The Lifelong learning master's degree in Creative Documentary is an international benchmark for its quality, its innovative character, its creative freedom and, above all, for its great ability to train new professionals. In its more than 10 courses of this internationally-focused program, more than 33 documentary films have been produced that have participated in the main national and international festivals.
The Lifelong learning master's degree in Creative Documentary provides a solid preparation, both theoretical and practical, on documentary making and production. It is an international benchmark for its quality, its innovative character, for creative freedom and, above all, for its great ability to train new professionals. Since its inception in 1998, the program has more than demonstrated its ability to transform its students' ideas into film.
The lifelong learning program prepares and trains young documentary makers and broadens the perspectives of professionals. It is based on a multifaceted vision of contemporary documentary, guaranteed by the personality and creative and professional experience of teachers and tutors and contrasted with experts from different countries. At the end of the course, each student will have collaborated in the development or production process of a documentary feature film and will have worked on their own project that has been positively evaluated by producers and broadcasters in the European audiovisual scene.
Directors such as Neus Ballús, Tatiana Huezo, Isaki Lacuesta and Mercedes Álvarez, among many others, attended this program. In the 13 editions held so far, more than 35 documentary films have been produced and have participated in major national and international festivals (Cannes, Berlinale, Locarno Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Visions du Réel, Seville European Film Festival, D'A, among others).
The program provides knowledge of the different phases of development, production, and post-production of a documentary. It also connects participants with the audiovisual industry through a variety of national and international agents.
The Lifelong learning master's degree in Creative Documentary is endorsed by Pompeu Fabra University, the 1st Spanish university and the 15th best university in the world (of those with less than 50 years), according to the Times Higher Education ranking. In addition, UPF Barcelona School of Management has EQUIS accreditation, the most prestigious institutional recognition for business schools globally.
Why choose this program
Creating a school
The master has contributed to developing a distinctive cinematographic movement that is represented by former students such as Mercedes Álvarez, Neus Ballús, Renate Costa, Diego Dussuel, Tatiana Guezo, Núria Esquerra, Isaki Lacuesta, Victor Moreno, Lois Patiño, Lupe Pérez, Pilar Monsell and Amanda Villavieja.
33 Supported Films
The Master's program supports three films in each edition, which have had an extraordinary international impact and have placed documentary filmmaking at the forefront of cinematic renewal. You can check the document on these 33 completed films and those still in progress. As a whole, this document presents an exemplary collection of some of the major milestones in 21st-century documentary cinema.
Prestigious Director
The master is directed by Jordi Balló, 2005 National Culture Award winner in the film category, professor at UPF since 1993, visiting professor at Stanford University (California) and a key figure in the international panorama of contemporary documentary.
Work with renowned documentary makers
In previous courses, filmmakers of the stature of José Luis Guerin, Claire Simone, Victor Kossakovsky, Audrius Stonys, Sergei Dvortsevoy, Nicolas Philibert, Avi Mograbi, Claude Lanzman, Marcel Lozinski, Frederick Wiseman, or Óliver Laxe, among others, have given classes.
Help your project happen
The program gives you the tools to make your documentary project a reality. It supports you from the idea to the elaboration of a dossier and a teaser that will allow you to present your project to a producer, a forum or an international agent.
Building a community. Connections network.
The Master creates a community of filmmakers and audiovisual agents that allows for sharing the process of creating a documentary.
Who is it for?
The Master in Creative Documentary is aimed at audiovisual media professionals and Graduates in Audiovisual Communication and Communication Sciences or from other disciplines interested in training as project promoters, filmmakers, or producers.
Curriculum
The Lifelong learning master's degree in Creative Documentary is structured into 3 subjects and a documentary project that is developed throughout Subjects I and II. The program ends with participation in the initiative projects of the Master.
Subject I: Narrative, aesthetics, history, and perspectives of the documentary
Film analysis. This subject will delve into the historical origins, forms, and genres of documentary cinema, its most prominent representatives, and their narrative and technical contributions, via a journey through the different styles or schools (direct cinema, cine verité, Kinoks, film-diary, participatory cinema, etc.), dedicating a part of the study to the history of documentary cinema in Spain. At the same time, film analyses will be carried out from the production point of view. Professionals in the audiovisual medium will show a selection of the works that they consider representative of the different trends in contemporary creation. New formats, new forms, and production strategies will be addressed.
Dedicated to specific problems of cinematographic staging. A filmmaker will work for a week with the students around a dramatic situation in their own creative universe, a practical exercise from which the problems posed by the filmic device in question will be addressed.
Documentary photography, school of the gaze. Historical tour through the main schools of documentary photography and their most relevant authors. An analysis that proposes recognizing in the gaze and the photographic method the gestures that constitute the various cinematographic representations of reality.
The documentary image today. Different perspectives (legal, journalistic, ethical, artistic, etc.) on the use of the image in the society of mass communication and its artistic possibilities. The sessions will approach the making and production from questions that arise in the framework of the law on intellectual property, image rights, and professional ethics.
Sound in creative documentary. Sound as a relevant element in the making of the documentary. Reflections on sound design as creative potential and analysis of sound staging strategies at different moments in the history of documentaries, especially in current lines of work.
Film construction through montage. The montage as a backbone of the narrative structure, the construction of characters, film time, etc. Review of the main theories of montage and influence of technological progress on cinematographic language.
Filmmakers of recognized international prestige present their point of view on the documentary gaze based on their own creation and the works that have influenced them. The documentary practice that unites them inscribes the cinema of reality in a field where documentary and fiction converge. Through the experiences that underlie each of their works, the main aesthetic lines of documentary production are reconstructed.
Seminar oriented to the design of production and the search and management of sources of financing and aid. Analysis of production needs (timing, budget, production plan, financing plan, etc.). Project presentation and sale strategies.
Subject II: Personal project development
Analysis of the different ways of explaining the documentary project. The students' projects will be worked on to find in each case the writing of the dossier (synopsis, treatments, description of characters, production plans, etc.) and the most appropriate forms of communication.
From the idea to the narrative development of the project. The tutorials are intended to shape the initial idea of each student's project. Aspects referring to the narrative structure, the temporal construction, the treatment of the characters, the formal proposal, the documentation work, etc. will be dealt with.
Organized into tutorials, individual monitoring, group sessions, individual documentation work, etc.
Pitching and project evaluation. Students will have the opportunity to present their projects to a group of television producers and programmers who will comment on the formal aspects and their viability. Some sessions will be dedicated to preparing the pitch.
Design and production strategies. Analysis of the production needs of personal projects. The aspects that determine decisions prior to the development of the script and the production process will be addressed: format, budgets, financing plan, and sales strategies. In a final phase, the possibilities of organizing pre-production, production, and post-production will be discussed.
Subject III: Participation in the initiative projects of the Master in Creative Documentary
Documentation needs and all those elements that deal with the discussion and script writing will be raised. As the project evolves, the assessment process on the viability of the documentary, the project financing strategy, and the preparation of the work plan will be looked at.
In this period, the filming of each of the documentary films will take place. Depending on the needs of the project itself and the profile of the students, they will assume different functions that have been assigned to them in the areas of production, documentation/script or filming.
In this block, the viewing and selection process of the images shot, editing and sound editing will be undertaken. At the same time, the tasks of presentation, distribution and exhibition will be carried out, as well as the monitoring of the commercialization and dissemination of the film.
Note on the Curriculum
Complementary activities
The Master in Creative Documentary also includes the possibility of participating in practical activities and activities for personal and professional growth such as:
- Subject I aims for students to deepen their theoretical and aesthetic knowledge from documentary tradition to contemporary documentary creation, the contributions of documentary photography, documentary practice, and production and exhibition processes.
- Subject II covers the entire development process of each student's project in the master, working in parallel with Subject I (theoretical) and the progress of the Subject III projects. The work of the Master in Creative Documentary is oriented towards the evolution of each student's personal projects until the moment they are ready for filming. If filmed, the credits of the pieces produced must state that they have been developed within the framework of the Master in Creative Documentary. The development of personal projects will take place from January 2022 to February-June 2023 (date of pitch). The schedule for the tutorials will be set personally between the students and the project tutors.
- In Subject III the student will be able to participate in the development of three documentary projects in collaboration with three independent production companies. After the initial period of work with the director, there will be the possibility, depending on the nature of each project and the profile of each student, of joining any of the production phases. This subject will take place from February-June 2023 (date of pitch) until January 2024. The calendar and working hours of each of the projects will depend on the calendar established by the production company itself and the professionals linked to the film. The projects respond to the reality of the film industry, and so the calendar cannot be planned in advance.
- UPF-BSM Inside: is a group of interdisciplinary subjects (applied data, communication, creativity, innovation and project management, sustainability and leadership among others) that, if you take this program, you can access at no additional cost. They are 100% online and you can take them throughout the academic year at your own pace, as they have been designed as self-study subjects.
- LABED Program: After the Master in Creative Documentary you can access the Laboratory of Editorial Accompaniment of Creative Documentaries (LABED) where you will receive a 3,000 to 6,000 euros fund, and will be supported by tutors who will help you access the international market in better terms.
- Festivals Access: The Master helps with accreditation for festivals and documentary filmmaking-related events, both national and international. The Master's community is organised to attend documentary film events.
Qualification obtained
Once you have passed the program, you will receive the following electronic degree certification (eTítulo©): Lifelong learning master's degree in Creative Documentary, awarded by Pompeu Fabra University. The eTítulo© will be issued in Catalan, Spanish and English.
The electronic degree certification (eTítulo© ) is an authentic digital degree, issued in pdf format and electronically signed, with the same legal validity as if it were in paper format.
Faculty
The Master in Creative Documentary is led by filmmaker Eva Vila and has a faculty composed of a team of world-class professionals and filmmakers. The founder of the program, Jordi Balló, remains involved as a promoter of the documentary projects.
Academic directors
Collaborating faculty
- Mercedes Álvarez Lamata
Director and screenwriter for documentary film.
Master in Creative Documentary from Pompeu Fabra University.
She directed films El Cielo gira and Mercado de Futuros, for which she won numerous awards in different international film festivals. - Jordi Ambros Hortensi
Director and co-producer of TV3 documentaries.
He also produced La Plaga (2012), Garbo: El espía (2009) and Món petit (2012). - Luciano Barisone
Journalist and film critic. Director of the Festival Visions du Réel de Nyon.
He was also a member of the jury at different festivals such as the Cannes International Film Festival, Fid Marsella, Bacifi, DocLisboa, Punto de Vista, DocAviv. - Marie-Pierre Duhamel
Translator and programmer. She is also a producer, film programmer, critic, and lecturer. She directed the Cinéma du Réel Film Festival, organized by the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and was member of the jury at several different film festivals (Venecia, Lussas, DocLisboa, DocumentaMadrid, etc). - Joan Fontcuberta Villa
Photographer, teacher, essayist and photography historian.
Bachelor in Information Sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Lecturer of Audiovisual Communication Studies at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and Harvard University in Cambridge (Massachusetts). Author of internationally renowned photography series such as Fauna, Sputnik, Constel·lacions, and the more recent Securitas. - Pere Freixa
PhD in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona.
Senior lecturer at the Department of Communication of Pompeu Fabra University.
He has also participated in, coordinated and directed different courses in digital imagery and photography. As a researcher, he is member of Digidoc, Research Group for Digital Documentation and Interactive Communication at Pompeu Fabra University. - Thierry Garrel
Actor, co-producer and director. He currently gives seminars on the subject of documentaries.
He was also former director of documentaries on TV Arte and has contributed to the production of some of the most outstanding recent Spanish documentaries such as Gaudí (1988), Innisfree (1989), Granados y Delgado, un crimen legal (1996) and En construcción (2001). - José Luis Guerin
Filmmaker.
He has directed films such as Innisfree (1990), Tren de sombras (1997), En construcción (2001, Goya Award for the best documentary feature film), En la ciudad de Sylvia and La Academia de las Musas (2015). - J. Carles Guerra Rojas
Artist, art critic and freelance curator.
PhD in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona.
Adjunct lecturer at the Department of Communication of Pompeu Fabra University.
Former director of the Virreina Image Centre (2009-2011) and Curator at the Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona MACBA (2011-2013). He was also member of the Greenroom Project, involving the analysis of contemporary documentary practices at the Center for Curatorial Studies of Bard College, New York. - Carlos F. Heredero
Journalist and film critic. Director of the magazine Caimán Cuadernos de Cine.
