition with a very hands-on American indie approach to filmmaking and focus on on-set training. Every student — the school offers degrees in screenwriting, directing, cinematography and postproduction as well as acting for film — works on up to 30 productions per year. Tuition, at €19,700 ($21,000) a year, is steep for European university standards but a bargain compared with U.S. schools.
Sam Spiegel Film and TV School (Israel)
Israel’s top film school has moved to a new campus in central Jerusalem, upgrading its facilities and providing a unique backdrop and inspiration for its 180-strong student body. The school also launched a preparatory program for Arabic speakers from East Jerusalem. Known for its practical approach to filmmaking — about 75 percent of its graduates are employed in the entertainment industry — Sam Spiegel also has a strong focus on the small screen. Its Series Lab initiative, backed by Netflix and Paramount, partners Israeli creators with international television professionals to develop high-end series. The final session last year was held in Los Angeles, with participants networking with U.S. professionals and Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos attending the awards ceremony.
Toronto Film School
With crucial industry access in Canada’s biggest media market, TFS offers diplomas in film production, film and TV writing and stage and screen acting. The private college, with a focus on launching careers in film, entertainment, fashion, design and video games, is also working with Hollywood studio partners on possible joint training in postproduction supervision, line producing and business affairs, among other advanced career options. TFS’ A-list faculty includes Schitt’s Creek exec producer Andrew Barnsley, former CBC programming exec Michelle Daly and Daytime Emmy-winning sound editor Jason MacNeill.
Toronto Metropolitan University
The USC of Canada recently launched Creative AI Hub, where students learn leading-edge artificial intelligence applications in film and media. Also new is the Red Bull Gaming Hub, focused on new design applications for video games and virtual production sets enabled by high-end computers and video game engines. Elsewhere, the Creative School and its industry-tied faculty offer cross-disciplinary instruction across film, photography, media production, new media, acting, podcasts, radio, video games, transmedia and performance production. Recent graduates include Andrew Cividino (director on Schitt’s Creek), Infinity Pool helmer Brandon Cronenberg and Jade Watson, whose Los Angeles-based Sickbird Productions specializes in digital unscripted content.
2 - The 2023 “ Top 25 American Film Schools Ranking” list is as follows :
1 - American Film Institute
LOS ANGELES
“If you’re at AFI, you’ve earned that spot, but so has the talented individual sitting next to you,” says alum and Tár director Todd Field. The graduate school is the most storied in the country, graduating a trove of Oscar winners and enough faculty actively working in Hollywood to fill the Dolby Theatre. In the past year, 152 AFI alumni projects screened across Telluride, Venice, Toronto, the New York Film Festival, AFI Fest, Sundance, SXSW, Cannes and Tribeca. But the program, which is split into six disciplines and spans two years, has long come with a hefty price tag in an extremely expensive city. AFI says the average student receives $14,330 in scholarship money and the school offers funding for the first year’s three short films requirement and a second-year thesis film. Tech company Canva established a fellowship that provides scholarships for six AFI fellows totaling $240,000 annually. In 2023, Disney and AFI partnered for an Underrepresented Storytellers Initiative — which offers a micro-grant of $35,000, along with professional development workshops and mentor meetings — to several aspiring filmmakers.
2 - USC
LOS ANGELES
The storied school offers the traditional directing and screenwriting routes but has curriculum and equipment alternatives for students who decide to pivot to other roles. Alumnus and Creed II director Steven Caple Jr. cites a graduate production course that spends a semester on a short film as a personal favorite. “This class allowed us to focus on one role and see it through start to finish,” he says. Newly added in the 2023 school year is Themed Design, with a focus on theme park design, while the VFX curriculum also has been expanded, leveraging its top game design department to help students navigate game engines used by professional productions. New faculty includes Wes Anderson and cinematographer Robert Yeoman, and alums Ryan Coogler and Tracy Oliver have joined the school’s board of councilors. Being a part of a larger university allows for more financial aid possibilities, such as USC’s initiative where freshmen students from U.S. families with an annual income of $80,000 or less will attend tuition-free.
