La Fémis

La Fémis (French: École Nationale Supérieure des Métiers de l'Image et du Son; "National Institute for Professional Image and Sound", formerly known as the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques, IDHEC) is a French grande école and the film and television school of PSL Research University.

École Nationale Supérieure des Métiers de l'Image et du Son
Other name
La Fémis
TypeGrande école
Established1943 (IDHEC), 1986 (La Fémis)
Academic affiliations
PSL Research University
CILECT
Minister of Culture of France
PresidentMichel Hazanavicius
DirectorNathalie Coste-Cerdan
Administrative staff
650
Postgraduates200
Other students
30
Address
6 rue Francoeur, 75018
,
Paris
,
France

48.8904°N 2.3426°E / 48.8904; 2.3426
CampusUrban
Pathé Studios

FEMIS (pronounced [femis]) is an acronym for Fondation Européenne pour les Métiers de l'Image et du Son ("European Foundation for the Professions of Image and Sound"). Based in Paris, it offers courses balanced between artistic research, professional development and technical training.

History
Headquarters of La Fémis at the Francoeur Studios in Paris.

From 1944 to 1985, the IDHEC (Institut des hautes études cinématographiques) was the main French film school — training 1,439 French and foreign film professionals.

In 1985, the school was restructured under the supervision of the then Minister of Culture Jack Lang and La Fémis was created in 1986. Originally, scriptwriter Jean-Claude Carrière was its president and Jack Gajos was its director.

When La Fémis was created, the school had seven teaching departments: direction, screenwriting, picture, sound, editing, production, and set design. A script continuity course was added in 1992 and a distribution/exploitation course in 2003. Lastly the master-class workshop, a European production training program, was co-created with the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Ludwigsburg, Germany in 2002. La Fémis is a full member of CILECT, the international network of film schools.

The school is now a public establishment under the responsibility of the Ministry of culture and communication. The school first opened in the Palais de Tokyo (Paris 16e), moving on February 15, 1999, to the old Rapid Film - Pathé Studios at 6, rue Francoeur (18e). Their founder and French prime class producer Bernard Natan was deported by the Nazis in 1942.

In 2019 the French director Michel Hazanivicius was appointed as chairman of the board.[1][2][3][4]

Curriculum
La Femis (film set 1)

The main curriculum students follow a four-year training course. During the first year, they all follow the same general course: initiation into the various jobs involved in filmmaking, experimenting in every technical position within a film crew.

During the second and third year, they follow a specific curriculum depending on the department they have chosen, including theoretical classes, exercises, days devoted to film analysis, analytical seminars and collective exercises making films. They spend their fourth year fulfilling an individual end-of-studies project (known as "travail de fin d'études" or TFE) and taking part in their classmates' projects.

In sum, the school is designed to foster an applied cinephilia, in which the study of films past and present underwrites advanced skills in the practicalities of filmmaking; returning alumni, like Jean Paul Civeyrac, who come back to themselves lead seminars, carry on this tradition of encouraging advanced auteurist ambitions among the new students.[5]

The school is the subject of a 2016 French film called Le Concours (The Graduation), directed by Claire Simon about the exhaustive application process to be accepted as a student.

Rankings

In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter rated La Fémis no. 6 in its best international film school rankings (it included U.S.-based film schools) and no. 3 in its 2014 best international film school rankings (it excluded U.S.-based film schools).[6][7] Its alumni have won three of the world's most prestigious film prizes – Cannes Film Festival's Golden Palm, Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion and Berlin International Film Festival's Golden Bear – 11 times, making it the most rewarded film school in the world, preceding the Beijing Film Academy and the Tisch School of the Arts of New York City, in winning those three prizes.

Alumni

La Fémis has trained over 700 students in all filmmaking trades: directors, screenwriters, producers, editors, cameramen, sound engineers, decorators, script supervisors, distributors and exhibition managers/executives.

Among them: (in alphabetical order)

References
  1. "Nomination de Michel Hazanavicius à la présidence du Conseil d'administration de l'Ecole nationale supérieure des métiers de l'image et du son (La femis) et reconduction de Nathalie Coste-Cerdan en qualité de directrice générale". Ministère de la Culture - French government.
  2. "Michel Hazanavicius sera le nouveau président de la Fémis". Les Inrockuptibles (in French). 2019-07-26. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  3. "Michel Hazanavicius, un "artist" nommé à la tête de la Fémis". Télérama (in French). 25 July 2019. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  4. Fair, Vanity; France, Condé Nast Digital (2019-07-24). "Michel Hazanavicius prend la tête de la Fémis". Vanity Fair (in French). Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  5. Palmer, Tim (2011). Brutal Intimacy: Analyzing Contemporary French Cinema, Wesleyan University Press, Middleton CT. ISBN 0-8195-6827-9.
  6. "THR's Top 25 Film Schools List Revealed". The Hollywood Reporter. 25 July 2012. Retrieved Apr 22, 2020.
  7. "Study Abroad: The Top 15 International Film Schools". The Hollywood Reporter. 30 July 2014. Retrieved Apr 22, 2020.
  8. Goodfellow, Melanie (15 May 2022). "The Euro 75: Curiosa Films (France)". Screen Daily. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  9. Keslassy, Elsa (26 March 2010). "Fidelite filmmakers win rights to 'Asterix' franchise". Variety. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
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