School of Art and Communication

For more than 90 years, the School of the Arts & Communication (SAC) of Beijing Normal University (BNU) has drawn on the vast resources of China’s capital Beijing and BNU to create an extraordinary training ground for the individual artist and scholar of the arts. Our undergraduates learn their skills and sharp their mind in a spirited, dynamic changing environment that combines the professional training of a conservatory with the liberal arts education of a major research university. The School has established the first Ph.D. level graduate program of filmology for this country. SAC covers all subject area of arts and communication recognized by Ministry of Education in China.

As one of the nation's leading centers of undergraduate and graduate study in the cinematic, performing and fine arts, our school offers programs of study that incorporate state-of-the-art facilities; a collaboratively oriented community of award-winning faculty members; internship opportunities with established professionals; and the incomparable artistic and cultural resources of Beijing city. Whether you study at the Department of Film and Television, Music, Dance and Performing Arts, Fine Arts, Chinese Calligraphy, Art Design, Dramatic Writing, Art Theory, or Institute of Digital Media, you will be encouraged to give full expression to your talents as you develop the skills necessary for a successful professional career. As a BNU Art student, you have the opportunity and the privilege to follow in the footsteps of such illustrious alumni as Xiao You mei, Li Bao chen, He Lu ting, Hong shen, Lao Zhi cheng, Jiao Ju yin, Wei Tian lin, Wu Guan zhong, Zhang Xiao hu, Jiang Feng zhi, Qi Gong- men and women who have once taught or studied here and admirably succeeded in redefining the performing and fine arts.

The School has formed a complete training system which offers BA, MA, MFA and PhD degrees; it provides postdoctoral research platform for advanced studies; it attracts many international students to learn Asian arts and culture, modern China, and media technologies. Evening school and part-time students can continue their professional training and earn their advanced degrees.

Our school has set up exchange programs with many renowned universities around the world. We invite you to spend a semester or academic years in one of the most dynamic, culturally diverse city in the world. Our school is dedicated to fostering global understanding and goodwill by providing special programs and training courses, you can also apply degree programs at different level.

Beijing Student Film Festival (BSFF)

The BNU School of the Arts & Communication is the host of the Beijing Student Film Festival (BSFF), an annual film festival held simultaneously in several key cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Nanjing. The festival holds in April or May and will showcase films produced by major Chinese studios and student shorts from more than 200 universities. It includes several workshops for participants, special screenings, awards ceremony, and presentations by prominent figures in the film industry.

The first and only festival of its kind in China, the BSFF has the potential to be the most influential, ground breaking student film festival in Asian. When the BSFF began in May 1993, it was the first forum in China featuring the best domestic films. This pioneering event laid the groundwork for the BSFF to become an essential part of the School of the Arts and Communication's programming.

Building upon its successful debut, the 14th festival was held in May 2007 with a revised and expanded format. Nearly 200 schools were invited with more than 3 million students attending. The festival was expanded to include competitions with jury awarding prize money from different resources (including MPAA), to the top student animation, DV films and Cellphone shorts. A program of lecturers, seminars and workshops, featuring foreign and Chinese faculty and student works, was also added. Still the only student film festival in China, the BSFF has become a celebration of individual vision and creativity while encouraging pan-national discourse and cultural exchange.