3 days, 6 schools, 27 films, 1 horizon: the Cinema. FILM FOUNDRY: Young Swiss Cinema, a big screen event dedicated to the work of alumni and students from Swiss film schools.
This review of films produced by Swiss film, television, and animation schools is an event that has been an integral part of the Locarno Film Festival for thirteen years. CISA has coordinated this event from the beginning, inviting Swiss universities and specialized professional schools to participate with a selection of their best short films, allowing for an exchange on their respective experiences of film production, in synergy with BaseCamp. Recent diploma short films from ZHdK Zurich, HSLU Lucerne, écal Lausanne, HEAD Geneva and CISA will be presented alongside a selection of film essays from USI Lugano and Mendrisio.
The Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) offers a bachelor program in which students experience filmmaking from conception to screening. The master program deepens the study and practice of fiction and documentary filmmaking, screenwriting, cinematography, editing, and creative production.
The Lucerne School of Art and Design (HSLU) offers bachelor and master degree programs in animation and video. These programs focus on both animation and digital storytelling. The master program focuses on documentary film and experimental narrative forms.
The ECAL (École cantonale d'art de Lausanne)’s bachelor's program in cinema is aimed at students who are interested in all genres of film and the moving image: fiction, documentaries, experimental films, series, television programs, video clips, and other forms of communication.
ECAL and HEAD have set up a shared master's program to explore areas such as directing, writing, editing, sound and production.
Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD) offers a Bachelor program in cinema where students discover the diversity of filmmaking, from documentary to fiction, experimental to hybrid forms. The program promotes formal risk-taking and encourages the exploration of areas of hybridisation between genres, while emphasising films in tune with today’s world. Students learn to master the techniques of writing, camera, sound recording, editing and post-production. In addition, they cultivate their vision, critical thinking and ability to express themselves through theory courses.
HEAD and ECAL have set up a shared master's program to explore areas such as directing, writing, editing, sound and production.
Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) has initiated a course on how to film architecture and inaugurated, in collaboration with the Locarno Film Festival, a Chair titled Future of Cinema and the Audiovisual Arts.
The International Academy of Audiovisual Sciences (CISA) of Locarno is a Higher Specialized School with a two-year program, followed by a one-year specialization program with five majors (in directing, cinematography, sound, editing, creative production).
Marco Poloni
Director, CISA
