Call for application – Scholarship for the Sound Documentary Summer Programme in France

The Sound Documentary International Intensive Summer Program is a training created in 2021. It is aimed for young international professionals coming from all over the word. It is offered by the École nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière (ENS Louis-Lumière) and designed with the support of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the complicity of Radio France internationale (RFI).

Since its launch, it has welcomed 62 young professionals from all the world (Asia, the Middle East, the Gulf, South America, Europe, Africa).

The sixth edition will take place from July 13th to August 28th 2026.

All candidates should have an experience as authors (blog, podcast or creative project involving sound). The laureates are selected by a jury of French professionals in connection with the cultural services of the French embassies. The participants of the program are laureates of a scholarship from the French embassies. 

During 7 weeks of intensive training, laureates dive into the radio ecosystem in France, a pioneer in the radio documentary genre. They learn the fundamentals of writing and recording a radio documentary, supervised by a documentary maker / soundscape artist and a sound engineer. They try out different sound-writing processes, they learn about the techniques of interviewing, capturing atmospheres, soundscape, stereophonic sound recording and audio editing. They learn how to present a project to the people concerned (radio channels, etc.). 

The program is organized around 3 components: 

> Theoretical and practical training in sound writing (from design to editing) 

> Production of a sound documentary in pairs (each two-person team will conceive and carry out its project from A to Z during the program) 

> Professional encounters, exploring the French ecosystem of radio/podcast creation and sound creation

Weeks 1, 2 and 3 are dedicated to theoretical and practical training and meetings with professionals. Weeks 4 and 5 are dedicated to recording. Week 6 is dedicated to editing and week 7 to mixing. 

The educational component of the program is designed and led by authors and documentary makers Thomas Guillaud-Bataille, Charlotte Rouault, Mariannick Bellot, and Amandine Casadamont, accompanied by sound engineer Thibaud Haas.

The coordination of the program is ensured by Pascaline Perretti, independant radio producer and cultural projects manager.

Participants are accommodated in Paris in a Campus France residence. 

ENS LOUIS-LUMIÈRE

Founded in 1926, the École nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière is a unique institution:
it provides high-level training in image and sound, and is an international leader in the fundamentals of these fields. It is the only school to provide theoretical, practical, technical and artistic training in three distinct programs : Cinema (cinematography), Photography and Sound.

Please send your application before March 08, 2026 in 1 single PDF file: Application form, a 1-page cover letter, a 1-page synopsis and a CV to : institutfrancaisjerusalem@gmail.com

To download the application form, please click here!