About
To impart quality education and training in all aspects of film and television production, acting and direction, and to advance the art and craft of cinema in India.
Government film school in Pune on the Prabhat Film Company campus since 1960. Deemed university. Alumni form the core of Indian art cinema's most significant achievements. The most competitive film direction course in Asia.
FTII was established in 1960 on the campus of the Prabhat Film Company, a studio whose productions including Sant Tukaram (1936) were among the finest of early Indian cinema. The first decade produced the filmmakers who would define Indian art cinema: Mani Kaul (Uski Roti, 1969), Kumar Shahani (Maya Darpan, 1972) and Adoor Gopalakrishnan (Swayamvaram, 1972). The acting department produced Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, a generation whose work is inseparable from the history of Indian performance.
FTII has periodically been at the centre of debate about the independence of public cultural institutions from government influence. A 2015 student protest over the appointment of a governing council member brought these questions to national attention.
Founding & Leadership
Initiatives & Portfolio
The flagship course. The most competitive and prestigious film direction programme in Asia.
Training in film and electronic cinematography. FTII cinematographers have shot some of the most visually significant Indian films.
The acting programme produced Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and Nawazuddin Siddiqui among others.
Specialist training in post-production disciplines.
FTII's alumni constitute a significant portion of any serious account of Indian cinema's artistic achievements. Films that have represented India at Cannes, Venice and Berlin, that have won international awards and built India's reputation as a serious film culture, have been directed, photographed and acted by FTII graduates.
[Atlas Perspective] FTII is one of the most genuinely important cultural institutions in India and one of the most underappreciated in public recognition. The global reputation of Indian cinema, particularly its art cinema tradition, rests significantly on the training FTII has provided.
The institution's public funding model reflects a correct understanding of its role: a national film school produces cultural and creative benefits that a purely commercial training market cannot provide. The government's continued funding of FTII is itself a form of cultural philanthropy that Culture Atlas notes with approval. The institution connects on the Atlas graph to the NFAI (co-located in Pune) and to the Pune destination profile.