Russian Media Students Welcomed

For the third consecutive year Edge Hill University has played international host in welcoming a group of Russian Media students from the Humanitarian Institute of Television and Radio Broadcasting in Moscow, also known as the GITR.

A private, government approved, non-commercial and independent institute, the GITR was established in 1994 by TV director Mikail Litovchin. It prepares students for a range of creative and specialist media professions, including careers in television and radio journalism, presenting, sound engineering, directing and producing.

The Russian visitors stayed for two weeks and really enjoyed sampling life as Edge Hill students. In addition to living on campus and attending structured lectures and workshops our twenty guests completed two short films, making full use of the extensive equipment and facilities available in our Creative Media and Information Systems Technology (CMIST) building.

To become familiar with the area the students were tasked with producing a short film about Ormskirk, followed by a longer assignment based on a topic of their choice and filmed on location in Blackpool. These were then screened in an ‘Oscars' style ceremony to conclude the exchange and celebrate individual student achievements.

Edge Hill staff ensured the students had a challenging and fulfilling stay, whilst also making it enjoyable by organising a range of activities. These included spending the day at Granada Studios in Manchester where they were given free access to the Jeremy Kyle studio and attended the recording of television quiz Countdown, plus trips to a number of popular tourist attractions in Liverpool, Chester, the Lake District and North Wales.

Tanya Nelson, GITR's Dean of TV & Radio Journalism and International Relationships Co-ordinator said "Our association with Edge Hill provides GITR students with excellent additional practice and tuition opportunities as well as a broad cultural sphere to see examples of how TV programmes are made in the UK."