10/05/2012 - Yesterday (May 9) at a press conference in Zagreb, Hungarian director Béla Tarr presented the curriculum of the international post-graduate film course, which will begin this autumn at the University of Split

In Zagreb, Hungarian director Béla Tarr said that the University of Split curriculum will be a three-year course, which will in the first year take 16 international students. The classes are meant as a combination of theoretical courses, workshops with filmmakers and practical work.

“In my view, it is impossible to teach art, because every artist is different: they have their language and cultural background, they possess a talent of their own. In order for that talent to develop, they need to be free and brave,” Tarr said. “This is why I want this film school to give them a chance to do what they want. Myself and other teachers will support that process, protect them and put them ‘under an umbrella’. Because once they enter the film industry, they will suffer enough pain and humiliation, and here they can learn how to resist that.”

The impressive list of lecturers includes Jim Jarmusch, Gus Van Sant, Aki Kaurismäki, Carlos Reygadas, Atom Egoyan, Fridrik Tor Fridriksson and Tilda Swinton, as well as Tarr’s regular cinematographer Fred Kelemen. Theoretical background will be taught by Jytte Jensen, curator at the MoMA Department of Film, Cahiers du Cinéma’s Jean-Michel Frodon, and film critics Jonathan Romney and Jonathan Rosenbaum.

“This will be our freshman year curriculum. All these people confirmed their participation, the schedule is ready and everyone has their arrival and departure date,” said Tarr. Finally, Tarr explained the concept of the entire school: “You need to understand that this is more of a laboratory in which we can work and create together. Like the Bauhaus in architecture: something between education and a movement, with a spirit of the whole school which is important and based on freedom.”