Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA)

Overview

The Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA) is a state-funded film school in Busan, South Korea, operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). Founded in 1984 under the Ministry of Culture's five-year film promotion plan, KAFA admits approximately 34 students per year across five majors: Directing (12), Cinematography (6), Animation (6), Producing (6), and Sound (4). Tuition is 3,000,000 KRW per year (approximately $2,000 USD).

KAFA relocated from Seoul to Busan in 2018 and is headquartered at 55 Suyeong-ro 521beon-gil, Suyeong-gu, Busan, near Geumnyeonsan Station (Line 2). KOFIC and Busan city signed an agreement in 2024 to build a new campus, citing overcrowding at the current site. Over 40 years, KAFA has produced roughly 800 graduates who now work across the Korean film industry.

The school launched the world's first feature film production curriculum in 2006. KAFA student features have screened at the Busan International Film Festival, Berlin, and other major festivals. Recent KAFA features include The House of the Lost on the Cape and Socialphobia.

History

KAFA was founded in 1984 under the Ministry of Culture's five-year film promotion plan to train professional filmmakers for the Korean film industry. The school was originally located in Seoul and moved to Busan in 2018 as part of KOFIC's decentralization strategy.

Key milestones include launching the Feature Film Program in 2006, the world's first curriculum where students produce full-length feature films. Netflix partnered with KAFA in 2024 to run a Reboot Camp for emerging creators. KOFIC and Busan city signed an agreement in 2024 to build a new campus. The 20th cohort of the Feature Film Program was admitted in 2026.

Programs Offered

• Regular Program (40 weeks, February to February): The core curriculum across five majors. Students complete intensive production exercises evaluated by faculty who are active industry professionals.

- Directing: approximately 12 students per cohort

- Cinematography: approximately 6 students per cohort

- Animation: approximately 6 students per cohort

- Producing: approximately 6 students per cohort

- Sound: approximately 4 students per cohort

• Feature Film Program (launched 2006): An advanced track where students produce full-length feature films. The program has generated approximately 7 features per year, regularly premiering at Busan, Berlin, and other international festivals.

• Global Program: Shorter international workshops, including the Korea-Japan Project Development Workshop and collaborative programs with La Femis (France) and Geidai (Japan).

• KAFA+ Professional Education: Continuing education courses for working film professionals, including regional filmmaker training programs.

Directing is the most competitive major, attracting the largest applicant pool with only 12 seats per cohort.

Notable Alumni and What They've Made

KAFA has produced approximately 800 graduates over 40 years. Key alumni include:

• Bong Joon-ho - Director of Parasite (2019), the first non-English-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and the first Korean film to win the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Also directed Memories of Murder (2003), Snowpiercer (2013), and Okja (2017). Made his graduation film Incoherence (1994) at KAFA, which screened at Vancouver and Hong Kong international festivals.
• Choi Dong-hoon - Director of Tazza: The High Rollers (2006), The Thieves (2012), and Alienoid (2022). One of Korea's highest-grossing commercial directors.
• Jang Joon-hwan - Director of Save the Green Planet! (2003), a cult favorite remade internationally. Made his KAFA short 2001 Imagine with Bong Joon-ho as cinematographer.
• Heo Jin-ho - Director of Christmas in August (1998), a foundational work of the Korean New Wave.
• Yoon Jong-bin - Director of The Spy Gone North (2018), which screened at Cannes.

Acceptance Rate

KAFA does not publish a formal acceptance rate. With approximately 34 seats across all majors and applicants drawn from across the Korean film community, admission is extremely competitive. The Directing major is the most competitive, with 12 seats attracting the largest applicant pool. Korean male applicants must have completed or been exempted from military service. The selection process involves multiple rounds of evaluation by a committee of active industry professionals. For the 2026 regular program (43rd cohort), the application fee was 70,000 KRW.

Standout Faculty

KAFA's faculty consists of active industry professionals who evaluate student work and mentor productions. The school does not maintain permanent professors in the traditional sense. Instead, working filmmakers serve as instructors and mentors across each cohort.

• Armando Capo - Cuban filmmaker and coordinator of the Fiction Chair at EICTV, collaborates with KAFA through international exchange programs
• Industry guest lecturers include directors, producers, and technicians from the Korean film industry who participate in the Feature Film Program
• Netflix partnered with KAFA in 2024 to run a Reboot Camp, bringing streaming platform executives and showrunners as guest instructors

The faculty structure ensures students learn from professionals currently working in the industry, with direct access to current production practices and industry networks.

Tuition / Aid Reality

Tuition is 3,000,000 KRW per year (approximately $2,000 USD), paid in a single annual installment. This makes KAFA one of the most affordable film schools in the world relative to its production resources.

Students receive production funding for their films, and the school provides equipment, facilities, and post-production support. Certain applicants qualify for tuition exemption: national merit recipients, 5.18 democratic merit recipients, basic livelihood security recipients, and independence merit recipients and their children.

No federal loan eligibility applies as this is a Korean institution. No need-based aid programs exist beyond the tuition exemptions listed above. The low tuition itself functions as a form of subsidy, covering only a fraction of the real cost per student.

Facilities and Equipment

KAFA provides professional-grade production equipment, editing suites, and post-production facilities at its Busan campus. The school's small cohort size means students get substantial hands-on time with equipment. The feature film program provides production budgets sufficient for professional-quality feature production.

The current campus in Suyeong-gu, Busan, has been cited as overcrowded with aging facilities. KOFIC and Busan city signed an agreement in 2024 to build a new campus. The school also maintains a Film Education Support Center in Seoul (Mapo District) for continuing education programs.

Student Film Examples

KAFA student features regularly premiere at major international festivals:

• Socialphobia - KAFA feature film that screened at the Busan International Film Festival
• The House of the Lost on the Cape - Recent KAFA feature production
• Incoherence (1994) - Bong Joon-ho's graduation film, selected for Vancouver and Hong Kong international festivals
• 2001 Imagine - Jang Joon-hwan's KAFA short, with Bong Joon-ho as cinematographer
• Twentidentity - A 20-part omnibus film made by KAFA alumni for the school's 20th anniversary, including Bong's contribution Sink and Rise

The Feature Film Program has generated approximately 7 features per year since 2006, with KAFA student features screening at Busan, Berlin, and other international festivals.

What Filmmakers Should Know

At 3,000,000 KRW per year (approximately $2,000 USD), KAFA is one of the most affordable film schools in the world relative to its production resources. Students receive production funding and professional-grade equipment access. The trade-off is an extremely competitive admission process: roughly 34 seats across all majors.

All instruction is in Korean. Korean language proficiency is required. KAFA is in Busan, South Korea's second-largest city and host of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). The school's proximity to BIFF provides direct access to Asia's largest film festival market. Cost of living in Busan is lower than Seoul, though the school does not provide on-campus housing.

KAFA graduates are deeply embedded in the Korean film industry. The school's relationship with KOFIC and BIFF gives students access to industry networks, funding bodies, and distribution channels. Netflix's 2024 partnership reflects growing connections to streaming platforms. The key trade-off: affordable tuition and deep industry access in exchange for Korean language fluency and extremely competitive admissions.

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See Also

For comparing film school ROI against self-taught paths, see Film School vs Self-Taught. To estimate total education costs including living expenses, use the Indie Film Budget Calculator. For industry placement rates at top film schools, see Best Industry Placement Rates.