From streaming to Skype, even the film school “moves” online

Although forcibly behind closed doors, the didactic and organizational activities at the Michelangelo Antonioni Film Institute in Busto Arsizio do not stop. While waiting to be able to attend regularly in the classrooms and laboratories of Villa Calcaterra, the academy’s educational commitment continues, so as not to interrupt the training of the students and stimulate them to develop their creativity and refine their critical judgement.

Teachers give online lessons using different interactive platforms and they assign tasks and exercises to be carried out autonomously: watching films and documentaries, with subsequent analysis of some scenes from various points of view (director, actor’s direction and photography), in-depth study of authors and directors, reading scripts and essays that “every student of cinema should know”. The future directors have been asked to perform a series of writing exercises, with online correction, and to make short films – inside their homes – to be sent to the teachers, who will comment them individually via Skype. The students who follow the direction of acting, in addition to reading, singing and breathing tests, will instead have to, among other tasks, invent a character, create their “portrait”, from clothing to attitudes to behaviour, and stage it in a short video.

For the students of the third year, who will graduate this year in Directing, there is finally a distance tutoring with the teachers – through video calls with individual students – for the writing and realization of the storyboards, in preparation for the short films thesis. The fellow actors will instead have to study a theatrical text, write a card and shoot a short video commentary on the work.

“The Michelangelo Antonioni Film Institute remains one of the jewels in the crown of the city’s excellent educational offer, in this specific case aimed at those who aspire to a profession in the world of cinema,” comments the deputy mayor and Councillor for Culture Manuela Maffioli. “The highly qualified preparation that the students, from Busto and other areas, receive in the three-year period means that over 90% of them find an employment immediately after graduation. An offer that supports and enhances the ‘cinema system’, thanks to which Busto is now well known on the main stages of the country, from Venice to Rome, and that every year brings a significant part of cinema, even international, to the city”.

In these hours the news that the Antonioni Institute has also decided to join the initiative “Digital Solidarity”, promoted by the Ministry for Technological Innovation and Digitization, a showcase of free services aimed at citizens, offering to make available, on the national platform, some of its productions, such as documentaries and short films of graduates.

Lastly, a look to the future and the academic year 2020-2021 cannot be ignored. Pre-registration is already open for those who want to undertake studies that offers professional opportunities in the film and television sector: about 200 students have graduated in total since the opening of the academy, now professionals in the audio-visual market. It is possible to apply for admission by accessing the Institute’s website and filling in the form at this link. In order to enrol, it is necessary to have a high school diploma; students who will take the baccalaureate exam in summer 2020 can still start sending the form. Since the Institute has a closed number of places available – there are 25 places available – candidates will be contacted later to arrange the selection interview. These meetings are cognitive and attitudinal; they serve to assess the real motivation of each potential student.

The studies have a three-year duration; the first year provides a common basis, the second and the third are set based on the chosen training course: directing/filmmaking or acting. In both cases workshops, exercises and Master classes will complete the preparation. For more information, you can send an email to segreteria@istitutoantonioni.it.

“The Administration supports this educational and cultural effort again this year with a contribution (which will be paid at the end of the year, based on a detailed statement of expenses incurred, ed.),” concludes the Councillor, “considered an investment not only in the knowledge and future of our students, but through them, in the promotion of the city, in Italy and abroad.