The University of Theatre and Film Arts is one of the few art institutions in the world that offers a wide variety of film and television training programmes in addition to courses in theatre arts. All of our courses take full advantage of this, so for instance almost every member of the creative staff of a film to be produced may come from among our students.

The Institute of Film and Media offers courses in the fields of film, documentary and television. In conformity with the Bologna system, each one of our courses is ran in a 3+2 (bachelor + master) structure allowing for compatibility with different international trainings. Although currently not all of our majors and specialisations offer bachelor and master courses, our short-term objective is to make both BA and MA courses available to our students throughout the whole of our training portfolio.

Our University lays great emphasis on trainings in small groups and often a rather personalised curriculum helps us to bring the best out of our students. The faculty is composed of renowned artists and experts who are among the best Hungarian and international motion picture experts thus a particular importance is attached to the master and apprentice relationship. Consequently, our dropout rate is almost negligible and there are only a few who leave their profession. Many of our instructors have received the highest professional awards.

Every year hundreds of final projects are done in the institute and many among them are equal to individual pieces of art as testified by the achievements at international and Hungarian festivals.

“6×6”, our latest form of training, combines well former experiences, traditions and the challenges modern motion picture faces. Film and television directors, cameramen, dramaturgists, editors, dubbers and production assistants are taught at a joint course of six specialisations. At the joint lessons and through fulfilling their common tasks, students learn together all what it takes to become a competitive expert in any field of motion picture. Collective socialisation and the knowledge they acquire result in creative partnerships that may serve as a basis for setting up creative workshops after graduation. Production designer MA students are also assigned with common tasks, so this way basically a full creative team for making a film, obviously together with acting students, is available within the University.

Our Composer of Applied Music BA course, ran in cooperation with Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, conforms to the 6×6 training. At this course students acquire all knowledge that is necessary for composing musical pieces for motion picture.

The Institute offers two MA level documentary courses under the names DOKMA and Docnomads, both being international consortium trainings with the former having Hungarian and the latter English as the language of instruction.

In September 2017, our English language international consortium training for cameraman students, Viewfider will be launched.

Training television producers has a history of more than four decades at our University. This area is the most dynamic in development therefore almost each year we make changes and updates to the curriculum while keeping the traditional subjects as well. Although with a different focus, students are taught knowledge that they can successfully use in all fields of motion picture.

In all courses of the Institute of Film and Media, we are seeking to release graduates proficient in, or even capable of renewing, all fields where motion picture is used through equipping them with a mixture of classical professional knowledge and a profound understanding of the continuously changing and developing technical means.

The Institute of Art Theory and Mediation is a central organisational unit functioning in a completely different way than the other two large institutions. Its role is to run and supervise its own courses, on the one hand, and to perform educational duties relating to the whole of the University, on the other.

The Institute of Art Theory and Mediation is responsible for the high-quality implementation of the five-year Theatre Dramaturgist and Drama Instructor BA courses, as well as the Theatre in Education postgraduate course.

The Theatre Dramaturgist course, having a history of more than fifty years, seeks to follow with flexibility the structural and stylistic changes of dramaturgy and, through this, of theatre life. In addition to historical subjects, students get acquainted with the specific activities involved in practical dramaturgy such as improvisational writing techniques, literary translation and screenwriting.

The three-year, full time Drama Instructor – Drama Player course has recently been launched. Theatre in education has an extremely rich tradition in Hungary and it serves as a foundation for this activity using theatrical forms but pursuing clear educational goals. A Drama Instructor is an art mediator who plans, organises and implements dramatic activities and events involving theatrical forms of work in artistic organisations or in the field of community culture and community life.

Our three-year Drama Instructor – Theatrical Performer BA correspondence course is offered to artists who are already active in their profession and intend to develop or widen their activities through, for example, applied theatre studies. The objective of this course is to train experts who are capable of performing acting duties in theatres or films and to participate in art mediation through dramatic activities.

Our training portfolio is supplemented with postgraduate courses like the Theatre in Education course and three specialist theatre manager trainings (institute manager, financial manager and marketing manager) are also about to be launched.

This Institute is in charge of providing and coordinating theoretical training for the courses in the Institute of Theatre Arts and the Institute of Film and Media, its instructors give important theory, history, analysis, dramaturgy and art interpretation courses in both fellow institutes. It is also responsible for the quality supervision of entrance exams, final exams and thesis defences. Moreover, the Institute as a unit dealing with both theatre and film and employing illustrious theatre and film dramaturgists, writers in the fields of theatre and film, literary translators and theatre experts, organises national conferences and aims at being a forum for debating professional and pedagogical matters within the University as well. Our Institution is also the organiser and coordinator of the quarterly “course week” that takes place all across the University and presents a remarkable array of visiting professors and where students have the opportunity to hear subjects and teachers that they cannot otherwise encounter in standard education.

The Doctoral School of the University of Theatre and Film Arts offers doctor’s degree courses in the fields of arts and art sciences (DLA – Doctor of Liberal Arts and PhD in Arts) to university graduates who carry out high quality creative work or researches in the fields of theatre, film and video arts or of other arts or art sciences. The University of Theatre and Film Arts has been running doctoral courses initially since 1996 and in a finalized form since 1998. The students of the Doctoral School accredited, in its present form, in 2000 and re-accredited in 2009, come from various areas of theatre and film arts. Among them we can find actors, directors, dramaturgists, choreographers, cameramen, editors, set and costume designers, puppet players, theatre historians, film theory experts, writers, as well as producers. The diverse interests, creative and research works of students require a complex training which includes knowledge broadening in the fields of theatre and film theory, visual arts, music, literature and history as well as courses and seminars for completing practical tasks. In addition to the most distinguished creative experts of the different fields, classes are taught by visiting professors from Hungary and abroad who, being prominent representatives of other art forms, place the knowledge acquired by students in new contexts.

The Doctoral School provides a framework for training and research and gives assistance to completing the doctoral dissertation during and as a result of the doctoral training. DLA and PhD degrees are granted after the academic requirements are met, the comprehensive doctoral exam is passed and the dissertation is successfully defended.

In cooperation with the Habilitation Committee the Doctoral School is also in charge of the organisation and supervision of habilitations at the University.

EDUcenter, the Adult Education Centre of the University organises courses in the fields of arts, art theory and art mediation. Its objective is to have as many courses offering recognised qualification accredited as possible and to offer courses to those who are interested in performing arts just for the love of them. We regularly launch film and theatre vocational trainings and courses, and train experts for supporting positions such as theatre technicians, lighting technicians, theatre sound technicians and theatre lighting designers. In addition to all these, applicants also like our theatre critic, arts proposal writing and project planning trainings, our continuing training in pedagogy, the summer university, our summer camp and our preparatory courses for the entry exams.

We are also planning to organise free-time courses in English and actor trainings.

The University of Theatre and Film Arts Budapest has 5 institutes – departments:

Institute of Theatre Arts

Institute of Film and Media

Institute of Art Theory and Mediation

Department of PhD in Arts and DLA of Arts

Department of Adult Education and Training

Our university courses include Acting, Stage Directing, Dramaturgy, Applied Theatre, Motion Picture Studies (with specializations in Editing, Directing, Sound Directing, Cameraman, Production and Dramaturgy), Production Design, Documentary Filmmaking, and Composing for Theatre and Motion Picture (in cooperation with Liszt Academy). Dance and movement have an important role in our curriculum and for the first time in academic year 2008/2009 we launched a 5-year degree program for Choreographer-Director for Physical Theatre.