Tucked away in scenic Vancouver, the University of British Columbia may be the only institution in Canada that offers a nude beach. Until Ryerson’s venture into communications and culture this September, it was also the only place in Canada where students could explore graduate studies in film.

The department of theatre, film and creative writing is the academic backdrop for the programs in film offered at ubc. The undergraduate course in film arts includes two-years of general arts studies, followed by two years learning specifically about film.

According to Ron Fedoruk, head of the department of theatre, film and creative writing at ubc, the undergraduate program ‘requires people to be producing. And it allows [students] to start building teams of people so they start hiring each other when they graduate. The delivery method is very much practical and workshop-based.’

Fedoruk also takes advantage of the two other disciplines taught within his department. The theatre and creative writing programs offer actors and writers to the film students’ productions; conversely, film students offer production and opportunity for the writing and acting programs.

‘In the undergraduates, we try and encourage a cross-pollination,’ Fedoruk explains.

The masters programs offer two streams for students looking to pursue post-graduate work in film. The masters of arts in film is a theory-based course that concentrates on the academic study of the cinema. The master of fine arts in film offers a more hands-on, production-based course of study.

Within the masters programs, specialization is required from the get-go. ‘Most people take between two and three years to finish it,’ says Fedoruk.

The mfa allows students to use a production as their thesis while the ma looks for the more traditional ‘paper’ thesis. For Fedoruk, it is the graduate courses in film at ubc that he’s ‘always considered special.’ Even with Toronto’s Ryerson now offering direct competition in this realm, the ubc program, launched in the late seventies, is well established.

According to Fedoruk, co-op and work placements are not big parts of the programs at ubc. ‘We have tried co-op programs as part of our curriculum. It’s a little bit spotty, because generally the production companies that can afford to have student placements are production companies that are already hiring iatse people. So it has to be worked out through them, and it’s a little bit tricky.’

To make up for this lack of a co-op or work placement program, Fedoruk endeavors to keep good connections between students and working, independent filmmakers.

‘What we try and do is make sure that our students are networked as much as possible with independent filmmakers. And we try and get independent filmmakers into the program as instructors. We have a need for sessional instructors on a fairly regular basis,’ Fedoruk says.

Acclaimed film director Lynne Stopkewich graduated from ubc with an mfa in 1996. She has only praise for the program.

‘For me it was really great because it was a lot of one-on-one individual attention from the faculty. And also, it was a program where you could design your own course work, so you could shore up on those areas of your filmmaking craft and your theory work that you felt you were lacking in,’ Stopkewich explains.

Above all, Stopkewich sees the ‘community of students that it introduced’ her to as the ‘most valuable thing.’ Apparently, the people she met in the school not only continue to work together but became ‘the hub of the indie scene in Vancouver.’ From one class project, Stopkewich says, ‘I think nine or 10 feature film directors emerged.’

Stopkewich, currently a partner in Vancouver’s Boneyard Productions, ended up using her ubc mfa thesis – the feature film Kissed – to launch her career.

‘Basically I took it to a festival and it took off,’ she says of her class project.

Other notable ubc graduates include directors Mina Shum (class of ’89) and Bruce Sweeney (class of ’94), cinematographer Greg Middleton (class of ’89) and producers Stephen Hegyes (class of ’94) and Sharon McGowan (class of ’99). Paul Lawrence (class of ’96), manager of the Banff Film Centre, is also a ubc film grad. Lawrence has accepted a position at Yale University for January 2001. *

-www.ubc.ca