EICTV – Cuba

The International School of Film and Television (EICTV) in San Antonio de los Baños - about an hour outside La Habana, Cuba - is widely respected as one of the world´s great film schools.
What sets it apart is the vision of its founders – Colombian Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Argentinean filmmaker and poet Fernando Birri and Cuban filmmaker Julio Garcia Espinoza.
From the beginning, in December 1986, they wanted to create a "school of three worlds" for students from Latin America, Africa and Asia. Since then, several thousand students and professionals have passed through the school and it has become a truly international institution, better described as "school of all worlds".
The EICTV is an independent NGO under the auspices of the Foundation for New Latin American Cinema (FNCL), with Gabriel Garcia Marquez as its President since its inauguration.
The school's regular course is a three year program, with majors in screenwriting, production, directing, photography, sound, editing and documentary films. Normally six students are selected for each department each year - with a maximum total of 42.
EICTV's academic excellence was recognized in 1993 when it was presented the Roberto Rossellini Award, which is given to the work, individual or institution that represents the spirit of progress, generosity and humanity that characterized the great Italian director.
The dream of the school's founders - that it would become a self-perpetuating, constantly self-newing institution - has again been realized in 2007 with the appointment of its new director, Tanya Valette, one of the first generation of graduates from the school in 1990. Tanya Valette is from the Dominican Republic and has extensive international filmmaking experience.