The Academy

CISA (International Academy of Audiovisual Sciences)
based in Locarno, founded by Pio Bordoni in 1992,
is a training Institute in the field of cinema,
television and multimedia culture,
oriented towards the students' development with the aim of improving their inclinations,
talents and skills.
Students are immersed in creative settings, where teamwork is valued, with an eminently practical planning guidance.



DOWNLOAD Charter of Andragogical Principles
CISA, since 2014 is an active member of CILECT,
an association that gathers the best film school in the world.
CILECT

News and Events

CISA news FILM FOUNDRY: YOUNG SWISS CINEMA
8August '26

FILM FOUNDRY: YOUNG SWISS CINEMA

by CISA Management

During the festival, now in its fourteenth edition, recent graduation short films from ZHdK Zurich, ECAL Lausanne, HEAD Geneva, and CISA Locarno will be presented, along with a selection of video essays from USI Lugano and Mendrisio.

Before the screenings, introduced by curator and film critic Alessandro Stellino and the directors of the short films attending the event, the Green Production projects by AGF - Aktion Grüner Film (Carina Kaiser, Gudula Meinzolt) and the SO PRO programmes (Morgane Frund, Solothurn Film Festival) will be presented.

8 August 2026
2:00–6:00 PM
PalaCinema – Sala 2

Free admission, subject to seat availability.

See the programme for schedules and further details.

PROGRAMME PDF
CISA news Masterclass
2March '26

Masterclass
with Ramon and Silvan Zürcher
Monday, March 2, 2026 at 5:00 PM

by CISA Direction

As part of the Spring Academy, on Monday, March 2 at 5:00 PM at the PalaCinema (Sala 2) in Locarno, "The Sparrow in the Chimney" will be publicly screened. The film was presented by Ramon and Silvan Zürcher at the Locarno Film Festival in 2024 and won two Swiss Film Awards and received a nomination at the European Film Awards. The screening, with free admission subject to availability, will be followed at 7:00 PM by a Masterclass with the Zürcher brothers and an aperitif. The film portrays the shifting dynamics of family relationships, following the growing tension among the characters gathered for a birthday celebration.

Masterclass in English.

Free admission subject to availability.

MASTERCLASS PDF
CISA news SRG SSR Pardino d’Argento for the National Competition
16August '25

“Tusen Toner” wins the Pardino d’Argento in the Pardi di domani section of the Locarno Film Festival

by CISA Management

The short film Tusen Toner, directed by Francesco Poloni and produced by CISA, won the Silver Pardino in the national competition Pardi di domani, as part of the 78th edition of the festival.

Set in Kiruna, in northern Sweden, the film tells the story of four young musicians whose studio is threatened by the expansion of a large iron mine. A work that combines a personal perspective with attention to global changes. A recognition that rewards the creative journey of CISA students and highlights the international vocation of the school.

Palmarès locarnofestival.ch

CISA
Showreel

Training

Professional Education and Training
(2-years-program)

Designers in Visual Design (Film) prepare,
plan and develop narrative or communication productions,
besides designing and realizing multimedia products.

Upon completion of the PET College,
they are able to handle all phases of production and develop an entire and complex project, either solo or in a team.
They can also concentrate on a specific stage in such a process.

They collaborate with professionals in marketing, video programming, photography, and with television and film productions.

  • team memeber 1
    1st year
    Image and Sound

    Theory
    The Elements of Perception
    View and Thought
    Light: Looking and Seeing
    Sound: Hearing and Listening
    Image: Creating a Meaning
    The Divided Body of the Actor
    ...

    Practice
     The Instruments of Cinema
    New Media
    Practice in Cinematography
    Sound Recording
    Sound
    Practice in Editing
    ...

  • team memeber 1
    2st year
    Audiovisual professions and forms

    Theory
    History and Critique of Cinema
    Documentary Film
    Investigative Reports for TV Press
    Live Sports, Music and Public Events
    Other Television Genres
    New Film Forms
    ...

    Practice
     Projection and Visualization
    Realizing a Documentary
    Live Television
    News and Entertainment
    Video Art
    Individual Short Films
    Realizing Fiction
    ...

CISA
Backstage TV

Il cinema è il modo più diretto per entrare in competizione con Dio. Federico Fellini

Post-Diploma Professional Education and Training (1-year-program)

The Filmmaker is a professional freelancer who works in the Film/TV field.
New technologies in recent years enable a whole range of diverse professional capacities to be combined in one person.

Filmmakers become therefore experts in screenwriting, film direction, cinematography and camera, production, sound design, editing and/or post-production: they also have to specialize in at least one of these branches.
Finally they become able to utilize the latest technologies, from HD to editing software, to produce documentaries, music videos, short fictions and multimedia contents.

  • CISA produzione
    PRODUCTION
    Post-Diploma Specialization

    This is a key function, requiring practical knowledge of all the various filmmaking crafts and close collaboration with the director and others in the team and/or on set. The producer deals with devising contracts, guarantees a production’s financial liability...

  • CISA regia
    FILM DIRECTION
    Post-Diploma Specialization

    The director is responsible, in artistic and technical terms, for the final outcome of a professionally made film, television programme or other audio-visual productions. He directs the cast’s performance, chooses camera angles and framing in the interests of narrative clarity and resolution, and follows through on preparation for the various phases of production.

  • CISA sceneggiatura
    SCREENPLAY
    Post-Diploma Specialization

    The screenwriter develops the idea, the story, the outline, treatment and the script to provide a basis for the audio- visual presentation of the story. This is the person who writes the film before it has been shot!

  • CISA sound design
    SOUND
    Post-Diploma Specialization

    This figure has a double function: during production, the sound designer is responsible for sound recording (dialogue, sound effects and music), and then during the final post-production period will work on the soundtrack and digital editing of the recorded audio material.

  • CISA post-produzione
    VIDEO POST-PRODUCTION
    Post-Diploma Specialization

    The editor is responsible for “putting together” the scenes that have been shot and framed in such a way as to construct a story through the alliance of sound with image. Within the post-production period they will rework the images to ensure any visual corrections necessary and integrate any digital special effects.

  • CISA camera e direzione della fotografia
    CAMERA / CINEMATOGRAPHY (DoP)
    Post-Diploma Specialization

    The cameraman/woman is the person who physically handles the TV or film camera on a TV or film production, filming or recording the required scenes. From a professional perspective, the job requires a combination of technical skills, knowledge and a creative sensibility; and must visually interpret and fulfil the needs of the Director and the DoP (Director of Photography)...

BACKSTAGE
Graduation film

Ideas come from everything. ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Teachers

The teaching faculty comprises teachers and professionals working at a national and international level, and a number of personalities from the film and television world, who hold masterclasses and workshops as visiting professors. Thanks to their skills and abilities and the support offered to a training curriculum of a high technical and cultural standard, CISA remains firmly anchored in the professional working world; their collaboration, in effect, enables the school to maintain a pedagogical pathway to keep up with the constant changes and developments in the sector.

The limited number of students the school accepts enables teachers to have a close relationship with each individual student, and allows for tailoring teaching plans to suit individual needs and talents. The relationship between teachers and students is fed by an ethos of learning by doing which the Academy coordinates alongside the more traditional lecture and demonstration teaching approach.

In keeping with the Professional Education and Training (PET) ethos and structures, there is great emphasis on practical training, which is also offered via external apprenticeships that give students direct contact with real projects in the working world.

DEPARTMENTS / TEACHING FIELDS
  • Theories and Languages

    Edoardo Colombo, Marco Longo, Domenico Lucchini, Alessandro Stellino

  • Screenplay

    Stefania Consonni, Sandro Dazieri, Lara Fremder, Francesco Montagner, Heidrun Schleef

  • Documentary Film: Theory and Practice

    Marco Bertozzi, Nello Correale, Massimo D’Anolfi, Michelangelo Frammartino, Piergiorgio Gay, Stefano Knuchel, Lech Kowalski, Martina Parenti, Luciano Rigolini, Vito Robbiani

  • Elements of Storyboard, Direction of Actors, Fiction and Multimedia

    Andrea Canetta, Giorgio Ghisolfi, Corinna Glaus, Daniele Maggioni, Sergej Grguric, Marco Poloni, Cristina Proserpio, Marco Pucci, Leonardo Sangiorgi (Studio Azzurro), Mohammed Soudani, Marco Turco

  • Set: Organization, Production and Roles

    Erik Bernasconi, Nicola Bernasconi, Laura Bispuri, Duccio Chiarini, Ezio Conforti, Giuliana Ghielmini, Alina Marazzi, Milly Miljkovic, Bettina Pontiggia, Assunta Ranieri, Francesca Vegezzi, Simone Visparelli, Dario Zonta

