Presentation

Developing a personal cinematographic vision, understanding the filmmaking process and apprehending the stakes of production so as to pave the way for graduates to smoothly join professional circles – such are the main objectives of this programme. This Master course, which is unique in Europe, is aimed at the holders of a Bachelor’s degree, or with equivalent experience, wishing to further their knowledge in one of the following fields: direction scriptwriting, editing, sound or production.

Through courses and workshops provided by renowned lecturers in each field, the students develop a personal project throughout the curriculum. For their master project, they are involved in the production (direction scriptwriting, editing, sound or production) of a short, medium or feature length film (fiction, documentary, TV series, art-house, transmedia…). Several films gain international visibility through renowned festivals or/and TV broadcasting.

This Master programme relies on a partnership between ECAL and HEAD/Geneva University of Art and Design and on collaborations with Lausanne University (UNIL), Zurich University (UZH), Zurich University of the Arts (ZHDK), the Swiss National Film Archive in Lausanne, Swiss National Broadcasting RTS, and la Manufacture (school of performing arts) in Lausanne, University of Music Lausanne and Swiss Literature Institute in Bienne.

Language

French & English

Qualification issued

Master of Arts HES-SO in Film, major in Direction, Scenario, Editing, Sound or Production

Yearly fees (materials included)

Fees detail

Length

4 semesters

Credits

120 ECTS

Useful links

Admissions Contact

Equipments & infrastructures

Cinema Studio Sound Studio

Learning Objectives

First year
Vuk Vukmanović, student in Master cinema - major Sound, on the set of "Red Jungle" by Juan José Lozano and Zoltán Horváth, 2019 (prod. Intermezzo Films; Dolce Vita Films; Nadasdy Films & Tchack)
Workshop Danielle Lessovitz

1/2

  • Deepen your knowledge of technical tools relating to image, writing, production and sound, depending on the major: filming in studio sets; direct sound recording and mixing; developing skills in software for sound and editing (ProTools, Avid); script dialogue; exercises on reading sheets; preparation of a shooting plan; etc.
  • Carry out workshop projects supervised by international professionals: research and approaches to documentary or fiction, sound creation, editing creation, work on directing actors.
  • Develop a personal project (concept, writing, production) accompanied by a tutor.
  • Produce and direct a commissioned film (writing and presentation of the project to the commissioning body; shooting in a small team, editing).
  • Participate in the“Grand Voyage”: film shooting abroad during a trip lasting 3 weeks in collaboration with filmmakers and film professionals from the country visited (in the past Bela Tarr in Sarajevo, Alain Gomis in Dakar, Kaltrina Krasniqi and Dokufest in Kosovo, ...).
  • Enhance your knowledge through theory courses in collaboration with the University of Lausanne (UNIL), the University of Zurich (UZH), the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHDK) and the Università Svizzera Italiana (USI): film history, screenplay and criticism; media economics, film archiving; methodological and practical approach to film restoration.
  • Meet personalities from the film industry and other artistic disciplines in masterclasses.
Second year
The Jury with Lionel Baier, Head of Cinema dept. ECAL; Nicolas Wadimoff, Head of Cinema Dept. HEAD; Jasmin Basic, coordinator Master ECAL/HEAD; Alice Riva, assistant Master
Diploma 2020

1/2

  • Benefit from professional internships in Switzerland or abroad.
  • Participate and collaborate with national and international film festivals.
  • Immerse yourself in cross-disciplinary courses and workshops in collaboration with the Swiss Film Archive in Lausanne, RTS/RRS, La Manufacture/University of Performing Arts in Western Switzerland in Lausanne, Haute Ecole de Musique in Lausanne, the Swiss Literary Institute in Biel and La Fémis in Paris.
  • Write a thesis based on the knowledge acquired throughout the course.
  • Put into practice the know-how acquired in a graduation work, depending on the chosen major: directing, screenplay, editing, sound or production.

Projects

This section contains a selection of emblematic or recent projects related to the disciplines taught in the Master's degree.
See all projects

Studio projects

Directing workshop with Yann Gonzalez

FILM STUDIES

Directing workshop with Yann Gonzalez

with Yann Gonzalez

In partnership with La Manufacture, the ECAL x HEAD Master invited director Yann Gonzalez to take part in a directing workshop.

Actors' Direction Workshop

FILM STUDIES

Actors' Direction Workshop

with Fulvio Bernasconi

Actors' Direction Workshop, led by the Swiss filmmaker Fulvio Bernasconi, in collaboration with the acting students of Les Teintureries, theatre school in Lausanne.

