FAMU was established between 1946 and 1948 as one of the three branches of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (AMU). It is the fifth oldest film school in the world after Moscow, Berlin, Rome, and Paris. The school was initially based on the 4th floor of Havlickova 13, before moving in 1948 to the Vančura building at Klimenská 4, which housed theoretical and practical tuition until 1960.
During its early years, FAMU faced numerous challenges, including negative reception from filmmakers at Barrandov Studios, attempts to close the school, and political interference following the communist coup of 1948. Despite these obstacles, the school survived and built an academic program based on the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow.
FAMU’s main building is now located in the historic center of Prague. The school includes Studio FAMU, a production and post-production facility with fully equipped sound stages and TV studios. Each autumn, FAMU organizes a showcase of its students’ work called the Famufest festival, with an accompanying cultural program and visits by prominent figures in filmmaking.
FAMU is composed of eleven departments: Directing, Documentary filmmaking, Scriptwriting and Dramaturgy, Animated Film, Cinematography, Sound Design, Editing, Production, Photography, and the FAMU Center for AudioVisual Studies, focusing on contemporary audiovision at the intersection between theory and practice. Studies are offered at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels.
Most courses at the school are taught in Czech. However, FAMU International offers several programs in English, including a Master’s degree in filmmaking, a One-Year Intensive Program, and a Summer Filmmaking Campus. The school has over 10 programs in English and boasts 70+ years of filmmaking tradition.
The educational approach combines both practical and theoretical elements, with students acquiring a comprehensive set of skills and knowledge needed for successful careers in film, television, and related media. The curriculum includes practical workshop classes accompanied by history, culture, and art theory, contributing to a thorough artistic development.
The 1960s are considered FAMU’s “golden period,” during which many central figures of the Czechoslovak New Wave were students at the school, including world-famous directors such as Miloš Forman. Even during the normalization period following the Warsaw Pact invasion in August 1968, FAMU maintained a relatively free educational culture, resisting attempts from the regime to focus the school’s program on propaganda.
In the 1960s and 1970s, several young directors from Yugoslavia studied at FAMU, including Rajko Grlić, Srđan Karanović, Emir Kusturica, Goran Marković, Goran Paskaljević, and Lordan Zafranović. All of these directors became very successful in the following decades, prompting the coinage of the term “Praška filmska škola” (“Prague film school”), or “Praški talas” (“Prague wave”), which is sometimes considered a prominent subgenre of Yugoslav cinema.
The Hollywood Reporter has repeatedly named FAMU among the best film schools in the world, including as the 7th in the world in 2011, and 11th in the world in 2012, as well as the best school in Europe in both years. The magazine subsequently included FAMU in its annual lists of “Best International Film Schools,” and it was again included in an unranked top 15 list in the 2024 Hollywood Reporter ranking.
FAMU’s alumni have achieved remarkable success, with 6 Oscars won by its graduates. Notable alumni include directors Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová, and Agnieszka Holland, as well as numerous other influential filmmakers who have shaped cinema both in their home countries and internationally.
The faculty is a founding member of the CILECT network and also of the European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA). FAMU runs several short courses organized in cooperation with organizations such as the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), CET Academic Programs, and prestigious schools including New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Emerson College, Syracuse University, Columbia University, Yale University, and CalArts.
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