  • Photography

    Renato Berta, Luca Bigazzi, Mauro Boscarato, Riccardo Brunner, Giacomo Devecchi, Reza Khatir, Alberto Meroni, Fabio Possanzini

  • Live Television, Investigative Reports for TV Press

    Lorenzo Duca, Davide Grampa, Fiorenzo Mordasini

  • Sound Design, Soundtracking and Mixing, Voice over, Music for Images

    Rico Andriolo, Flavio Cristilli, Paul Glass, Sandro Hess, Alberto Morelli, Elda Olivieri, Riccardo Studer, Pietro Viviani

  • Post-Production and Visual Effects

    Andreoli Valentina, Lorenzo Ameri, Mauro Boscarato, Valentina Cicogna, Carlotta Cristiani, Mauro Gallo, Davide Grampa, Andrea Masciadri, Andrea Orsini, Peter Pražák, Mariano Snider

  • Visiting Professors

    Jacques Aumont, Marco Bellocchio, Michael Beltrami, Giuseppe Bertolucci, Luca Bigazzi, Laura Bispuri, Diego Cassani, Carlo Chatrian, Rolando Colla, Alessandro Comodin, Bartolomeo Corsini, Peter Del Monte, Leonardo Di Costanzo, Riccardo Fanciola, Daniele Finzi Pasca, Matteo Garrone, Giuseppe Gaudino, Sabine Gisiger, Francisco Gòzon, Philip Gröning, Adriano Kestenholz, Lech Kowalski, Federica Lang, Kevin B. Lee, Mario Martone, Roberto Minervini, Laura Morganti (Discovery Channel), Marco Müller, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Maurizio Nichetti, Enrico Nosei, Darezhan Omirbaev, Michele Placido, Marco Poloni, Francis Reusser, Gianfranco Rosi, Tatti Sanguineti, Georges Schwizgebel, Claire Simon, Silvio Soldini, Amos Sussigan, Bela Tar, Luciano Tovoli, Edoardo Winspeare, Romed Wyder, Alessandro Zonin

ORGANIZATION CHART
  • CISA Board of Foundation

    President
    Lorenzo Sganzini

    Vice President
    Niccolò Salvioni

    Members
    Michael Beltrami
    Raphaël Brunschwig
    Nello Correale
    Fabio Fumagalli
    Elda Guidinetti
    Alina Marazzi
    Alessandro Marcionni
    Gianfilippo Pedote
    Nicola Pini
    Roberto Pomari
    Giancarlo Zappoli

    Honorary President
    Giovanna Masoni Brenni

    Honorary Members
    Vittorio Bagnasco
    Teco Celio
    Augusto Chollet
    Mario Garriba
    Frédéric Maire

  • Staff
    <

    Director
    Marco Poloni

    Head of Education, SSS biennium and Faculty
    Edoardo Colombo

    Head of Education, SPD specialization year and Faculty
    Francesca Monti

    Coordinator for SSS and SPD productions and Faculty
    Marco Longo

    Head of CISAlab - Experimental Laboratory for Research and Education, Faculty
    Davide Grampa

    CISAlab Assistant - Experimental Laboratory for Research and Education, Faculty
    Andrea Mezzalira
    Grieco Rafael

    Technical Manager and Faculty
    Flavio Cristilli

    Technical Area Assistant
    Gaia Ruggieri

    Secretariat and Administration Manager
    Daniela Doninelli

  • Scientific Committee

    Renato Berta
    Riccardo Brunner
    Giulio Bursi
    Stefania Consonni
    Domenico Lucchini
    Daniele Maggioni
    Domietta Torlasco

Admission

To obtain the application form for the admission exam for the new academic year 2026/2027, write an email to iscrizioni@cisaonline.ch
or contact our office at +41 (0)91 756 00 90.

Applications for the admission test for the academic year 2026/2027 will close on July 1st, 2026.

Privacy Policy

Exam Procedures

The admission exam consists of a written test and an oral interview.

Written test:
After pre-enrollment and the scheduling of exam dates, candidates are required to watch a selection of films in preparation for the written test, divided into two parts: multiple-choice questions related to general and audiovisual culture; open questions inviting the analysis of the films studied and assessing knowledge of the English language.

Oral interview:
The oral interview is conducted by the academic supervisors and serves as an aptitude and motivational assessment aimed at evaluating the candidates’ maturity and artistic awareness based on their portfolio, as well as their ability to work in a team — an essential requirement for set activities on which the curriculum is based.

