The Japan Institute of the Moving Image develops individuals capable of taking action and communication and contributing to a wide range of fields by producing videos and motion pictures. We help promote community activities through movies and encourage cultural exchange by connecting with the rest of Asia and the world as a research institution.
Students receive detailed guidance in small classes designed to place students in an active stance towards their learning. Students do not learn only at their desks but by finding their study subjects through filmmaking and fieldwork in groups. They will discover problems for themselves and approach them from various angles through on-going peer discussion. It is a trial and error process through which students learn to express their opinions, listen to others, and share ideas with others. These activities require a high level of autonomy and social awareness, and through which filmmaking skills can be nurtured.
During filmmaking workshops and practice, students are freed from other classes to focus exclusively on these tasks. For example, in the second semester of the first year, the timetable consists of only one subject, Introduction to Filmmaking, for ten weeks, from Monday to Thursday. During this period, students can tackle filmmaking in-depth and foster comradeship with other group members. Students can fully absorb the knowledge and techniques necessary through involvement in this intense experience of group activity.
We aim to produce graduates who are equipped with both practical and theoretical knowledge in film studies. Therefore, the teaching staff varies from professional filmmakers to critics and researchers; the number of “creative” teaching staff is matched by the number of “theoretical” teaching staff. All of our creative staff are presently active in film production, and consequently, they can offer up-to-date information about the current state of the film industry.
To understand film from different viewpoints, we offer several lectures in collaboration or omnibus formats. In these classes, experts in different fields are present in the same classroom to demonstrate different approaches, or at other times they give consecutive lectures on the same topic. By having professional filmmakers and critics teach the same subject, students can be immersed in stimulating discussions and learn to acquire their points of view.
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