Ponte 5

FILM STUDIES

Ponte 5

with Jean Perret, Gianfranco Rosi

One man. One bridge. Nowhere to go. Antonio is an aging man who must live on a bridge in the rough neighborhood of Laurentino 38, in the suburbs of Rome.

O Signore Stracciarolo

FILM STUDIES

O Signore Stracciarolo

with Jean Perret, Gianfranco Rosi

Outcast amongst outcasts. From boredom to religious devotion, we get a glimpse into the lives of a gypsy couple in the suburbs of Rome.

Ruth

FILM STUDIES

Ruth

with Lionel Baier, Emmanuel Salinger

Ruth leads a peaceful life in her elaborately decorated apartment. Until one day, when a mysterious gift is about to turn her world upside down.

Cotonov Vanished

FILM STUDIES

Cotonov Vanished

with Jean-Louis Comolli, José Michel Bühler, Claudio Pazienza

A way of approaching the exercise of portrait, Cotonov Vanished returns to the dazzling career of a young and brilliant Russian interpreter embarked in the Cold War who, one day, mysteriously disappeared...

Il movimento

FILM STUDIES

Il movimento

with Lionel Baier, Thomas Isler

The “habitués” of the bar “Il Movimento” meet regularly to discuss, drink and to forget their worries. This tiny bar is particularly cosy with a warm and charming ambience...

Workshops

Filmmaking workshop

FILM STUDIES

Filmmaking workshop

with Danielle Lessovitz

A 2-weeks filmmaking workshop led by the American director and scriptwriter Danielle Lessovitz with the students of the Master in Film - major direction and scriptwriting.

Master Cinema - Major in Sound

FILM STUDIES

Master Cinema - Major in Sound

with Felix Blume

Sound creation workshop for the Master Cinema students - Major in Sound - directed by Felix Blume, sound artist and sound engineer.

Sound performance

FILM STUDIES

Sound performance

Creation by Ensemble Vide, with the Master Cinema students, in coproduction with Ensemble Contrechamps, Geneva.

Workshop Rousseau mandate

FILM STUDIES

Workshop Rousseau mandate

Study trip of the Master in Film students in Val de Travers, on the footsteps of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, to work on the first stages of the Mandate proposed by the MLR - Maison Rousseau et Littérature, Geneva.

"I Dreamed of El Zahir"

FILM STUDIES

"I Dreamed of El Zahir"

by Vuk Vukmanovic

"I Dreamed of El Zahir" , sound work by Vuk Vukmanovic, student of Master Cinéma - major Sound, during the Grand Voyage in Dakar, Senegal. Inspired by the short story "El Zahir" by Jorge Luis Borges.

Workshop casting and acting with Guillaume Brac

FILM STUDIES

Workshop casting and acting with Guillaume Brac

with Guillaume Brac

Workshop casting and acting with Guillaume Brac, filmmaker, Julia Perazzini and Antonin Schopfer, actors

Cinema Master - major Sound

FILM STUDIES

Cinema Master - major Sound

Vuk Vukmanović, student in Master cinema - major Sound, on the set of "Red Jungle" by Juan José Lozano and Zoltán Horváth, 2019 (prod. Intermezzo Films; Dolce Vita Films; Nadasdy Films & Tchack)

Master Cinema at the Clermont Film Festival

FILM STUDIES

Master Cinema at the Clermont Film Festival

Master cinéma dans Le Temps

FILM STUDIES

Master cinéma dans Le Temps

Article du 8 janvier 2018 dans Le Temps sur la place du scénario en Suisse.

Mumbai Grand Voyage workshop

FILM STUDIES

Mumbai Grand Voyage workshop

Each year, students of the Master's program undertake a "Great Trip" to discover the territory of a filmmaker. In 2016, they went to Mumbai with the director and producer Anurag Kashyap.

ImaginaSon

FILM STUDIES

ImaginaSon

For this forth edition, the Swiss Cinematheque presented last September a collection of movies, short and features, anomy's or not, adds, scientific or artistic documents... all of which where found in the Cinémathèques archives.

Workshop Pasolini

FILM STUDIES

Workshop Pasolini

with Stéphane Bouquet, Lionel Baier, Robert Cantarella

The Master students of Mise en scène of the Lausanne University of Theatre and the film directors of Master Ecal/Head collaborated for a work shop around the critical and political impact of Pasolini’s work.

Diplomas

Marine Maye – Mountain Flesh  (Sound)

FILM STUDIES

Marine Maye – Mountain Flesh (Sound)

with Nathalie Vidal

The summer idyll is disturbed by recurring noises while a mountain village loses its foundations.

