Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema
The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, a division of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Concordia University, is a film school located in Montreal, Quebec. It is informally identified as MHSoC, and accepts 250 students a year, for study in the fields of animation, film production and film studies. It is the largest university-based centre for the study of film animation, film production and film studies in Canada. History. Before it was renamed The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in 1997, the film school was established as the Department of Cinema within the Faculty  of Fine Arts in 1976 by, amongst many others, Professor Andre Herman, a graduate of the National Film School in Łódź and La Fémis, who remained with the school until his retirement in 2002, and the founding dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alfred Pinsky. It is the oldest film school in Canada. In 1997, Mel Hoppenheim donated $1 million to Montreal’s Concordia University, which was subsequently used to open the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. He and his partners have also helped in the development of the Institut national de l'image et du son (INIS), a  private school for the development of writers, directors and producers for film and television. Facilities. The MHSoC constitutes facilities featuring interactive teaching environments, shooting studios, professional screening rooms, Avid editing, Pro Tools sound editing, sound recording and mixing studios, sound archives, digital animation labs, and a full complement of digital and analog equipment. Departments. The school of cinema offers three areas of study: Film Animation, Film Production and Film Studies. The School's programs are distinguished from many others in cinema by the fact that it is part of the Faculty of Fine Arts and each program approaches the subject  matter primarily as a means of artistic expression. Consequently, a central aim of these programs is to prepare students to become filmmakers, film animators or film historians/critics/theorists who have a twofold awareness: on the one hand, of the artistic and cultural potential of their medium and, on the other, of its history and traditions. A B.F.A. in Art History and Film Studies is also offered jointly with the Art History Department. Alumni. The work of graduates from The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema are often selected and dominate competitions such as the Canadian Student Film Festival and the  student section of the Cannes Film Festival. Alumni are active as producers, directors and technicians and include Academy Award, Prix Jutra, Canadian Screen Award and Emmy Award winners and nominees. Notable alumni include: