GMAI Offering Scholarships to Study at Cuba’s International Film and Television School

The Cuban International Film and Television School (EICTV) of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba, is calling on young Dominicans between the ages of 22 and 29 to participate in the school’s examination process for the Regular Course 2009-2012. The Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) and the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) through the Institute
of Global Multimedia (IGM), is offering scholarships to those students who are selected.

Three places in the area of Directing, Production, Scriptwriting, Documentaries, Photography, Sound and Editing will be awarded. The closing date for applications is Friday March 20, 2009. Over the course of the three year period, students will fulfill an intense and complex course of studies to be divided into three cycles: Polyvalence for basic coursework in the 1st year with
specialties in feature films and documentaries, sound, editing, director of photography; script writing and production in the second year and a thesis in the third year. 

In December 2006, the Cuban International Film and Television School (EICTV) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) signed an agreement which facilitates cooperation links between both institutions in the area of training and education. This agreement provides total
financial support for the selected candidates.

A National Evaluation Committee, comprised of filmmakers, sociologists, film critics and Dominican creators of art and culture will pre-select candidates on the basis of their artistic skills, creative potential as well as their cultural and work experience. This will take place on April 24.

The Cuban International Film and Television School (EICTV) is a non-governmental organization in Cuba and is one of
the most important learning projects of the Foundation for New Latin American Film (FNCL). It was inaugurated on December 15, 1986 and is presided over by Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel Laureate in Literature. The school’s founder is Fernando Birri.
 
Since September, 2007, Tanya Valette, Dominican EICTV graduate (1990), has been in charge of general management of this prestigious academic institution.

EICTV
is the only school in the world that has been singled out for distinction at the Cannes Film Festival, in its 46th edition, with the Roberto Rossellini Award.  The prize is one of the most sought after awards on an international level. It is an honor bestowed upon those who embody the spirit of progress, generosity and humanism that characterized Roberto Rossellini.

By the year 2008, 616 students from 52 countries around the world had graduated from EICTV. Some
of them have won awards in film festivals and other events.

At this point, 13 Dominicans have graduated from the EICTV: Juan Basanta, Jaime Gómez, Tanya Valette, Franklin Hernández, Emily Fiume Michel, Edwin Marmolejos Lama, Desiree Reyes, Fernando Martínez, Pedro Carrasco, Alejandro Andújar, Laura Amelia Guzmán, Natalia Cabral and Alejandro Soto.

Currently the following students are enrolled in
their first year at the school: Leticia Brea Calderón (Production), Michelle Denisse Guzmán Ortiz, (Scriptwriting) and Rafael C. Bobadilla Báez (Sound). In their second year: César Zayas (Photography), Amelia del Mar (Scriptwriting) and Argenis Mills (Directing); third-year students are: Pablo Lozano (Documentary) and Johanne Terrero (Scriptwriting).

For more information on registration, interested candidates can get in touch
with Martha Checo, EICTV Representative for the Dominican Republic, at: 
809-689-2121 ext. 328 and 809-330 4539 or by e-mail at: mcheco@tricom.net  or  checomar