3 - NYU
NEW YORK CITY
As a part of a massive donation from the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, NYU will begin construction on the Martin Scorsese Virtual Production Center (the filmmaker earned two degrees from the school), a 45,586-square-foot space with two soundstages and two television production studios on a Brooklyn waterfront. An opening is planned for 2024. The school’s graduate film track is particularly lauded and has graduated such top-tier talent as James Bond director Cary Fukunaga, with a mentorship program that enlists working filmmakers. Alum Spike Lee, who acts as the artistic director for the graduate film program and a professor, has long offered a production fund to financially support student thesis films.
4 - Chapman University
ORANGE, CALIFORNIA
Just an hour’s drive from Hollywood, Chapman’s Dodge College takes advantage of the proximity by bringing in A-list talent, including the likes of Brendan Fraser, Michelle Yeoh and Colin Farrell, to speak to students. Dodge allows students free use of film equipment for their creative projects, not to mention spending $750,000 a year in tech updates. “Chapman gave me the space, tools and mentorship to hone my craft,” says Smile writer-director Parker Finn. And in May, Chapman received an anonymous donation of a whopping $2.5 million, a gift that will fund the school’s Innovation Hub equipped with new LED and AI technology, set to open in 2025.
5 - CalArts
SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA
With Pixar leaders like Pete Docter, Brad Bird and Peter Sohn among its alumni, the California Institute of the Arts is known for housing one of the most robust animation programs in the industry, with a proven track record for success. The school offers programs in character and experimental animation for aspiring animators seeking to hone their craft. There are several animation computer labs on campus, allowing students access to industry-standard tech to produce films using 2D and 3D equipment, as well as traditional animation formats. In 2021, some buildings on campus suffered water damage after an incident with a cooling tower, but renovations are expected to be completed by fall.
6 - Emerson College
BOSTON
This past awards season marked a big year for Emerson. The Visual and Media Arts program got repped on the industry’s biggest stage when alums Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (aka Daniels) swept through the awards circuit with A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, culminating in a best picture win at the Oscars. The Boston-based school offers students the opportunity to spend a semester in Hollywood as well as a chance to gain hands-on internship experience at studios like Warner Bros. and Paramount. The program also recently went global, in partnership with Paris College of Art, where students can study in Paris and the Netherlands. “Emerson College is where I found a creative home with others who were just like me,” says Stranger Things sound editor David Klotz.
7 - Columbia University
NEW YORK
New additions to Columbia’s School of the Arts include veteran film and TV editor and producer Elizabeth Kling joining the faculty as well as a new writing concentration for film and TV for MFA students. With high-performing alumni spanning all sectors of the industry, Columbia students note feeling “empowered” by the high-price-tag education that the Ivy League institution offers. “I’m confident I can walk into any room in Hollywood and create stories in a way that will resonate with industry executives and viewers alike,” says Shameless writer Sherman Payne.
8 - Loyola Marymount University
LOS ANGELES
In 2022, James Bond producer and alumna Barbara Broccoli funded the new Broccoli Theater, where student films will screen with 4K projection, while the school recently launched a master’s in Entertainment Leadership and Management, run as a joint venture with the School of Film and TV and College of Business Administration. With a healthy local alumni network, the program offers easy access to LA-based internships and is (slightly) more affordable than the other private LA schools. Broccoli notes that her LMU film history classes have proved helpful, saying, “I reference many of the films I studied then when I’m developing or shooting films now.”
9 - University of North Carolina School of the Arts
WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA
UNCSA’s Posse Arts Program gives full scholarships to those from underrepresented backgrounds.
UNCSA’s Posse Arts Program gives full scholarships to those from underrepresented backgrounds. DAVID HILLEGAS/COURTESY OF UNCSA
As a state-funded arts school, UNCSA offers accessible financing — for tuition and student projects — while providing advanced tech like a new LED wall for virtual production. The school recently received a $2.3 million grant to support its Posse Arts Program, which awards full scholarships to students from underrepresented backgrounds. The school offers a comprehensive arts education; Everything Everywhere colorist Alex Bickel cites a philosophy class from Dr. Rick Miller as a personal favorite, saying, “He helped expand my horizons beyond film.”
