The Best International Film Schools

Australia’s national screen academy AFTRS has been churning out award-winning talent since its founding in 1973. The Sydney-based school counts a who’s who of regional cinema among its alumni — Oscar-winning auteur Jane Campion (The Piano) and Hollywood director Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games) are graduates — with generations of Aussie filmmakers from directors and cinematographers to editors getting their start here. AFTRS offers industry-driven programs covering every aspect of filmmaking, and its close ties to Australia’s screen sector help ensure a steady pipeline of Aussie creatives into the local and international business.

Known as the “cradle of Chinese cinema,” Beijing Film Academy — established in 1950 — is China’s premier film school and the largest in Asia. Over seven decades, it has built a multidisciplinary program encompassing directing, acting, cinematography, animation and more. Virtually every major Chinese filmmaker has passed through its halls: Fifth-Generation legends like Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern) and Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine) are among BFA’s alumni. The academy grants bachelor’s, master’s and even Ph.D. degrees in film, and its graduates have carried Chinese cinema to the world stage — from winning awards at Cannes and Berlin to earning Oscar nominations.

Spain is one of the few regions that can boast of a film and TV boom — Netflix and others have invested heavily in the production in the country — and Madrid-based film school ECAM, with its practical approach and close industry ties has been one of the main beneficiaries. Their school-to-studio pipeline is exemplified by the multi-Goya-winning director-writer team Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Isabel Peña, who met at ECAM and went on to success on screens both big (The Beasts, The Candidate), and small (acclaimed Spanish series Antidisturbios, The New Years).

Elsewhere, the second edition of ECAM Forum in June brought together international projects and co-productions seeking partners and financing. The school also launched the first edition of FINDE, a new event designed to connect the independent film sector with private investment.

Catalan’s premium film and TV training ground — located in the city of Terrassa north of Barcelona — boasts Oscar-nominee Juan Antonio Bayona (Society of the Snow, The Impossible) among its alumni and prides itself on a balance of film theory and practical training. It’s in-house outfit ESCAC Films helps produce and market its students’ work and close ties with the likes of Warner Bros., Pedro Almodovar’s El deseo and Spanish giant Telecinco Cinema, provide an easy industry on-ramp for graduates. Offers a one-year introductory filmmaking course in English and a bilingual stunt academy.

The alumni of Prague film school reads like a who’s who of eastern European cinema and culture: Czech New Wave pioneer and two-time Oscar winner Miloš Forman (Amadeus, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest); Polish auteur Agnieszka Holland (In Darkness, Green Border) and Czech novelist Milan Kundera (The Unbearable Lightness of Being). FAMU remains the gold standard of European film schools and includes accredited programs in English in directing and script-writing.

Hong Kong’s premier performing arts conservatory, HKAPA, has been nurturing the city’s stage and screen talent since 1984. Its School of Film and Television, housed in a campus in Pok Fu Lam since 2007, offers practice-based programs in directing, acting, cinematography, producing and more. Uniquely interdisciplinary, the Academy brings together filmmakers, actors, musicians and designers under one roof. The results shine in the industry: HKAPA alumni are behind some of the region’s biggest hits. Infernal Affairs co-director Alan Mak is a graduate of the film program, as is actor-director Anthony Wong. From art-house directors to TV stars, HKAPA’s graduates have dominated Hong Kong’s screens.

Korea’s top film school, the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA) in Seoul, has been a springboard for the nation’s cinematic New Wave since its founding by the Korean Film Council in 1984. The elite two-year academy keeps class sizes small (around 30 students) and offers intensive training in directing, cinematography, producing and animation. In 2006 KAFA launched a feature filmmaking program that immerses students in real film productions — turning out about seven student-made features each year — many of which have won awards at festivals from Busan to Berlin. The alumni list reads like a who’s who of contemporary Korean cinema: Parasite director Bong Joon-ho is a KAFA graduate who went on to win Korea’s first Palme d’Or and Oscar. Hitmakers Jang Joon-hwan (Save the Green Planet!) and Yoon Jong-bin (The Spy Gone North) also studied there.

