TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT M.G.R. FILM AND TELEVISION INSTITUTE

The M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute, popularly known earlier as Madras Film Institute, is Asia's first-ever film and television training institute. It was established in 1945 as Adyar Film Institute and was initially part of the Central Polytechnic. In 1965, it moved to its present campus in Tharamani, Chennai, which originally spanned 54 acres but has since reduced to 10 acres due to urbanisation and land allocations to IIT Madras and IT companies. In 2006, the institute was renamed M.G.R. Film and Television Training Institute in honor of former Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran. The institute is run by the Department of Information and Public Relations, Government of Tamil Nadu. Diplomas are approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), while certificates are awarded by the Department of Technical Education, Government of Tamil Nadu. The institute offers four-year bachelor's degree courses in Screenplay and Direction, Cinematography, Sound Recording and Sound Engineering, and Film Editing and Film Processing, with only 14 students admitted per course. The associated MGR Film City, established in 1994, has hosted notable filming activities, including a visit by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997. The acting course, started in 1971, was discontinued in 2002.