Yatoni Roy Cantu – Ramboy (Sound)

FILM STUDIES

Yatoni Roy Cantu – Ramboy (Sound)

with Nathalie Vidal

Ramboy provided me with the opportunity to look after the whole sound process of a film, from the sound recording to the music, the editing and the mixing. It was a real adventure.

Marie Chemin – The mountains are still growing (Direction)

FILM STUDIES

Marie Chemin – The mountains are still growing (Direction)

with Stéphane Batut

Laurence, a Parisian in her fifties, is spending a few days in an isolated holiday cottage in southern France. There she meets Antoine, the young owner of the place. Antoine is a little boorish and macho and tries to seduce her. But Laurence is there for a specific purpose: to give him a letter containing a secret.

Rokhaya Balde – La passion d'Aline (Screenplay)

FILM STUDIES

Rokhaya Balde – La passion d'Aline (Screenplay)

with Nadine Lamari, Alice Winocour, Michel Spinoza

My graduation project is a version 1.0 of a feature film script on the life of Aline Sitoé Diatta. Aline is a heroine of the Senegalese resistance and particularly of Casamance against French colonisation in the 1920s and 1940s.

Victor Comte – Carne (Screenplay)

FILM STUDIES

Victor Comte – Carne (Screenplay)

with Nadine Lamari, Alice Winocour, Michel Spinoza

This is the first draft of a feature film script, written over the two years of the MA programme.

Léa Célestine Bernasconi – The mountains are still growing (Sound)

FILM STUDIES

Léa Célestine Bernasconi – The mountains are still growing (Sound)

with Nathalie Vidal

My job was to create the soundtrack for this film from sound recording to mixing and editing.

Massimo Del Gaudio – Le défilé (Sound)

FILM STUDIES

Massimo Del Gaudio – Le défilé (Sound)

with Nathalie Vidal

I worked on Michail Galanopoulos’ graduation film: Le défilé. I went to Greece in November 2021 to work on the film as sound recordist and location mixer. I then worked on the post production as sound editor, sound designer and mixer.

Selin Dettwiler – Ramboy (Editing)

FILM STUDIES

Selin Dettwiler – Ramboy (Editing)

with Gion Reto Killias

On Achill Island, on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland, Cian hopes to spend his summer vacation playing soccer with his friends. But his grandfather Martin reckons the time has come to introduce him to farm work in order to pass on his craft to the next generation.

Antoine Flahaut – The Parade (Editing)

FILM STUDIES

Antoine Flahaut – The Parade (Editing)

with Gion Reto Killias

The editing of this film was a meticulous balancing act, consisting less of searching for clean and sophisticated cuts than of finding for each scene the brutality, the power, the troubled swirl of emotions that inhabit this group of teenagers fleeing through the streets of Athens.

Valentina Shasivari – Mountain Flesh (Direction)

FILM STUDIES

Valentina Shasivari – Mountain Flesh (Direction)

with Jacqueline Zünd

The summer idyll is disturbed by recurring noises while a mountain village loses its foundations.

Michail Galanopoulos – The Parade (Direction)

FILM STUDIES

Michail Galanopoulos – The Parade (Direction)

with Stéphane Batut

A day in the life of a group of high school students in Athens, Greece, during the day of the national military parade.

Leopold Helbich Frey – The Scent of Burning Time (Direction)

FILM STUDIES

Leopold Helbich Frey – The Scent of Burning Time (Direction)

with Stéphane Batut

Three people searching for a better future on an island are confronted with the climate catastrophe.

Program

This section lists the detailed modules and courses for each semester of the programme.

Semester 1 2 3 4

Common Modules
  • Grand Voyage
    (10 ECTS)
  • Recherche et conception (mandat)
    (6 ECTS)
  • Théorie et méthodologie du cinéma I
    (4 ECTS)
Directing – Orientation Module
  • Inputs réalisation : image, son, électricité, lumières
    (6 ECTS)
  • Préparatifs du travail de Master I
    (4 ECTS)
Scenario – Orientation Module
  • Inputs scénario : méthodologie et technique
    (6 ECTS)
  • Préparatifs du travail de Master I
    (4 ECTS)
Editing – Orientation Module
  • Inputs montage I
    (6 ECTS)
  • Théorie du montage et ateliers
    (4 ECTS)
Common Modules
  • Réalisation et production (mandat)
    (10 ECTS)
  • Transversalité / Rencontres et Masterclasses
    (4 ECTS)
  • Théorie et méthodologie du cinéma II
    (6 ECTS)
Directing – Orientation Module
  • Input réalisation II
    (5 ECTS)
  • Préparatifs du travail de Master II
    (5 ECTS)
Scenario – Orientation Module
  • Inputs écriture I
    (5 ECTS)
  • Préparatifs du travail de Master II
    (5 ECTS)
Editing – Orientation Module
  • Workshop montage Fémis
    (5 ECTS)
  • Pratique et professionnalisation
    (5 ECTS)