10 - UCLA
LOS ANGELES
Interim dean Brian Kite continues to enact progressive changes during his tenure (having been in office since 2020), focusing on bringing in a more diverse faculty and student body, obtaining more funding for BIPOC students and reimagining building spaces for student comfort. “At UCLA, I learned to trust my unique voice and know it matters,” says The Woman King director Gina Prince-Bythewood. “Finding your voice was encouraged, more so than chasing the commercial.” Despite his interim status, Kite has obtained more funding for BIPOC students, reimagined building spaces for student comfort, and retained a faculty-to-student ratio of 1:3.
11 - University of Texas at Austin
AUSTIN
“Within the school, and the city of Austin itself, there’s an independent spirit that has stuck with me for my entire career,” says BlacKkKlansman producer Ray Mansfield of QC Entertainment. Recent endowments have gone toward stipends for nonfiction production students, both undergraduate and graduate, and for doc production classes, while MFA students are given $8,500 fellowships for their thesis films.
12 - Columbia College Chicago
CHICAGO
Boasting a great track record in graduating top below-the-line talent including several 2023 Emmy-nominated DPs, the school is creating a virtual production curriculum. The 2023 school year will see a B.A. in sound design, and 2024 will offer a new BFA option for undergraduates who want to focus on production. Freshman, on average, receive about $15,000 in annually renewable scholarships. Emmy-winning sound editor Heather Gross, who most recently worked on Michael J. Fox doc Still, remembers being in the program as the sound mixing board transitioned from analog to digital, saying, “Being there for the transition to a digital board and taking several classes on Pro Tools prepared me for my career more than I could have ever known at the time.”
13 - Wesleyan University
MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT
The school’s College of Film has made efforts to support BIPOC and first-generation students by offering grants for those who enter the industry upon graduation and financial support for students seeking internships in L.A. There’s an emphasis on celluloid, with the school uniquely offering thousands in grants for senior thesis films shot on 16mm. It has been a big year for docs, with the school counting Fire of Love director Sara Dosa and Pretty Baby director Lana Wilson as alumni, while faculty Tracy Strain and Randall MacLowry (a Wesleyan alum) debuted Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space on PBS.
14 - DePaul University
CHICAGO
Bob Odenkirk, Ava DuVernay and Gillian Anderson are among the talent sponsoring six grants exclusively for 2023 MFA candidates. The program recently added two more soundstages, bringing the total to six, with one reserved for digital production, complete with an LED wall running through video game engines. MFA graduate Linh Tran won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Slamdance for her directorial debut, Waiting for the Light to Change, which was financed via the school’s Indie Film Studio, launched to produce student microfeatures.
15 - Florida State University
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA
The College of Motion Pictures offers expansive facilities with the added benefit of in-state tuition. Three MFA thesis films won honors at the DGA Student Film Awards, while three docs are shortlisted for student BAFTAs. A dedicated mental health specialist, meant to help with stress and collaboration, has been added to the staff to assist film students.
16 - Ithaca College
ITHACA, NEW YORK
This year, Ithaca’s comms school launched SOS — Special Opportunities for Students — a program to help fund experiences outside of the classroom for hands-on learning. The school recently introduced Park Pathways, an exploratory program for students who are interested in media and entertainment but are not yet ready to commit to a major. Director Rachel Lee Goldenberg (Unpregnant) cites her time in visual artist and doc maker Cathy Crane’s class as a crucial point in her career: “Through her own radical, spiritual connection to the art form, [Crane] opened my eyes to the possibility of cinema.”
17 - SCAD
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
SCAD offers students a massive 50-foot-by-20-foot LED wall. Up next: an 11-acre backlot that is under construction.
SCAD offers students a massive 50-foot-by-20-foot LED wall. Up next: an 11-acre backlot that is under construction. COURTESY OF SCAD
At SCAD, students pay for the impressive facilities, including a massive 50’x20’ LED wall (complete with an XR curriculum) and an 11-acre backlot that is continuing construction. Alumni populate below-the-line and VFX roles on blockbusters like Everything Everywhere and Black Panther 2, and the new semester will see the inclusion of a virtual production minor. Situated in tax-incentivized production haven Georgia means students don’t have to travel far to enter the industry — which can happen while still in school. Two dozen students worked on Todd Haynes’ Cannes entry May December, which shot in Savannah.
18 - Boston University
BOSTON
BU is preparing to offer a new short writing course called Writing the Social Purpose to encourage MFA screenwriting students to engage with pressing societal issues within their work. Alum Rachel Walden’s film Lemon Tree was recently selected for the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, while BU graduate and director Benny Safdie acted in a key role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
19 - Syracuse University
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK
Syracuse students at work in Studio A at the Newhouse School during the spring 2023 semester.
Syracuse students at work in Studio A at the Newhouse School during the spring 2023 semester. SOFYA MIKHAYLOVA/COURTESY OF SYRACUSE
Syracuse is looking to give its students easy access to L.A., building facilities in the city for a semester-long program. The school works to offset the potential costs of that program with a travel support fund as well as international travel via school funding. Back in New York, a stop-motion animation studio and new Cannon and Sony cameras are among the latest additions to the campus.
20 - Ringling College
SARASOTA, FLORIDA
The small class sizes are a draw for the program, which enrolls between 30 and 40 kids a semester. Even with its small size, the school has proven itself, particularly as an animation and advertising powerhouse, with students accounting for two out of the five U.S. semifinalists for the 2023 Student Academy Award in animation. Ringling recently landed The Carl Foreman Award, named after the Oscar-winning producer that will offer a cash grant to be given out for the next 10 years to a graduating film student.
21 - Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema at Brooklyn College
NEW YORK
The CUNY graduate program, which boasts a 500,000-square-foot production hub, has not raised tuition in three years, with a focus on affordability for local talent, with the majority of students Brooklyn residents. The CUNY graduate program received a $750,000 grant from the Mayor’s Office to go toward student thesis films, while an anonymous Oscar-winning producer was behind $500,000 worth of grants to go toward scholarships. The program, which has seen enrollment increase year-over-year since its 2015 inception, has an impressive board of advisors, including Steven Soderbergh and Ethan Hawke, and just added Participant CEO David Linde.
22 - ArtCenter College of Design
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
The visual-focused school graduates talent that has found success in music videos and the commercials space. New faculty includes prolific television director Marta Cunningham (Modern Love) while equipment partnerships include supplying gear like Orion anamorphic lenses to students. More than half the students at ArtCenter receive some sort of scholarship support, according to the school.
23 - Rhode Island School of Design
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
RISD recently opened its Movement Lab, where students work with technology that can help with the analysis of movement. Elsewhere, Cheryl Henson, daughter of Jim Henson, will provide support for a visiting puppeteer to teach at RISD.
24 - California State University, Northridge
LOS ANGELES
Students and instructor confer on the set at Cal State University, Northridge.
Students and instructor confer on the set at Cal State University, Northridge. STEVE BABULJAK/COURTESY OF SCHOOL
With one of the most affordable programs on this list, CSUN’s Cinema & Television Arts department is also launching its fully online graduate program in entertainment industry management this year, aimed at students seeking to pursue careers as studio and network executives, talent managers, advertising specialists, etc. Screenwriter and producer Matt Young directly credits his CSUN course for writing for hourlong television for ultimately being accepted into the Sundance Episodic Story Lab. He says, “It gave me a solid foundation to pursue TV writing as a career.”
25 - Hofstra University
HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK
The film program, housed in the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, has facilities that include three soundstages, with students training on industry-standard Avid and Adobe creative suites. The school’s “Student Experience Fund” issues money for everything from study programs in Cuba to special training and certifications. Filmmaker Scott Aharoni, whose short film Les Criminels was shortlisted for the 2022 Academy Awards, cites former film program head William I. Jennings as having “fostered growth and enriched my artistic journey.”
