01/10/2012 - Hungarian auteur will be the Dean of Ph.D.-level course Film Factory at the University Sarajevo School of Science and Technology

Béla Tarr will be the Head of Programme and Dean of the Ph.D-level film course called Film Factory at the private University Sarajevo School of Science and Technology.

The course, which includes lecturers such as Aki Kaurismaki, Carlos Reygadas, Jim Jarmusch, Atom Egoyan, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Gus Van Sant, Tilda Swinton, Manuel Grosso and Fred Kelemen, will unite theoretical and practical work, with the accent on the practical.

"Every artist is different, with their own language and cultural background," Tarr explained to Cineuropa.org. "That is why I think it's impossible to teach them art and I want to provide them a chance to do what they want. It will be more like a laboratory where students will work with their mentors than a classic educational institution."

The selection process, with the quality of films they submit as crucial criteria, will result in the choice of 16 candidates. The tuition fee will be €15,000 per year. During the first two years, the students will shoot four short films, and in the third year they will work on a final thesis in the form of preparation or completion of a feature film.

"Our aspiration is to educate mature filmmakers who think responsibly, with the spirit of humanism, artists who have an individual outlook, an individual form of expression and who use their creative powers in the defence of the dignity of man within the reality that surrounds us. Probing questions concerning our outlook on the world and the state of our civilization must impact the work of the new programme of doctoral studies in Sarajevo," Tarr said in an official statement on September 28.

Tarr first planned to found the course at the University of Split, which was announced in May (read news). But the idea fell through because of complicated procedures in Croatia's educational system, which caused ripples in Croatian media and public. Asked by Cineuropa.org to comment, Tarr said: "I do not look back. I don't want to to fight, I want to work."

Details of the course can be found here.