New media, new types of funding, and new ways of creating and explaining art. A great deal has changed since UPF launched its Audiovisual Communication studies in the Rambla building in 1993. One thing that has not altered over the years, however, is the professional success enjoyed by those who take the bachelor's degree programme, which attracts the most exceptional students.

"Our high admission marks are a clear sign of our students' brilliance", declares Fran Benavente, director of UPF's Audiovisual Communication studies. "They have enormous potential and we try to provide an environment in which they can develop it. Part of the responsibility for doing so lies with the bachelor's degree programme's lecturers. Many of them are fine theorists and practising professionals who are up to date with everything that goes on in the audiovisual industry."

The aim of keeping in touch with the latest trends has been a characteristic of the studies ever since they were introduced, back when Jordi Balló, a lecturer on the Audiovisual Communication bachelor's degree and UPF-IDEC Creative Documentary master's degree programmes, was teaching his first classes. "There was an atmosphere of crisis when the bachelor's degree programme in Audiovisual Communication began, and people questioned the thinking behind its existence because of the absence of an industry to produce demand", he recalls. "As it turned out, UPF generated creative movements, established new profiles and anticipated future events", he says.

"Something that really set UPF's Audiovisual Communication bachelor's degree programme apart, and still does today, is its more creative and less journalistic focus", states Benavente. "That's why we want our students to start out with a solid grounding in theory, which will help them develop their
artistic abilities", he explains.

Fran Benavente: "They have enormous potential and we try to provide an environment in which they can develop it"

Víctor Alonso, a fourth-year Audiovisual Communication student, won the SGAE Nova Autoria Award for best direction at the 2014 Sitges Film Festival for his documentary short Puño y metal. He agrees that it is necessary to begin by getting the basics clear with a view to helping students acquire and develop a critical perspective on audiovisual production. "It's a great source of motivation to have former students of this bachelor's degree programme as role models, people who aren't only earning a living from film-making but also setting standards for others with the quality of their work", he remarks. "You look at them and see what you could be if everything works out well for you", he adds.

To give them a highly realistic idea of what professional practice entails, students are required to carry out a bachelor's degree final project in which they draw on everything they have learned while studying their chosen area of specialization. This project is both a very important part of their education and of great relevance where their career path is concerned, as it provides them with a calling card for the labour market. "It's not strictly an academic exercise; the aim is for it to serve a purpose outside the University", Benavente confirms. "Students get the opportunity to carry out a personal project under excellent conditions, with support from a tutor who offers them guidance on and monitors their project over a whole academic year, and with whom they can discuss any doubts they may have during the creative process."

Víctor Alonso: "It's a great source of motivation to have former students of this bachelor's degree programme as role models"

Documentaries: a fruitful domain

Many of the film-makers who emerge from UPF have made a name for themselves with a form of cinema that straddles the dividing line between reality and fiction. That applies to Jordi Morató and "Sobre la marxa", a production that arose from a bachelor's degree final project on Josep Pujiula, better
known in Catalonia as "el Tarzan d'Argelaguer"; to Carla Subirana and her intimate works "Volar" (2013) and "Nedar" (2009); and to Neus Ballús, who  successfully completed the Audiovisual Communication bachelor's degree and IDEC-UPF Creative Documentary master's degree programmes in 2002 and 2004 respectively, and is one of the most recent and prolific examples of such film-makers.

"Because UPF covers such a varied range of professions and subject matter, students who aren't sure which direction they want to take are likely to work it out here", says Ballús. It often dawns on you in a flash, you realize what it is you really like doing, and it can happen before, during or after your
studies", she explains. "In my case, it was in Ricardo Íscar's classes on directing documentaries." Ballús received a number of accolades in 2014, including the Gaudí Awards for best direction, best screenplay and best film for "La plaga", her debut feature film.

Neus Ballús: "Because UPF covers such a varied range of subject matter, students who aren't sure which direction to take are likely to work it out here"

Another film that has been steadily picking up awards since 2014 is "10.000km", directed by former UPF student Carlos Marqués-Marcet. Of particular note among them are the 2015 Goya Award for best new director and five 2015 Gaudí Awards, including best non-Catalan language film, best screenplay (shared with Clara Roquet, another graduate of UPF's bachelor's degree programme in Audiovisual Communication, who co-wrote the film's script) and best direction. 10.000 km tells a fictitious story that deals with its subject matter, distance relationships, with striking realism.

Related news:
The documentary Puño y metal [Fist and metal] wins a New Film-making prize at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival