"The focus at ZeLIG is clear: You need to learn the craft to be able to develop your creativity. You need to learn team-work and to test yourself as a coming documentarian. The school is small with a big heart, a generous staff and committed teachers. The students watch loads of films and make several themselves before they enter the jungle. 3 years. A gift!"
“As an international lecturer and co-writer of multiple films, I find ZeLIG’s methodology a great match for real-life filmmaking and business. The full immersion weeks focusing on one topic at a time allow participants to delve deeply into the subjects. The mentorship at the end is the final proof to me that ZeLIG and its staff know what matters when it comes to training for the real world.”
"After teaching at the ZeLIG film school for ten years now, I can honestly say that I adore this place and everyone in it and I look forward eagerly to the next time I will be at ZeLIG to teach. It is quite a miracle that such a dedicated group of people have come together in such a special part of the world with the sole mission of turning out high quality, committed social documentary filmmakers. Over decades of refining their teaching, the school has assembled the best teachers in the field, made a conscious decision to do away with Fiction Film studies to concentrates solely on the craft of documentary filmmaking, and has figured out how to make students the best at what they do. I have thoroughly enjoyed the students who have passed through my class, many of whom I still keep in touch with today. Just when I think it is impossible for the program or the students to get any better, I am delighted to learn that I am wrong. Professionally, I run into ZeLIG students and the films they produce all the time at festivals and markets. It is truly a positive, active learning program in a family environment that has a profoundly positive impact on those who go through it. And I firmly believe the world is a better place because ZeLIG and the students it turns out, are in it."
“ESoDoc is an inspiring experience with wonderful people and wonderful projects. Participants are beautifully encourageing each other, teachers and trainers are dedicated to bring them and their projects really further on. People and projects mature and improve. And both of them reach enormous clarity by hard work and great support.”
“EsoDoc is a documentary training programme that takes place in some of the most beautiful places across Europe. A chance to come together with your peers to deeply explore your project, it's narrative potential and social impact strategy. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching on the course and it's been a pleasure watching the recent graduates move forward with their careers.”
“Making creative work that changes hearts and minds is not easy. At ESoDoc you get to test your ideas on industry insiders and your peers, allowing you to take risks and broaden your horizons while being supported by a community who will challenge you to do your best work. It’s run by passionate people who believe in the transformative power of media. The connections you make there, and the lessons learnt, will last your entire career.”
"More than a school, ZeLIG seems a factory, in the sense Andy Warhol gave the word. With youngsters coming from very different parts of Europe and the planet, digital film-work (be it shooting, directing or editing) is constantly challenged as a tool to define and express the world they are living in. Nothing here is just theory: the place smells of practical work and daring storytelling missions.”
“ZeLIG is an open space where people create, analyze and reflect deeply on all the aspects of documentary filmmaking. ZeLIG’s camera courses, for instance, don’t provide merely a technical foundation, but also focus storytelling through imagery. We seriously explore the role of the camera, how to work with the camera, and photography in terms of their relationship to storytelling. All this happens while we’re filming reality live, as it unfolds. I like teaching camera at ZeLIG because it provides students with lots of opportunities to experiment – experimentation is mandatory. They’ve got to discover their aptitudes and hone their skills. We help them do that not through the classic student-teacher relationship – I’d say it’s more like seasoned professionals counseling young filmmakers."
