August 25 – September 3, 2025 | 7th Edition
Call for applications: January 15 - April 27, 2025
The VIU Summer School on Films in Venice and Filming Venice is an initiative of Venice International University, in partnership with its member universities Ca' Foscari, Iuav, Tel Aviv, Waseda, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, and Exeter, organized to coincide with the 82nd International Venice Film Festival.
The aim is to combine film analysis, theory and practice, applying them to representations of Venice, through a multidisciplinary and multicultural approach, reflected both in the composition of the faculty and the student body. In one part of the program, students will be introduced to the history, culture and anthropology of Venice and its relation to visual media. They will be offered basic notions of film analysis and film-making theory. The other part will be devoted to film-making practice. Students will be encouraged to develop a team project on Venice, taking inspiration from selected movie scenes and locations, their toponyms and social character, adopting a "complex narrative" when writing the script: a film, which will be screened and collectively discussed and analyzed at the end of the Summer School. Deserving projects will be shown at the Ca' Foscari Short Film Festival in 2026.
Faculty/Scientific Committee
Nitzan Ben-Shaul, Professor of Film and Television, Head of the Digital Media Program, Tel Aviv University
Sally Faulkner, Director of Studies in Modern and Medieval Languages, University of Cambridge
Norimasa Morita, Professor of Film Studies, Waseda University
Maria Roberta Novielli, Professor of History of Cinema, Ca' Foscari University of Venice
Luca Pes, Professor of Italian Contemporary History in Films, Venice International University
Thomas Reinhardt, Professor of Media & Visual Anthropology and Semiotics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
Angela Vettese, Professor of Theory and Criticism of Contemporary Art, Director of the Master in Visual Arts, Iuav University Venice
Trainers
Francesco Bertin, Professional Filmmaker
Level of students and suitable field of study
Graduate and undergraduate students from various disciplines: film studies, film-making, art history, visual art, history, cultural anthropology, sociology; and anyone who would like to learn the basics of film-making in various forms - fiction, docudrama, documentary, visual arts, etc.
Learning outcomes
Developing knowledge of the theoretical and analytical aspects of cinema and on the challenges of visual representation of recognizable places; achieving an understanding of problems entailed with the Venetian setting; acquiring or improving skills in film-making and working in a team; storytelling, also as a complement to written scholarship.
Fees
Students from VIU member universities and VIU Alumni: tbd
Other applicants: tbd
The fees will cover tuition, course materials, lunches in the San Servolo cafeteria (4 working days on campus), a social event, and the 82nd Venice International Film Festival accreditation.
Student participants will be responsible for covering their own travel expenses to and from Venice and local transportation and accommodation. During the Venice Film Festival, San Servolo island is connected by public boat n. 20 to the Film Festival venue.
VIU Alumni are eligible for a reduced fee.
PhD candidates and post-docs from EU universities may be eligible for Erasmus+ mobility grant support. Candidates should consult the International Office in their own university for information about the calls for applications for funding. VIU will provide any supporting documentation requested for such applications.
Contact VIU Erasmus office: erasmus@univiu.org
Number of students:
From a minimum 16 to a maximum of 25.
The full program and information on fees will be published soon.
Applications will open on January 15, 2025.
Register here to receive notification when the program is available:
