What would be the motivation in times of political crises, wars, migrant pressure and an unclear future to dream of a unified European university for film and media? An educated and cultured nation is much more difficult to manipulate and more resilient to the challenges of today, Prof. Elena Trencheva, Deputy Rector of the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts "Krustyo Sarafov" in Sofia says. 

Last week, Professor Trencheva with her colleagues and like-minded people from other European countries officially presented FilmEU in Sofia – the European Universities Alliance for Film and Media Arts.

FilmEU has the ambition to be the most significant and transformative initiative for higher education in this field, created so far. It is co-financed by the EU under the Erasmus program and has been implemented in two main stages. The first phase was launched in 2020 by four universities – Universidade Lusófona in Portugal, which still coordinates the project, LUCA School of Arts – Belgium, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) in Ireland and the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava – Slovakia (VŠMU). In 2024, at the proposal of the EC, aimed at deepening integration and expanding the scope of activities in the field, and after a special selection, four more higher education institutions were included in the initiative – Tallinn University in Estonia (TLU), The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Lithuania (LMTA), VIA University College in Denmark and the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts "Krustyo Sarafov" (NATFA) in Bulgaria.

"The first and most important thing is that FilmEU is not a project, but a program, which implies a long-term and full commitment, by which I mean that what we started together in 2024 will continue to happen in the future. I think this will have a positive impact on all eight partners and in the foreseeable future we will witness how small and larger film schools across Europe will become increasingly important and significant institutions, with an increasingly greater role in the creativity of European cinema and arts. The other very important role of FilmEU will be in modernizing and changing teaching in the various cinema programs and starting this year we are also opening our first international BA in film called Pathfinder," Prof. Manuel José Damásio, FilmEU Coordinator and Head of the Film and Media Arts Dept at Lusófona University (Portugal), said.

The alliance currently unites more than 5,000 students and strives to strengthen Europe's position on the international film scene. We have a vision for the development of European education and we are working in this direction, the project manager for Bulgaria, Prof. Elena Trencheva, says.

"In fact, unification really comes as help. Our only chance as small European institutions to be able to cope with the world and the dynamics of today's life is to join forces in sharing resources. Not just infrastructure, but labor, knowledge, future scientific research, artistic practices, and others."

One of the great achievements that the alliance has achieved in less than a year is precisely the creation of the joint international bachelor's program in film art Pathfinder, which will combine the best of the hybrid education model - face-to-face and online. Its implementation will begin in the new academic year in September 2025. Its duration is three years with the main working language being English, and the first announced admission is for 24 students from all over the world. They will have the opportunity to acquire knowledge in conditions of mobility and a multicultural environment and educational methods.

In the period June 3 to June 6 this year, NATFA in Sofia will also host the major FilmEU conference – Summit 2025. This year's topic – "CommUnity" will highlight the power of cooperation, shared values ​​and collective development in European cinema and media. More than 180 students, teachers, researchers and professionals from the film industry, both from the alliance and outside it, are expected to attend. The WIRE2025 (Widening Innovation + Research Excellence) conference will also be held in the framework of the forum. This is an ambitious project to promote innovative research by FilmEU, funded by the Horizon Europe program.

"The key to WIRE in Sofia is that we will hold a major exhibition related to the so-called Artistic Research – an interdisciplinary approach that has been talked about for 15 years, which we are also trying to popularize in research circles in Bulgaria. Instead of using traditional scientific methods, Artistic Research relies on creative processes, experiments and critical thinking to generate innovations in art, design, music, cinema and other creative fields."

Future plans include organizing the FilmEU Summit Film festival and building a student campus.

During the presentation of FilmEU in Bulgaria the excitement was about what the eight educational institutions will gain from their unification, but we asked Prof. Elena Trencheva what Bulgaria will give to the alliance?

"The interesting thing is that we can still give our creativity. We may not be extremely developed in terms of technology, but ultimately our team is made up of people who are very actively working in the field of cinema and media and still have enough creative potential, which, unfortunately, is already starting to be lacking in some places in Europe."

Publication in English: Al. Markov

Photos: Pexels, natfiz.bg, Universidade Lusófona, wire.filmeu.eu