News
Copley chair Deborah Landis teaches master classes in Cuba
International Film and Television School attracts under-served film students from around the world
TFT/David C. Copley Center Director and Chair Deborah Nadoolman Landis traveled to Cuba in November to conduct the first in a series of intensive weeklong costume design workshops at the International Film and Television School in San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV), as part of an innovative pilot program in art direction.
The classic Cuban novel “Explosion in a Cathedral,” by Alejo Carpentier, revolving around the impact of the French revolution in the Caribbean, served as the rich case study for this workshop.
Founded on Dec. 15, 1986, by novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Argentinean poet and filmmaker Fernando Birri, and Cuban theoretician and filmmaker Julio Garcia Espinosa, EICTV serves as a magnet for talented filmmakers from all over Latin America.
The school offers a two-year regular course as well as workshops to filmmakers and broadcasters, who travel from around the world to upgrade their skills.
“The whole purpose of the school,” said one graduate, “is to equip aspiring filmmakers with the skills and contacts necessary to return to their countries and help build or create a film industry there.”
Copley Center Research Assistant Natasha Rubin filmed every class and the final presentations of student designs. Early in the winter quarter of 2011, Professor Landis will host a screening and slide reminiscence for students, staff and the faculty of TFT.