A research hub for the Film Academy, that’s what the Lectorate or Research Group of the Film Academy aims to be: instigating, supporting and facilitating a research mentality in the Film Academy among teachers, students and staff of both master and bachelor. 
In doing so, the Research Group builds upon the knowledge and expertise acquired through its research for and through the master’s programme ‘Artistic Research in and through Cinema’, that was designed, set up and run by Mieke Bernink as lector, and which functioned as an incubator for the Research Group It has provided the Research Group with a clear understanding of artistic research, its relevance and potential, and the pedagogy needed to teach it. The Research Group will further deepen and broaden that knowledge and expertise in an organic manner and in a context of ongoing experimentation, collaboration and sharing – both within and outside the Academy.

Positioning the Research Group squarely at the crossroads between art practice and knowledge production, the Research Group acknowledges that in their daily practice, the filmmakers, artists and teachers that the Film Academy comprises are constantly researching and gaining (practical) knowledge. It is thanks to all that knowledge, which comes from their practical experience with film, audiovisual media and education that that they can make a unique contribution to what is commonly understood by research. Creating the conditions in which research ideas can be retrieved and developed bottom-up is the way in which the Research Group can contribute to critically innovating both film making and film teaching.

Activities

As a research hub the Research Group encompasses among others a so-called ‘Kenniskring’ of teacher-researchers of the core team of the master’s programme, an ongoing and multifaceted research project called ‘Research Atlas’, and an initiative under the name of ‘The Greenhouse’ which invites teachers and guest teachers of the Academy to propose their own research projects, which will receive advice, expertise and financial resources. The Research Group actively supports the research done at the VRAcademy, often undertaken in collaboration with other institutions, and is the point of contact for a variety of collaborative research projects.