The test results are communicated in writing within one month of the oral interview.

TWO-YEAR DIPLOMA PROGRAM (SSS)
  • REQUIREMENTS

    Minimum age of 18, with one of the following qualifications:

    → Federal VET diploma (AFC) in multimedia or visual fields:
    - Photography Specialist
    - Photographer
    - Graphic Designer
    - Polygrapher
    - IT Specialist
    - Mediamatician

    → Secondary level II diploma
    → Equivalent foreign diploma or high school degree (e.g., ITIS, ISIS or IPSIA) in a related field
    → English language proficiency at B1 level

    Admission may also be granted on dossier by demonstrating outstanding artistic abilities.

  • HOW TO APPLY

    Send a pre-enrollment request by email to iscrizioni@cisaonline.ch and wait to be contacted by the office. Documents sent directly via email will not be accepted.

    The required materials:
    → Pre-enrollment form provided by the office
    → Motivation letter
    → Digital portfolio (a link to your cloud storage is preferred)
    → Copies of academic certificates
    → 1 digital photo, 5x5cm format
    → For international applicants: copy of an identity document
    → Copy of an identity document, and residence permit if applicable for foreign students

  • TUITION FEES

    1st year → 8’000.- CHF
    2nd year → 9’000.- CHF

POST-DIPLOMA STUDY YEAR (SPD)
  • REQUIREMENTS

    → Two-year SSS diploma
    → Bachelor’s degree from a university or university of applied sciences with a specialization in audiovisual studies
    → Diploma from other film or television schools
    → English language proficiency at B1 level

    For candidates over 25 years of age and holders of other diplomas or certificates with relevant training and/or significant experience, admission to the interview is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

  • HOW TO APPLY

    For pre-enrollment, the following documents are required:

    → Pre-enrollment form provided by the office
    → Motivation letter
    → Digital portfolio
    → Copies of academic certificates
    → 1 passport-size photo
    → For international applicants: copy of an identity document

  • TUITION FEES

    Post-diploma SPD year → 10’000.- CHF

Applications

Do you want to work or collaborate with the school?
Send us your application at: candidature@cisaonline.ch. Our staff will get back to you as soon as possible!

CISAlab

CISA’s organizational structure has been enhanced with professional expertise, able to run didactic activities relating to more experimental and applied areas, both technically and as forms of communication.

Students and colleagues have at their disposal a training and research laboratory CISAlab, thus allowing the school to stand out as a place where, beyond the technologies involved, the newest approaches to communication are refined and developed, benefiting from more flexible organizational response to the requirements of the outside world.

Besides current internships, also plans for further education and training are in progress as a way to develop in greater depth a certain amount of activities, in collaboration with a network of structures with which CISA has been working.

Some CISAlab productions
PARTNERSHIP
  • MAIN PARTNER

    Locarno Film Festival
    Academic partner

    CILECT
    Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinéma et de Télévision
    (The International Association of Film and Television Schools)

    Conferenza SSS Ticino
    Conferenza dei direttori delle scuole d'arte applicata Svizzera

    ATST odec Ticino
    Associazione svizzera dei diplomati SSS

    Filiera Cinema del Canton Ticino
    Piattaforma

  • AGREEMENTS

    CSC
    Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Roma e Milano

    ECTV
    Escuela de Cine y Televisión, Havana (Cuba)

    CESMA
    Centro Europeo per gli Studi in Musica e Acustica

    LAC
    Lugano Arte e Cultura

    LIONS Club Mendrisiotto

    Enjoy Arena Locarno

  • COLLABORATIONS

    RSI
    Radiotelevisione della Svizzera italiana

    Teleticino

    JazzAscona

    AFAT
    Associazione Film Audiovisivi Ticinese

    Ticino Film Commission

    SUPSI

    MASI

    Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana

    PalaCinema Locarno SA

    Winterland

    OSI

    Babel

    Sconfinare Festival

    ...

Contacts

CISA is located in Locarno (Switzerland) within the new and prestigious PalaCinema,
in the territorial cinema center.

Contacts

New location: PalaCinema Locarno

Main Address
Via F. Rusca 1
CH–6600 Locarno - Switzerland

Entrance
Via Conturbio
CH–6600 Locarno - Switzerland

t +41 (0)91 756 00 90
e info@cisaonline.ch