The dream of a career in film making will be more accessible and real, starting February 2008, thanks to the arrival of the New York Film Academy (NYFA) in Abu Dhabi.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and NYFA in July 2007 providing a platform to establish an acclaimed school that will be devouted to develop the film industry in the UAE and the region.

NYFA is a unique educational facility, committed to providing the most focused filmmaking, acting, and animation instruction in the world. New York Film Academy Abu Dhabi (NYFA-AD) will play a key role in the burgeoning renaissance of film and culture that the Middle East is currently witnessing.

Its vision is to develop the regional film industry and make this creative art accessible to anyone with the drive and ambition for filmmaking, said an official spokesman.

Filmmaking demands the integration of many kinds of knowledge. It is this integration which distinguishes NYFA-AD from other film schools in the region. In courses, students learn not only how to operate a camera, light a scene, or edit a film, but they also learn how all the aspects of filmmaking relate to, interact with and depend upon each other.

Each student writes, produces, directs, and edits each film, then screens it and engages in constructive discussion and critique. The student applies the experience gained through this process to the next project, and the cycle of learning continues.

The academy maintains an unparalleled faculty and one of the largest film school equipment inventories in the world. Class sizes are limited, strengthening individual attention and interaction between students and instructors.

Well known personalities from the film fraternity such as Jon Voight, Kevin Kline, Gabriel Byrne and Dennis Hopper are invited regularly as guest speakers to share with students their industry experiences. The Abu Dhabi branch will mirror these entrenched values and offerings, and be the only year-round NYFA campus outside of the US and UK.

Specialised programmes at NYFA-AD will range from one and two years to four, six, and eight weeks in its first operational year, with the flexibility of a twelve week evening module aimed at working professionals.

Fully accredited Bachelors and Masters Degrees which are considered to be the most advanced of their kind, will be made available at the beginning of NYFA-AD’s second academic year. All short and long-term programs are considered college credits and will be accredited by over 1,500 colleges and universities across the USA, with accreditation being planned for the region.

Courses on offer at NYFA-AD include filmmaking, acting for film, screenwriting, 3D animation, producing, and digital editing. Each program is highly concentrated and targeted, wherein enrolled students will receive vast training and experience that will provide an excellent head start to their careers. 

“Our nation’s founding father, the late Shaikh Zayed, created a huge momentum in educating and developing our country… Naturally, we want to maintain the momentum by investing in our future generations to provide them with the skills they need to promote the culture,” said chairman of ADACH Shaikh Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan.

Founded in 1992 in Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Film Centre, NYFA now has schools in locations across the globe ranging from London, Paris, Florence, Milan, and Budapest to Shanghai and Seoul.

NYFA is a favorite among many Hollywood filmmakers and stars including Steven Spielberg, Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon,,F. Murray Abraham, Luc Besson and Peter Bogdanovich, whose children and siblings have all studied at the academy.

The Abu Dhabi academy will be located at Muroor Street, (next to Abu Dhabi TV).  – TradeArabia News Service