Part of IDHEC, FEMIS was created in 1984. It is the National multimedia school of image and sound (accessible after a competitive exam with a baccalaureate diploma +2 years) and provides courses in the technical, artistic and cultural aspect of professions related to the film and audiovisual industry - it is very elitist. It is famous for having trained Arnaud Desplechin, François Ozon... but other famous directors such as Luc Besson or Cédric Klapish, could not get in.
The main course is organized between 7 departments (script, production, direction, image, decor, sound, editing) and accepts around 38 students each year (6 student per department except setting, which accepts just 2). The entrance examination is both national and international: 2 to 4 foreign students are generally admitted by promotion. Duration of studies is four years.
Since 2003, there is a distribution and exhibition sector that accepts 10 students (6 in distribution, 4 in exhibition) for 16 months.
The school occupies the former Pathé studios bought in 1926 by the company Rapid-Films, directed by Mr Natan to be used as a film processing laboratory, and later on as the film sets for advertising clips. In 1929 Natan company merged with Pathé.
Movies shot in these studios were : Les Enfants du paradis directed by Marcel Carné (1944), Les Parents terribles directed by Jean Cocteau (1948), Les Misérables directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois (1958) and L'Amant of Jean-Jacques Annaud (1992). The film sets ceased all activity in the mid-nineties.
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