Film, Photography, Media

Website: http://film.sapientia.ro/en/
General area: Arts
Specific area: Film and media
Program Length: 6 semesters (3 years)
Tuition fee: 500 EUR/year
Enrolement places: 12 tuition-free, 13 contributing to tuition
Application fee: 150 RON

Admission Calendar

About Our Program:

• Our students regularly win awards at photo and film festivals (Sapientia graduates have been in the Cannes and Berlin film festivals);
• We show our students’ work at public events;
• We give our students experience working at film and photography events;
• We teach in one of Transylvania’s best film studios;
• We offer specialisations in Directing, Operating, or Multimedia Communications at the end of the first year of study.

Our Goal:

The Film, Photography, and Media Studies program welcomes all students interested in directing or photography, as well as those with experience in filmmaking, or the feeling that they would like to gain experience in filmmaking. If that sounds like you, and you choose Sapientia, you will learn the foundations of filmmaking. You will learn to handle a film camera, to turn your ideas into a finished script, to direct a film, and the essentials of cinematography.
After the first year of general, foundational study, you can choose from three paths of study:

• Film and TV Directing
• Film and TV Cinematography
• Multimedia Communications (screenplay and commercial writing, film theory, and photography)

In each specialisation, you make your course of study your own through the many engaging, creative projects that constitute the curriculums. You will have opportunities to produce individual and group work, as well as the possibility to show and gauge the merit of your creations at various competitions and student film festivals. Right from the beginning, instruction combines theory and practice. In theory-based classes, you learn the history and language of film, and the field’s artistic possibilities. You can study commercials, the legal regulations surrounding film production, the methods of managing a film, and the enrichment of popular film literacy. Meanwhile, practice-based classes will dive into the techniques of film production, covering everything from classical, pre-digital methods to digital retouching. You will get a look at the world of pre-filming photography, experiment with the cutting and editing of films, and create your own short films and live, all-night TV shows.

Whether interested in animation, documentaries, adaptations of literary works, film criticism, or scriptwriting for films and commercials, Sapientia’s Film, Photography, and Media Studies is ready to provide you with the detailed learning experience you need. In seminars, significant and interesting creations in the field of filmmaking are put up for debate, while, for hands-on training and testing at the end of the school year, students enter a period of intense group work, where everyone can find and perform the work most suited to their strengths. At the beginning of the 20th century, Cluj was the setting of a flowering film scene, which served as the jumping-off point for famous names such as Sir Alexander Korda and Michael Curtiz. At the beginning of the 21st century, opportunities are again blooming in Cluj for those interested in pursuing a career in film or media, and it’s all happening at Sapientia’s Film, Photography, and Media Studies Program.

Main Subjects:

Film History • Film Theory and Analysis • Visual Language • Photography • Film Directing • TV Directing • Cinematographic Studies • Editing • Screenwriting and Dramaturgy • Film Marketing and Management • Image Theory • Art History.

Post-Graduation Employment Opportunities:

Our graduates have the qualifications to flourish in careers as film or TV directors, film or TV cinematographers, TV show editors, or screenwriters. They know how to work in TV studios, at production companies and advertising agencies, or in print and electronic media.

Special Events:

• Intra-university competitions which are organised around given themes (such as New Year’s films);
• Annually held academic conference, the winners of which have the chance to take part in the Hungarian National Student Academic Conference and win other accolades;
• Contributing to preparations for the Filmtett Festival of Hungarian Films in Transylvania alongside the Filmtett Association;
• The frequently hosted International Film and Media Studies Conference, to which researchers, academics, and students from around the world travel in order to present their work.

The Young Filmmakers Workshop is a student organisation whose goal is to bring together current students working on films with graduates of the program in order to debate, discuss, and exchange ideas about films. Our students also take part in mini film festivals and film club activities such as: the European University Film Awards (organised by the European Film Academy and the Hamburg Film Festival), the Hungarian University Film Awards (organised by the Hungarian Film Studies Group), and our Hungarian Film History Screenings (which we organise alongside the Hungarian Consulate in Cluj).

Travel-Study Opportunities and Summer Project:

A summer project is organised every year as a camp somewhere in Cluj’s beautiful surroundings. Besides this, our talented students often find opportunities for filming the travels of others. For example, in 2008, two Film, Photography, and Media Studies students accompanied the International Relations students on a five-day school trip to Brussels, and filmed a documentary about it. Since 2016, our students have participated in each rendition of the European University Film Awards’ Hamburg-based competition, as well as in renowned Romanian and Hungarian film festivals. Besides all of this, Erasmus+ also presents a great option for students looking to learn and practice filmmaking while exploring another country in Europe.

Admission Criteria:

1. Oral examination - 50% (60 minutes)
   1. Bibliography: textbooks, any encyclopedia.
   2. Exclusive, the lowest pass mark: 5
   3. Measures the capacity of creativity, photographic vision. With questions, we test image orientation in culture and film history, audiovisual communication ability, etc.
   4. If applicant already has a previous activity in accordance with the requirements of specialization, can make their photos (up to 5 pieces) or movies (on VHS tape, CD or DVD, 15 minute maximum length), film critics published in newspapers or magazines, publications in multimedia, HTML page in operation or plan of flash website. Presenting these elements is not compulsory and it is not a condition to passing the exam.
2. Analysis of film (written) - 50% (90 minutes)