London Film School alumni did more than just shine at this year’s Cannes Film Festival as Carla Simón debuted the poignant Romería and Oliver Hermanus grabbed attention with the buzzy gay romance flick The History of Sound, starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor. The U.K. school has continued to bolster its senior leadership team with appointments including Tiger Aspect executive Helen Wright as COO and producer Sarah Sulick as a course leader for the competitive Film Producing scheme. In June, news broke that LFS has officially partnered up with the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, one of the most prestigious programs run by the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The National Film and Television School, based outside of London, has continued to make its mark on the booming U.K. production industry. Highlights from the last year alone include a £10 million ($13.2 million) government funding commitment for the school to expand its historic campus, a BAFTA Film Award win for the student-made short Rock, Paper, Scissors, four NFTS alumni nominated at this year’s Oscars and a history-making Cannes Film Festival world premiere of Ether — the only time a first-year student has secured a debut on the Croisette. The school’s industry connections continue to dazzle with partners at Channel 4, the Dana and Albert R. Broccoli Foundation, Sony Pictures Television and an honorary fellowship for beloved broadcaster Louis Theroux.

Israel’s premier film school responded quickly to the outbreak of war following the October 7 attacks, and throughout the current conflict with Iran, providing students with safe rooms and bomb shelters, as well as mental health support, during periods of high alert and shipping equipment to those displaced and unable to reach Jerusalem. And it continued with its program for Palestinian and Arabic-speaking students, now in its fourth year, ensuring Sam Spiegel remains one of the only institutions in the region where Jewish, Muslim and Christian students, Israeli and Palestinians, study, live and create side by side.

Tokyo University of the Arts — long Japan’s top fine arts school — in the mid-2000s added a Graduate School of Film and New Media that has quickly made the country a hotbed for indie filmmaking and animation. The program’s faculty has featured Japanese cinema luminaries: cult director Takeshi Kitano (a.k.a. “Beat” Takeshi) served as an instructor here in the early 2000s, as did influential auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa up until 2023. Geidai (as the school is nicknamed) emphasizes cross-disciplinary collaboration, with student directors, animators and composers working together on projects. Notable recent alumni include Oscar-winning filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

As Ontario’s video game industry booms post-pandemic, TFS’s game design and animation program, alum led by Richard Cuartero launched indie Sun Seal Studios and the single player arcade game Beat Dodger on Steam. And fellow alums Shawn Landa and Vanessa Taylor won for best artistic achievement at the Level Up showcase in Toronto. With local Hollywood production booming, TFS’ continuing focus on below-the-line film and TV talent this year included a $2.5 million collaboration with Sony Canada, which allows students to work with new cameras and production gear in the classroom, before reaching U.S. production hubs for major streamers in Toronto. 

Arguably the best film school in South America, Argentina’s Universidad de Cine, founded by 1960s auteur Manuel Antín in 1991, is credited with helping launch the region’s global cinema revival (Damián Szifron, director of 2014 breakout Wild Tales, is an alumnus). The Bueno Aires institution offers undergraduate degrees in everything from directing and producing to scriptwriting and animation, though applicants from non-Spanish-speaking countries need to provide a B2 level Spanish language certificate to be considered.

VFS continues to ride its proximity to Los Angeles by during the 2025 awards season having 107 alumni credits at the Oscars, and 398 at the Emmys. That includes make up grads Emily Walsh and Suzie Klimack winning for their work on the FX Vancouver-shot series Shogun. Emmy-winning comedy director Michael Spiller and CSI’s Gil Bellows led in-production bootcamps at VFS for hands-on training. And VFX partnered with Pixomondo for virtual production training as Sony’s visual effects studios has LED volume stages operating locally. New additions to VFS include foley artist Diane Schimpl joining as a sound design after credits that include Eli Craig’s slasher film Clown in a Cornfield.

New Zealand’s Victoria University of Wellington has emerged as a rising force in film education thanks to its Miramar Creative Centre — a purpose-built facility launched in 2017 in partnership with Peter Jackson’s Wētā and Park Road studios. Situated in the heart of Wellington’s film industry hub, the program lets students learn hands-on from leading local talent. Coursework spans directing, VFX and animation, with master’s degrees that draw on the country’s Hollywood-connected screen sector. Oscar-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok) studied here before launching his Hollywood career.

The school’s Master of Design Technology (MDT) program is led by Oscar and Annecy Animated Film Festn winner Areito Echevarria (The Hobbit trilogy, Planet of the Apes films, Batman v Superman). MDT graduate Emily To fulfilled her dream to work on the Avatar franchise after her graduation as the Shots Assistant Technical Director at Wētā FX.