Candidates applying for Beijing Film Academy wait in line to submit their applications on Wednesday, February 13, 2008.

Beijing Film Academy, the most prestigious film school in China, attracted 5,100 applicants on Wednesday, including candidates applying on site and online. This is 700 more than that of the same period last year even though the enrollment number will decrease by 100 this year.

The school began to accept students' applications on Wednesday for majors in cinematography, animation, and performance. Applications for four other schools of recording, management, directing and film studies will begin on Friday.

Newspaper Beijing Morning Post reported that this year psychological qualifications will become the focus of the examination. The head of enrollment office said in recent years more and more college students suffered from mental problems.

During the interviews, interviewers will pick on candidates intentionally to see their responses and test their characters. Certainly, the interviewers will explain to the candidates later.

Beijing Film Academy is the alma mater of many movie stars. Therefore, it attracts thousands of young people every year who want to become popular stars. Performance has always been the most popular major. Many candidates gathered in front of the billboard to find photos of their idols after they had submitted their applications.

A girl surnamed Xu from northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region told reporters that she had applied for the film academy. Later, she will apply for the Central Academy of Drama, another college which has cultivated many movie stars as well. She said, "If I fail, I will come to Beijing and take the examination next year. Anyway, I want to be a super star."

Beijing Film Academy will enroll only 30 undergraduate students for the performance major this year, according to the report.

The faculty of cinematography in the Academy started recruiting vocational students for film illumination design major this year since China needs more professionals in this field. Some companies even offer to pay tuition for the students if they sign employment contracts with them now and work for them after graduation.
 
(CRI February 14, 2008)