Formerly head critic of Diario 16 (1988-2001), member of the Editorial Board of magazines Cinema 2002 (1976/1980) and Viridiana (1992/1997), and regular contributor to the magazine Dirigido por (1986-2007). Author of numerous essays, historical studies and monographies on different authors (Sam Peckinpah,John Huston, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Eric Rohmer, José Luis Borau, John Cassavetes, Iván Zulueta, Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, Pedro Beltrán, Montxo Armendáriz, Wong Kar-Kai, Aki Kaurismäki, etc.). - Sonia Hermán Dolz
Director and scriptwriter.
Her works have had considerable international film and television projection, and have won numerous awards. Among the most significant are Yo soy así, Lágrimas negras, and The Master and his pupil. She founded production company HastenSlowlyFilms in Rotterdam. - Andrés Hispano
Film and television director and scriptwriter, historian and film critic.
Bachelor in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona.
Lecturer at the Department of Communication of Pompeu Fabra University.
He has also published several books on film. He has written and directed experimental film programs for Canal Plus and numerous programs about films, music, and video clips for BTV. - Ricardo Iscar Alvarez
Documentary film maker and teacher.
He was also on the Jury at several festivals (documentary in Malaga, newcomers in Nyón, short animation in Dresdén, L'Alternativa in Barcelona). He has coordinated different production workshops in Barcelona and Atlantidoc (Uruguay). His extensive filmography has gained him distinctions at festivals such as Berlín, BAFICI, Malaga and Kiev. He has also worked in Photography, Sound and Montage for films by other directors. Highlights of his career include documentaries A la orilla del río, Badu. Historias del desierto del Negev, La Punta del Moral, El Cerco y Tierra Negra and El Foso. - Victor Kossakovsky
Director of documentary film.
He has directed 10 films that have won more than 100 awards: Losev, The other day, The Belovs, Wednesday, Pavel and Lyalya, I loved you…, Tishe!, Svyato, Vivan las Antípodas! and Demonstration, an initiative of the Master in Creative Documentary. - Isaki Lacuesta
Director and scriptwriter.
Master in Creative Documentary from Pompeu Fabra University.
Adjunct lecturer at the Department of Communication of Pompeu Fabra University.
Among others, he has directed Murieron por encima de sus posibilidades, Los Pasos Dobles, La Leyenda del Tiempo, Condenados and Cravan vs Cravan, winners in film festivals such as Sitges and San Sebastián. In 2012 he was won the National Film Award of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government). - Margarita Ledo Andion
Journalist, and writer in the Galician language.
Professor of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising at the Faculty of Information Sciences of the University of Santiago de Compostela. - Aví Mograbi
Director of documentaries and video artist.
Committed to political, cultural and social justice in the Middle East, among others he directed Once I Entered a Garden, Mrs. Goldstein, Will you please stop bothering me and my family, Happy Birthday, Mr. Mograbi, Happy Birthday and Deportation. - Carlos Muguiro
Director and scriptwriter.
Lecturer at the Department of Audiovisual Culture and Communication of the University of Navarra.
He has a long background in the study of documentary filmmaking, and was involved in cultural programming in festivals as well as professional practice.
This includes editing books on Japanese documentary, Soviet documentaries, and on filmmakers such as Alan Berliner and Ermano Olmi, as well as collaboration in collective books and magazines. - Oscar Pérez Ramírez
Director and producer at Getsemaní Produccions.
Bachelor in Film Practice from the London College of Communication (United Kingdom).
He was also part of the jury at documentary film festivals IDFA (Amsterdam), DocLisboa (Portugal) and MFF (Bosnia). His productions include Salve Melilla and El Madrid, El Sastre, If the Camera blows up and Hollywood Talkies, co-directed with Mia Ribot. - Nicholas Philibert
Director of documentaries.
His most well-known works include La ville Louvre, Le pays des sourds, Un animal, des animaux, La moindre des choses and Être et avoir, which was a great box-office success. - Paco Poch
Member of the Catalan Film Academy, producer and distributor.
