Toronto-based Ryerson University will hold a four-week course in Havana this summer on documentary filmmaking in Cuba. Up to eight Ryerson students will attend the course, which runs from June 18 to July 13, along with another eight British students from University College London.

Classrooms and workspaces are located within Cuba’s Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión (EICTV) at San Antonio de los Baños, 30 km from Havana.

The course is open to full-time undergraduate and grad students in media or production; its $3,695 cost covers tuition and residency, but not airfare to and from Cuba.

The course is taught in English by Enrique Colina, an EICTV professor with more than 20 years of experience producing documentaries and films. Colina is known locally for hosting the TV program “24 x Segundos” [24 Times a Second] — which covered cinema during the 1970s and 1980s — as well as for his 2003 film “Entre Ciclones” [Between Hurricanes], that was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

This is the third year Ryerson offers the course, said Alexandra Anderson, the school’s chair of image arts.

“It came out of my research and practice as a documentary maker,” she said. “Cuba has a strong tradition of filmmaking, and its technicians are trained in the classical tradition.

“At the same time, making documentaries has been particularly challenging in a country where access to information has come up against a tightly controlled ‘official version’ of reality. Cuban filmmakers have met this challenge with verve and imagination.”

Given that control, students taking the course are offered more leeway than expected in conducting their projects.

“The students work in groups to produce documentaries that offer a window into present-day quotidian reality in Cuba,” said Anderson. The only restriction is that all films must be shot in Old Havana. “Films made on this course have been shown in festivals in the U.K, Canada and the United States.”

No doubt, on-location documentary shoots in Havana are likely to boost anyone’s resumé; they also show prospective employers that the applicant took the initiative to produce a documentary overseas.

“It gives students access to professional technicians who help them realize their ideas for the documentaries,” she said. “As a result, the films have a professional polish. In essence, they can be used as calling cards for entry into graduate training or other projects.”

For those not interested in a film career, either independently or with a Hollywood studio, Canadian outlets like CBC-TV and City TV (Toronto) have become viable employment options for some participants.

However, given the heavy U.S. influence over Canadian TV, it’s just as likely Ryerson grads will compete for jobs in the much larger U.S. media market — both major networks as well as cable channels like HBO and Showtime, which now produce their own movies, TV series and other televised content.

Details: Alexandra Anderson, School of Image Arts, Ryerson University, 50 Gould St., Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada. Tel: (416) 979-5000 x6855. Email: alex.anderson@ryerson.ca.