POV Magazine’s annual survey of Canadian film schools always offers a good perspective on the state of film itself. When films went digital, so did the schools. As movies turned into effects-driven, 3D adventures, and even when they went interactive, the country’s top film education centres outfitted their film studios with the latest equipment so students could pull off similar tricks. POV likes checking in with professors at film schools. They tip us off on what we can expect in film’s near future—because they’re teaching it.
This year’s school special, POV’s seventh, takes an unusual approach. Our aim is to portray each school in a documentary style—or as close to one as the written word in a magazine will allow.
We all know that the key elements of a good film are character and story arc. We asked film professors at schools across the country to describe a main character—the student—who might star in a potential documentary about their programme. Each teacher was asked to describe a montage of scenes of the student’s experiences at the school, as well as a key challenge that the course might present. The teacher then described the student’s graduation film project and gave us a glimpse of the student’s post-grad future. Then we waited for the potential hit scripts to pour in. Make some popcorn, get comfortable, and imagine the profiles that follow as mini-documentaries.
—NANCY LANTHIER
Part 1: West Coast Film Scripts – By Nancy Lanthier
-Includes profiles of UBC, Vancouver Film School, Simon Fraser University, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Capilano University, and Banff Centre.
Part 2: Scenarios for Film Programmes from Manitoba to Nova Scotia – By Patrick Mullen
-Includes profiles of University of Manitoba, Fanshawe College, University of Toronto, Queen’s University, Carleton University, Concordia University, and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design; and Centennial College (profiled by Marc Glassman)
Part 3: Scripting Three Ontario Doc Programmes – By Mark Dillon
-Includes profiles of Ryerson University, Seneca College, and York University
