Individual consultations and invited experts

The course includes: 

‣ Practical сlasses (5 times per month / 40 sessions / 120 hours)

‣ Workshops (3 times per month / 24 sessions / 48 hours)

‣ Mentor Consultations (from 3 sessions / from 3 hours)

‣ Psychological Support Group (once a month / 9 sessions / 18 hours)

‣ Pitching, rough cuts screenings, and final screenings

Throughout the course, each student makes their own film and completes additional practical assignments. The program may be adjusted depending on participants’ experience level if instructors consider it necessary. This overview highlights the core stages of the training.

Once a month, students may also choose to join the psychological support group to discuss challenges arising during intensive filmmaking work with a psychologist.

The program also includes individual consultations with mentors and workshops led by invited experts on specific topics (cinematography, producing, editing, sound work, and more).


FIRST SEGMENT — JANUARY–MARCH 2026

1. Documentary Film Forms: What is documentary? Direct Cinema. Observational Cinema. Personal Films. Cinema Verité. Archival Films. Experimental Films. Essay Films. Hybrid Forms.

2. How to choose a film idea. What determines whether an idea succeeds or fails. Writing a logline and synopsis.

3. How pitching works and what makes a successful pitch deck. Pitch teasers. Time management for public speaking. Project pitch to a guest jury.

4. Directing technique: identifying your weaknesses during production and turning them into strengths.

5. Creative exercises and assignments.

6. Shooting plan.  


SECOND SEGMENT — MARCH–JUNE 2026

7. The protagonist in documentary film. What is conflict? How to choose a protagonist.

8. Ethics in documentary film: Can a villain be a protagonist? Film or help? Filmmaker vs. Protagonist: Whose Story? How to tell stories without violating reality.

9. Screenwriting in documentary film. Storyline and plot. Dramaturgy: structure and arc. Storytelling specifics. Developing the logline and synopsis.

10. Interviews in documentary film.

11. Film as part of visual art. Light and composition. Camera placement. Framing, angles, and axis. Rules and variations.

12. The shot as a unit of artistic meaning. Structure within the frame. Distance.

13. Shooting plan updates and footage reviews.


THIRD SEGMENT — JUNE–JULY 2026

14. Organizing footage and sound. Labelling materials and setting up the edit. Building a film on a board: index cards, scene-based materials.

15. A short theory of editing. Editing phrases. Deciding on the beginning and ending of the film.

16. Project development opportunities, teamwork, and building healthy creative relationships.

17. Basics of producing.


FOURTH SEGMENT — AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2026

18. Individual mentor consultations. Editing.

19. Preparing for public screenings.

20. Screenings and feedback.