Cinema Department

With the expansion of digital technology the visual arts, especially in the fields of photography and cinema, the level of production and presentation of these works has fallen. “The information age” as our age is called is in fact one of great ignorance which could better be described as the “the age of the image” as those living in it have been gradually encircled by a wall of the imagery of consumerism both commercial and otherwise.

 

The NHA's Cinema department will not be reduced to a mere cog in the entertainment industry but instead will present an idea of cinema as having its own artistic integrity. Together we will work towards humanity's historical and aesthetic development and knowledge while keeping our eyes on our own society, culture and civilization in the process of our education.

 

Cinema and cinematic studies has come to a point where it has become so individualized that people don't know where to get information or where they should focus. The market has forced them to specialize and thereby offer an education which ignores the totality of the process of film-making. Instead of experience, the sharing of information, and the excitement of production cinema has become a trade of workers exploitation, a process that tries to push the creative process into the realm of individualistic competition, and a single-minded obsession with ticket sales.

 

The NHA cinema department calls on those who are aspiring for cinema's artistic power in the framework of intellectual depth, social responsibility, and collective work. In the process of two years, on one hand studying the history of cinema and art, on the other we will find the principle means to answer the questions of “which humanity?” and “what kind of society?”. Alongside have the hypothetical tools, its technical and logistical dimensions, and fundamentals of of the trade, we will search for a richer understanding of cinema. We will work to channel our efforts away from the pressures of the ticket booth and festivals to a place where we can focus and share our thoughts. After a two year period, those who wish to further work in the framework of what they have already learned and produced can spend a third year in which they can focus on aesthetic discussion, or work on a short-term film project (either documentary or non-documentary) .

 

The NHA cinema department will work to provide a program that intertwines thought, design, creation, and production with the cooperation of both experts and “apprentices”.

 

 

 

SECOND CLASS SPRING TERM