PhD in Social Communication from Pompeu Fabra University.
Lecturer of Audiovisual Communication Studies at Pompeu Fabra University.
He also produced two essential documentary films in Catalan film, Gaudí (1988) by Manuel Huerga and Innisfree, by José Luis Guerín. Director of production company Mallerich Audiovisuals. He produced El caso Pinochet (2001), by Patricio Guzmán, Buenaventura Durruti, anarquista, by Jean-Louis Comolli, and Cravan vs Cravan, by Isaki Lacuesta. As a distributor, he introduced film makers such as Béla Tarr, Pedro Costa, Mia Hannsen-Love (Le père de mes enfants) and Bruno Dumont (Camille Claudel). - Angel Quintana Morraja
Film critic.
PhD in Communication Sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Lecturer in History and Film Theory at the University of Girona. - Luciano Giovanni Rigolini
Photographer, director and producer.
He has formed part of the Art Documentaries Unit production team since 1996 from where he directs La Lucarne, one of the most active and relevant creative documentary programs in Europe. He has produced works by filmmakers such as Alexander Sokurov, Sergei Dvortsevoy, Naomi Kawase and Chantal Akerman. - Tue Steen Muller
Independent international consultant for documentary film.
He also worked for the Danish Film Board for over 20 years as head of distribution and commissioning editor for documentaries. He was director of the EDN, European Documentary Network for 10 years. - Andrius Stonys
Independent filmmaker and producer. - Frederick Wiseman
Director of documentaries and theatre.
His films are investigations into the exercise of power in American society, through filming the dark side of its institutions. He is author of many renowned documentaries including Titicut Follies (1967), High School (1968), Law and Order (1969), Welfare (1975), Model (1980) and Public Housing (1997).
Methodology
The teaching and learning methodology in the Master in Creative Documentary combines theory with practice. The student's own documentary project will be developed and presented in a pitch organized by the master.
Combination of theory and practice
The sessions combine theoretical knowledge and practical application, which allows you to see in depth the challenges that documentary professionals encounter on a daily basis.
Connection with professional reality
The program has had a great impact on the sector: 73 projects by students on the master have ended up being made, together with 33 films by established and new directors promoted by the master. All of them have been awarded at the best international festivals (Cannes, Locarno, IDFA, FID, among others).
Real internships
Students participate directly on the conception and realization of documentaries by filmmakers and/or novices, while they are developing their own project in parallel. There is no simulation, they are works of great impact in the real world and can change things. This transmission model has been a reference for other universities and training and creation centres around the world.
Evaluation
Presentation of the developed written project, with an audiovisual teaser and a production plan, in a final pitch in front of a panel made up of professionals from the sector.
A theoretical work, which relates the seminar of Module 1 'Tour of the cinema of reality' with reflection on the staging of each project.
Tools
Project-oriented learning and the combination of lectures and active methodologies such as case studies, flipped learning, solving real problems and professional simulations allow the student to connect theory and practice, acquire advanced skills and achieve learning which is transferable to work.
You will have:
- Master's Final Project or Postgraduate Final Project
- A personal mentor to monitor your final project
- Digital resources to achieve transversal skills
- Interdisciplinary activities and workshops
Professional Future
On the Master in Creative Documentary you will share a classroom with national and international students and you will learn to examine new models of production, current and real. You will also undertake your own documentary project in collaboration with producers and broadcasters of the European audiovisual scene. You will be able to participate in the development and production of a documentary feature film and create your own documentary at the end of the master.
Student profile
You will share a classroom with students from different national and international origins, which will allow you to grow not only academically, but also culturally and personally. Our students come from various academic backgrounds and professions. This contributes to creating a multidisciplinary and collaborative spirit, enriching for all.
Average age
International students
Previous studies in Audiovisual Communication
Previous studies in Journalism
Previous studies in Psychology
Career opportunities
At the end of the master, thanks to the training received and participation in real projects, students will be able to join different positions in the cinema and audiovisual sector, with a special focus on the field of the documentary genre.
- Project Producer
- Audiovisual editing
- Production
- Director of photography
- Director's Assistant
- Cultural Management
- Film management
- Director
- Scriptwriter
- Sound recordist