Common Modules
  • Mise en production
    (10 ECTS)
  • Travail de Master - mémoire
    (10 ECTS)
Directing – Orientation Module
  • Inputs réalisation III
    (5 ECTS)
  • Préparatifs du travail de Master III
    (5 ECTS)
Scenario – Orientation Module
  • Inputs écriture II
    (5 ECTS)
  • Stage pratique
    (5 ECTS)
Editing – Orientation Module
  • Inputs montage II
    (5 ECTS)
  • Stage pratique
    (5 ECTS)
Master Project – pratique
30 ECTS
Find all the programme documents below

Alumni

Carmen Jaquier
Fisnik Maxhuni
Raphaël Meyer
Klaudia Reynicke
Vuk Vukmanovic
Career Opportunities

Film director of documentaries or fiction, Director of photography, Editor, Sound mixer, Sound engineer, Scriptwriter, Producer, Teacher…

Other alumni

Rokhaya Marieme Balde, Jorge Cadena, Juliana Fanjul, Laurence Favre, Andreas Fontana, Carmen Jaquier, Kostas Makrinos, Fisnik Maxville, Michele Pennetta, Aurélie Pernet, Minna Prader, Maxime Rappaz, Andreea Vescan, Moïra Pitteloud, Vuk Vukmanović...

Staff

Heads of department

Paolo Moretti (ECAL)
Anita Hugi (HEAD)

Coordination

Artistic deputy
Jasmin Basic

Assistants
Irene Muñoz (HEAD)
Jules Pourchet (ECAL)

Production & distribution
Jean-Guillaume Sonnier (ECAL)

Professors, visiting lecturers, masterclasses

Elsa Amiel
Claire Atherton
Lionel Baier
Stéphane Batut
Joëlle Bertossa
Yaël Bitton
Jean-­Stéphane Bron
Claire Burger
Joel Coen
Abdel Raouf Dafri
Thierry de Peretti
Philippe Faucon
Abel Ferrara
Emmanuel Finkiel
Amos Gitaï
Delphine Gleize
Jean­-Luc Godard
Alain Gomis
Yann Gonzalez
Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige
Mahamat Saleh Haroun
Mikhaël Hers
Mike Hoolboom
Carlos Ibañez­-Diaz
Kaya Inan
Antoine Jaccoud
Agnès Jaoui
Simon Jaquemet
Tom Kalin
Anurag Kashyap
Alanté Kavaïté
Marthe Keller
Gion Reto Killias
Stéphane Kuthy
Julien Lacheray
Nadine Lamari
Rachel Lang


Danielle Lessovitz
Sébastien Lifshitz
Noémie Lvovsky
Vincent Macaigne
Ursula Meier
Peter Mettler
Valérie Mréjen
François Musy
Bettina Oberli
Jeanne Oberson
Ruben Östlund
Jean­-Gabriel Périot
Vasco Pimentel
Pedro Pinho
Nicolas Philibert
Katell Quillévéré
Charlotte Rampling
Joao Pedro Rodrigues
Antoine Russbach
Emmanuel Salinger
Stefano Savona
Eyal Sivan
Michel Spinosa
Béla Tarr
Marianne Tardieu
Jeremy Thomas
Gus Van Sant
Virgil Vernier
Nathalie Vidal
Teresa Villaverde
Marc Von Stürler
Alice Winocour
Frederick Wiseman
Katharina Wyss
Jacqueline Zünd
Andreï Zviaguintsev

évènements

Masterclass ECAL - Céline Sciamma,24.01.2023,IKEA Auditorium, ECAL

LECTURES

Masterclass ECAL - Céline Sciamma,
24.01.2023,
IKEA Auditorium, ECAL

Invited by ECAL Cinema Department, French director and screenwriter Céline Sciamma present a Masterclass on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, moderated by Paolo Moretti, head of the Cinema department, and Valentina Novati, French producer and distributor.

ECAL AT SOLOTHURN DAYS 2023: 19 NOMINATIONS

AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS

ECAL AT SOLOTHURN DAYS 2023: 19 NOMINATIONS

On the occasion of the 58th Solothurn Film Festival, which takes place from January 18 to 25, 2023, ECAL Film Department presents several films by students and graduates.

