Yle will film a documentary series on studying at the Theatre Academy
This autumn, the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle will film a documentary series about the everyday lives of Theatre Academy students, providing a glimpse into teaching in the performing arts.
The series will follow acting and dance students, for example, as well as classes for joint studies that have students from various programmes. The featured content has been selected based on which degree programmes offer courses suited for Yle’s filming during this autumn term. The suitable courses were mapped out together with the degree programmes in spring 2023.
Yle has had more specific negotiations with the teachers-in-charge and students of the courses, and it will sign separate filming contracts with all the persons featured in the series.
The first day of shooting will be 7 September. There will be about 30 days of shooting in total during the autumn term at the Theatre Academy. The days of shooting will be announced in advance in the campus newsletters, which are sent out every other Monday, as well as in this regularly updated news article.
On some days, filming may take place in common areas of the Theatre Academy, such as at Tori, in the cafeteria and on upper-floor hallways. The aim is to have the filming cause as little inconvenience as possible to other students and staff members.
Chance to shed light on studying the arts
The documentary series was initiated by Yle. The executive group of the Theatre Academy had a positive view on Yle’s idea, because the series was regarded as an opportunity to expand the general public’s image of what studying at the Theatre Academy is like.
“The documentary series gives us a chance to give the public a better understanding of what today’s arts teaching is like. Hopefully, we will also get to dismantle some of the old perceptions as well as the certain mystique surrounding the field, which may sometimes even prevent people from as diverse backgrounds as possible from applying here as students,” Vice Dean for Teaching Ville Sandqvist from the Theatre Academy says.
For the Theatre Academy, it has been an essential condition before agreeing to the series that the filming will not disturb core activities or jeopardise the safe learning environment of students. That is why the teachers-in-charge of the courses have had a say in whether filming teaching situations is possible or to what extent it is possible.
The series will air on Yle Areena and Yle Teema in 2024. The number of episodes in the series will be determined later in the autumn.