EICTV (Escuela Internacional de Cine y Television)

Overview

The Escuela Internacional de Cine y Television (EICTV) is a unique film school located in San Antonio de los Banos, a small town approximately 30 kilometers southwest of Havana, Cuba. Founded in 1986 by Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Argentine filmmaker Fernando Birri, and Cuban filmmaker Julio Garcia Espinosa, the school was established with a mission to train filmmakers from Latin America, Africa, and Asia, regions historically underrepresented in global cinema.

EICTV operates under the patronage of the Foundation for New Latin American Cinema and receives support from international organizations and governments. The school's campus is a self-contained residential community where students from dozens of countries live and work together for the duration of their studies, creating an intensely collaborative and cross-cultural educational environment.

The school's isolation from major urban centers is intentional. Students are immersed in filmmaking without the distractions of city life, and the residential model fosters deep creative relationships among cohort members. The school's international composition means that a typical class includes students from across Central and South America, the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

Programs Offered

• Regular Course in Filmmaking -- a three-year residential program covering directing, screenwriting, cinematography, editing, sound, and producing
• Documentary Workshop -- intensive documentary filmmaking training
• Master classes and workshops -- shorter programs led by visiting international filmmakers

What Students Should Know

EICTV's mission is explicitly oriented toward the developing world. The school prioritizes applicants from Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and its curriculum reflects the storytelling traditions and social realities of these regions. Students from North America and Western Europe may apply but should understand the school's orientation.

The school teaches in Spanish, and proficiency is required. Students from non-Spanish-speaking countries (including Francophone and Lusophone Africa) receive language support, but the working language of the institution is Spanish.

Tuition is heavily subsidized, and many students attend on full or partial scholarships funded by international cultural organizations, governments, and foundations. The residential campus provides housing and meals, further reducing costs. For students from the global South, EICTV offers one of the most financially accessible quality film educations available.

The school's alumni network spans dozens of countries across multiple continents, creating professional connections that are particularly valuable for filmmakers working in regions where the film industry infrastructure is still developing.

Notable Alumni

EICTV alumni include filmmakers working across Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The school has produced directors whose work has appeared at Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto, and regional festivals worldwide. The school's influence is diffuse rather than concentrated, with graduates building film industries and training the next generation in their home countries.

See Also

For understanding international co-production and distribution, see International Film Markets. To explore production planning tools, use the Production Budget Calculator.