The ZeLIG academic year runs from September to June. ZeLIG offers a full-time curriculum based on a daily schedule that runs from 10 am to 5 pm (including lunch break). First year students are given basic training. The second and third years are dedicated to specialized areas, which include hands-on experiences and internships at television studios and production centers. Major areas of study are structured around combinations of theme-based elements. Seminars are offered at introductory, intermediate and advanced levels.

A general introduction for all students, through seminars on film history, script writing and production. Practical, hands-on experience is stressed. All students receive training in video and film skills (filming, lights, sound, editing, postproduction), which will be applied to student film projects.

Students class divides in their major area of interest: filming, editing, project development, production; they also attend intermediate level seminars. Filming and editing/ postproduction majors round out their curriculum with a study of sound engineering. All students follow core courses on the documentary genre. Second-year students at ZeLIG participate in the making of brief exercise documentaries as part of work teams that group together students from various documentary disciplines. Each team member assumes a role in line with his or her chosen specialization.

A three-month internship is required during the second year. Internships may be done at tv studios film/tv production centers. ZeLIG puts students in contact with available internship providers, although students may also propose structures of their own choice. ZeLIG students have participated in internships at the following firms: Bayerischer Rundfunk - Munich; Bauderfilm - Berlin; Stefilm – Turin; readymade-films - Rome; Kern TV - Hamburg; Sirio Film - Trento; digicittà - Bologna; Pop Tutu-Film – Leipzig; Navigator-Film - Wien; Neon- Productions - Marseille; GH5-Films - New York; Angelfilms - Copenhagen; G A & A - Rome; Nanook Foundation - Perm-Russia; Lithuanian National TV - Vilnius; Gruppe5 - Cologne; Orisa-Film - Rome; Amour fou - Wien; Antena Aragon – Zaragoza/Spain; Geyer-Kopierwerk - Berlin; Studio Azzurro - Milan; Oxford Channel - Oxford; Olivud - Rome; Caviar- produzioni cine televisive - Rome; Trick Atelier Wilk - Berlin; Arri- Kopierwerk – Munich.

Students spend their third year working on their final film project, normally a creative documentary on social or cultural themes. Other documentary formats may also be chosen (e.g. animation or CD-ROM). While students use the skills they have acquired to complete their film projects, they may also explore other production roles. Teamwork, of particular importance in terms of the successful completion of the film project and its positive influence on the conceptualization and writing of films, is stressed.