With a history of more than 50 years, Beijing Film Academy (BFA) is the largest institution of higher learning for film and television production in Asia. There are five schools, seven departments and 12 specialties in the Academy: Film Literature is taught in the Literature Department; Directing, Film and Television Program Production in the Directing Department; Performing Arts in the of Performing Arts; Film and TV photography in the Photography Department; Art Design and Advertising in the Art Direction Department; Sound Recording in the Recording Department; Film Production, Management, and Distribution in the Management Department; Still Photography in the School of Photography; Animation in the Animation School; The International School and the Continuing Education School. Although the basis of the Academy is regular higher education, there are also programs of adult education offered in various forms, such as undergraduate and postgraduate studies, professional training, vocational and correspondence courses, and night school courses.

Under the BFA are the Film and Television Experimental Laboratory, the Television Program Production Center, the Digital Art and Technology Research Center, the Theoretical Studies Center, the Editorial Board of the BFA Journal, the Audiovisual Publications Publishing House, the library, and the Youth Film Studio.

These facilities offer scholars from both home and abroad every convenience for teaching, creation and research. The Beijing Film Academy exam is held in March for undergraduate students and April for graduate students at the year of admission.