Centro Sperimentale di cinematografia (National Film School)

The Sicilian branch of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (C.S.C.) is supported by the Ufficio Speciale per il Cinema e l’Audiovisivo/Sicilia Film Commission and by the Agenzia per la Coesione Territoriale della Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri as a part of the program ‘Sensi Contemporanei.’

The aim of the C.S.C. is to select and train new talents in the field of documentary films. The school, therefore, stands as a workshop where the “filmmakers of the reality” are formed. Through a rigorous epistemological approach, the teaching program is focused on an idea of Documentary Films which covers all the extraordinary, expressive, and communicative potentialities of documentary, aiming at training new qualified professional figures who are able to combine creativity and emotional involvement. The syllabus is composed by a combination of humanities and cinema studies providing a unique and original program. In this regard, students have the possibility to develop their own projects in accordance with knowledge and technical skills that they acquire during the year. Referring to the technical aspects of the program, the Scuola Nazionale di Cinematografia has provided useful hints which have been modified and re-elaborated by the director of studies and the academic committee in accordance with the specific needs and aims of the program.

The course covers all the different aspects related to cinematographic technique, such as: directing, screenwriting, photography, editing, sound, production and post-production. Experienced teachers will lead students through all the above-mentioned subjects. During the first two years students are required to realize some short videos under the supervision of their tutors, while in the third year students will focus their work on the development and realization of their film as part of the final assessment. Until now the Diploma has been conferred upon thirty students, and many of them have developed a remarkable career receiving important international awards.

Due to the important role that the Sicilian branch of C.S.C. has been playing in the region since its foundation in 2008, it is considered now as the Casa del Cinema. There are two main examples that clarify the great commitment provided by the school in supporting the art of cinema in Sicily. Firstly, many producers and filmmakers have chosen the C.S.C. as place for a preview of their movies.

Furthermore, the school organizes weekly seminars whose aim is to allow students to become aware of the most recent production of documentary films on national and international level, as well as to know the different phases that lead to the production of a documentary film.

The venue of the Sicilian branch of the C.S.C. is located in Palermo within the Cantieri Culturali della Zisa, a space that has been restored to the city thanks to the European founds of P.O.R. 2000/2006 managed by the Regione Siciliana on the base of an agreement stipulated with Comune di Palermo, which is the legal owner of that space. The pavilion number four covers an area of 1,800 meters. In this area there are movie theatre with 80 seats (Blue Hall), a film theatre which covers a surface of 250 square meters and represents the biggest virtual set in Sicily, an auditorium with 100 seats, a dubbing room, two rooms for the post-production, and a classroom (Red Hall) with a maxi-screen equipped with video cables and a fiber optic system.