ECAL Masterclass - Albert Serra,20.12.2022, 17:00,Leenaards Auditorium, ECAL

LECTURES

ECAL Masterclass - Albert Serra,
20.12.2022, 17:00,
Leenaards Auditorium, ECAL

Invited by ECAL Cinema Department, the Catalan director Albert Serra will present a Masterclass on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, moderated by Paolo Moretti, head of Bachelor and Master Cinema.

ECAL graduates at Locarno Film Festival,03–13.08.2022,Locarno

OTHER

ECAL graduates at Locarno Film Festival,
03–13.08.2022,
Locarno

On the occasion of the 75th edition of the Locarno Film Festival from 3 to 13 August 2022, many graduates of ECAL/Universityof Art and Design Lausanne will present movies:

LECTURES

ECAL Instagram Live: Jean-Luc Godard,
07.04.2020

ECAL Instagram Live: Jean-Luc Godard, fillmmaker, Rolle

Masterclass ECAL - Paul Hirsch,03.10.2022,ECAL, Renens

LECTURES

Masterclass ECAL - Paul Hirsch,
03.10.2022,
ECAL, Renens

On the occasion of the release of his book Il y a bien longtemps, dans une salle de montage lointaine, très lointaine..., Paul Hirsch presents at ECAL his autobiography. A meeting led by Benoît Rossel (film director and teacher at ECAL) and Mykyta Kryvosheiev (film editor and Master Cinema ECAL/HEAD graduate).

LECTURES

ECAL at Visions du Réel: Marco Bellocchio masterclass + Films,
07–17.04.2022,
Visions du Réel, Nyon

ECAL Masterclass at Visions du Réel: Marco Bellocchio – Director, screenwriter, producer, Rome.

Rencontres 7e Art Lausanne 2022,12–20.03.2022,ECAL and Online

LECTURES

Rencontres 7e Art Lausanne 2022,
12–20.03.2022,
ECAL and Online

On the occasion of the 5th edition of the Rencontres 7e Art Lausanne, an event initiated by the Swiss actor and director Vincent Perez, ECAL is hosting a series of online masterclasses by leading figures in the film industry.

Special screening of "Donbass" by Sergei Loznitsa,11.03.2022

OTHER

Special screening of "Donbass" by Sergei Loznitsa,
11.03.2022

The Swiss Cinematheque and the ECAL Film Department invite you to an evening of support for the Ukrainian people on Friday 11th March at 7pm at ECAL.

LECTURES

ECAL Masterclass: Nabil Ayouch,
09.03.2022, 17:30,
IKEA Auditorium, ECAL

ECAL Masterclass: Nabil Ayouch – Director, Sarcelles/Casablanca

ECAL at Solothurn Days 2022,19–26.01.2022,Solothurn

PROJECTION

ECAL at Solothurn Days 2022,
19–26.01.2022,
Solothurn

On the occasion of the Solothurn Days from 19 to 26 January 2022, ECAL Cinema Department presents several Bachelor diploma films by students.

LECTURES

ECAL Masterclass: Mathieu Amalric,
18.01.2022,
IKEA Auditorium, ECAL

ECAL Masterclass: Mathieu Amalric, actor, director, Paris

ECAL Diplomas 2021: Bachelor films screening,03.11.2021,Cinémathèque suisse, Lausanne

OTHER

ECAL Diplomas 2021: Bachelor films screening,
03.11.2021,
Cinémathèque suisse, Lausanne

Screening of the 2021 graduation films of the ECAL's Bachelor's degree in Cinema on Wednesday 3 November 2021 at Cinémathèque suisse in the presence of the students.

LECTURES

ECAL Masterclass: Abel Ferrara,
05.10.2021,
IKEA Auditorium, ECAL

ECAL Masterclass: Abel Ferrara – Filmmaker and screenwriter, Rome

Screening at the Swiss Culture Centre, Paris,12.07.2021

PROJECTION

Screening at the Swiss Culture Centre, Paris,
12.07.2021

Screening of ECAL films at the Swiss Culture Centre, Paris. ECAL and the Centre culturel suisse. Paris present the films made during the "Selfportrait and violence" workshop led by Mio Rau (playwright and theatre director at NTGhent Theatre) and Giacomo Bisordi (playwright and director).

LECTURES

ECAL Masterclass: Gisèle Vienne,
11.05.2021,
Online, Zoom

ECAL Masterclass: Gisèle Vienne – Artist, choregrapher and theater director, Les Lilas

Rencontres 7e Art Lausanne 2021,27.04–01.05.2021

LECTURES

Rencontres 7e Art Lausanne 2021,
27.04–01.05.2021

A l’occasion de la 4e édition des Rencontres 7e Art Lausanne, l’ECAL propose une série de masterclasses en ligne de personnalités du Cinéma.