Study abroad at the legendary film school FAMU in Prague

From: Tim Wojcik (email suppressed)
Date: Thu May 01 2008 - 13:29:25 PDT


Sent on behalf of Henry Hills, mentor of FAMU International
non-fiction filmmaking concentration. I am currently enrolled in this
program -- if you have questions, please contact me off list. Thanks.

One year program and MFA in English

FAMU International Program Description:

http://www.famu.cz/?c_id=7604

The One Year Academic Program at FAMU International aims to provide
its participants the opportunity to explore and become acquainted with
the broad range of crafts, professions, arts and skills that comprise
cinematic endeavor on both a practical and theoretical level.

This hands-on program includes a large variety of practical student
projects and exercises on formats from 16mm, 35mm, DVCam, HD, and
Digi-beta, both on location and in studio which are specifically
designed for the program curriculum, and which are supervised by FAMU
faculty and mentors. All mandatory practical exercises are included in
the price of tuition.

Students enrolled in the One Year Academic Program at FAMU
International create their own study plan based on a combination of
required core classes, mandatory courses, workshops and projects
within their selected Major Concentrations, together with selected
Elective Courses, as well as with non-credit lectures and cultural
excursions. All courses, seminars and workshops award credits under
the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System).

Teachers and mentors in the program include full-time faculty from the
ten degree-granting departments of FAMU, as well as other artists,
academics and film professionals as part-time faculty.

As an entry-level course, the Academic Program is best suited for
students interested in attaining a thorough background in audio-visual
media before pursuing more in-depth studies in filmmaking and related
media.

Major Concentrations:
1. Screenwriting and Dramaturgy Studies
2. Cinematography
3. Directing
4. Non-fiction filmmaking

Non-Fiction Concentration at FAMU International
Tutor: Henry Hills

Departing from FAMU International's traditional emphasis on making
short narrative films as team projects, students in this concentration
focus on making NON-narrative films on their own as individual
artists: actuality, structural, materiality, experimental, poetic,
abstract, documentary, as well as other non-narrative forms that are
not necessarily bound by theatrical presentation. Students shoot
independently on 16mm and edit work-prints on the flatbed, and also
pursue radical explorations of emerging digital possibilities. After
confirming or acquiring necessary skills (shooting digital video,
recording digital audio, editing in Final Cut Pro and related
programs, using a light meter, shooting 16mm on a Bolex, making tape
and cement splices, editing on a Steenbeck, etc.), students, working
closely with an artistic mentor, conceive, discuss, shoot, edit, and
complete at least two significant films during the year.

Complementing this program is a series of screenings by guest
filmmakers, primarily funded by a grant form the Trust for Mutual
Understanding. Recent guests have included Jim Jennings, Leslie
Thornton, Ernie Gehr, Jennifer Reeves, Vincent Grenier, Abigail Child,
Guy Sherwin, Scott Stark, Martina Kudlacek, Andras Szirtes, Ben
Russell, Woody Vesulka, Su Friedrich, Robert Beavers, Phill Niblock,
Bradley Eros, Janie Geiser, Lewis Klahr and Werner Nekes. Guest
scheduled for next year include Peggy Ahwesh, Keith Sanborn, Jeanne
Liotta, and Robert Nelson.

MFA-in-English program description:

http://www.famu.cz/?r_id=1646

Cinema and Digital Media is a two to three-year Master's follow-up
programme focusing on Screenwriting, Directing and/or Cinematography,
and open to anyone who has completed a Bachelor's degree in any
subject.

The Masterīs programme will be very intensive hands-on and theoretical
preparation from the very beginning, as the students will learn how to
work with a DVCam, HD and DigiBeta while adopting a professional
approach to the 16mm and 35mm film formats both on location and in the
studio, and taking a number of compulsory courses based on their
specialisation, complemented with suitable optional subjects,
workshops, and a number of ad-hoc modules – short intensive courses
taught by guest professional artists, theorists, and visiting
professors.

Application deadline for all programs: May 31, 2008

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For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.