The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, officially the S. A. Gerasimov All-Russian University of Cinematography (Russian: Всероссийский государственный институт кинематографии имени С. А. Герасимова, romanized: Vserossiyskiy gosudarstvyennyy institut kinematografii imyeni S. A. Gerasimova), a.k.a. VGIK, is a film school in Moscow, Russia, widely regarded as the first and oldest film school in the world.
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History
The institute was founded in 1919 by the film director Vladimir Gardin as the Moscow Film School and is the first and oldest film school in the world. From 1934 to 1991 the film school was known as the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (Russian: Всесоюзный государственный институт кинематографии).
Film directors taught at the institute include Lev Kuleshov, Marlen Khutsiev, Aleksey Batalov, Sergei Eisenstein, Mikhail Romm and Vsevolod Pudovkin.
Since 1986, the school has been named after the film director and actor Sergei Gerasimov.
The founding of the institute was authorized by Lenin in 1919. Its work in the early years was hampered by a shortage of film stock. It has a history as one of the oldest film schools in existence; many film directors have taught at the institute. During the period of the Soviet Union it was a requirement of the state to attend VGIK to be allowed to direct a film. More recently, its alumni were drawn both from the USSR (Soviet Union) and from other socialist and other countries, though it was a requirement for students to first learn Russian prior to attending. It is among the few film schools which offer scriptwriting courses.
Notable alumni
Notable alumni include:
Faculty
In 2015–2016, the Institute featured the following faculties: