MSTFA – Israel

Ma’ale is a unique training institution in the Jewish world, establishing a completely new relationship between the religious public and the visual media. It was founded in 1989 with the goal of training film and television professionals deeply rooted in the Jewish faith. By promoting Jewish religious film production, the school has taken on the task on the one hand of establishing visual media in the religious community; on the other hand it attempts to break down clichés in the perception of religious Jews by secular Israelis by bringing into the visual media – and thus into general consciousness – areas of religious life not often discussed in public. The school understands itself as an institution building bridges on the one hand between religious Jews and their heritage, on the other hand between the religious and the secular worlds.
The school is headed by a committee made up of outstanding figures from the film industry, the religious community and educational institutions. It is supported by the Ministry for Education, Culture and Sport and the City of Jerusalem.
The training includes three aspects:
- professional instruction: instruction in practical skills and knowledge
- theoretical instruction: instruction in theory and teaching on the Jewish religious tradition, especially in relation to filmmaking
- application: practical realization of creative work
The fulltime program in producing and directing, for which each year up to twenty-five applicants are accepted, lasts four years and leads up to a diploma.