SRFTI Kolkata will offer India's first UG, PhD degrees in film making

In April, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) became a deemed-to-be-university. Sukanta Majumdar, its dean-incharge and head of sound recording and design, spoke to Sheena Sachdeva about the changes the new status will bring – degree courses will replace diplomas and intake and faculty sizes will increase. He also spoke of the new placement cell, opening of its branch campus, FTI Arunachal Pradesh, and more. Edited excerpts from the conversation:

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Q. How long did it take to receive the deemed-to-be-university status?

A. The application process began about two years ago, when we applied to the University Grants Commission (UGC). Then, the UGC got back to us, saying that they would visit the campus to assess our infrastructure and gain a better understanding of our plan.

They checked the courses we offered and how we will adopt the National Education Policy. They formed a committee with the vice-chancellors from universities who visited our campus eventually.

Q. What changes now?

A. The deemed-to-be-university status will change a lot. This will lead to undergraduate and PhD degrees in filmmaking - the first in India.

Earlier, we could not offer undergraduate or any degree, just PG diploma courses. Now we will be providing degree courses. For UG courses, students can apply after Class 12. A PhD in filmmaking will be a very new concept in India, particularly, practice-based PhDs. Earlier, people had to go outside.

Film studies is a unique way of learning because it's production-based learning. No other stream of education has this kind of system. In filmmaking, it is essential to do collaborative learning; students make films together.

The challenge is to adapt this structure into a credit-based system.

We have submitted a structure to the UGC and they have agreed. However, the implication and adoption of this structure will have to be seen because the credit-based system has a lot of flexibility. Students will be mainly credit collectors - they will collect credits from different disciplines or even another university. Further, there will be an early-exit and entry facility as well.

The integration of the credit system into the collaborative structure together will change a lot. I hope that we will be successful in this, as this will be very unique for film schools.