Prague Film School
Film slating at Prague Film School

filmmaking courses

art & craft of filmmaking

Prague Film School filmmaking programs provide foundation training and specialization studies in the areas of screenwriting, directing, cinematography and post‑production. Combining lectures and practical work in the classroom with an intensive production load outside of class, Prague Film School inculcates the practical skills and theoretical knowledge to make quality films.

Filmmaking

Why Prague Film School?

What makes Prague Film School special?

Praxis‑oriented

One would be hard‑pressed to find a program that provides as much practical exposure to filmmaking. More than 400 films are shot per year at Prague Film School: each student in the year program can produce 4-5 films of his/her own and participates on as many as 30 other productions. Crewing on classmates' productions is what turns technique into instinct. By rotating through camera, sound, gaffing, AC and grip on up to 30 other sets, students encounter dozens of different directing styles, budget constraints and problem‑solving approaches they would never meet solo. The operating principle of Prague Film School is training, and we believe as with instruments or with languages, the only way to develop fluency is to practice.

High‑end facilities

Prague Film School is well‑stocked with the latest cutting‑edge equipment used in professional film productions throughout the world. Students have immediate access to the school's fleet of cameras, including RED, Arri, Blackmagic, Canon and Sony high‑definition cameras, in addition to high‑end lighting, sound and grip. The equipment can also be checked‑out for personal work / projects.

Intensive

The type of student who chooses Prague Film School comes to us because he or she has essentially only one year in terms of time or financial resources to cross from where he or she is in life at the moment into the world of professional filmmaking. We then have only one year to bring these students to a level of competence where they can operate professionally. As such the program is highly squeezed, with up to 10 hours of classes daily, and weekend practical activities.

Faculty‑student relations

Core faculty are brought in from around the world. While all teachers are accomplished professional filmmakers, their primary purpose in Prague is to teach students at Prague Film School. The dynamics are then what you find at exclusive boarding schools and small colleges in the U.S., where the teachers are highly devoted to their students and accessible. Faculty also embody the school's ideology of integrating European art house with American independent cinemas.

Diversity of student body

In a student body of 100 students, 30-35 countries are represented. Nearly every other student is from a different part of the world, but there's a sub‑cultural glue binding them together. Students live and breathe film together.

Liberalism

Most students at our school have completed undergraduate studies and see their time at film school as a cherished chance to wed their deep interests with a vocation. As such, the administration treats all students as responsible adults and trusts students to take full responsibility for their studies. The school does not interfere with students' artistic choices.

What does the program offer?

  • A total immersion program in filmmaking, with over 400 short films shot at the school annually and an alumni network spanning 40+ countries
  • Practical Industry‑level training - over 400 short films are shot at the school annually
  • Top‑tier international teachers and Oscar‑nominated film professionals in the classroom and on set
  • Opportunity to live and breath filmmaking with like‑minded artists from all over the world
  • Guaranteed acquisition of technical skills in all core areas of filmmaking
  • The best gear in the Industry
  • Material for a show reel compiled from up to 30 short films, commercials and music videos from 1 minute to 30 minutes in length

How will the program help filmmakers get into the industry?

  • Graduating students have access to a robust and ever growing international alumni network offering access to production houses and film projects spanning 6 continents and 40 countries
  • Students leave with substantial material for a quality show reel – the de facto calling card in the film industry
  • The Prague Film School diploma gives students an international competitive advantage when applying for crew or job positions
  • Career courses, workshops and seminars prepare students for finding their way after graduation
  • Annual local and international job announcements posted school‑wide
  • Symbolic capital: the Prague Film School diploma gives students an competitive advantage when applying for international jobs or crew positions
Students on set at Prague Film School

Student careers

The majority of Prague Film School students come to us in hopes of using us as a stepping stone into the Industry. While the backgrounds of our students are heterogeneous, their aims for the future are homogeneous – to make a living making films. The first thing the school does to help them in this pursuit is equip all with the skillset to make it in the real world. Distinguishing Prague Film School graduates from those of many other film programs is that all our alumni have the skills to fill all crew positions upon graduation. As such, Prague Film School graduates have been uniquely successful at forging careers in filmmaking after graduation.

★ Sample Alumni Career Trajectories

Ziya Demirel (2012) wrote and directed the acclaimed Turkish/French short film Salı/Tuesday (Istos Film, 2015), which participated in the main competition at Cannes, as well as Sundance, Toronto and Rotterdam. His first feature, Ela & Hilmi and Ali (Istos Film), premiered in the National Competition of the 2022 Istanbul Film Festival, where it won four awards: the FIPRESCI Prize, Best Actress (Ece Yüksel), a Special Mention for Denizhan Akbaba and Best Screenplay, shared with co‑writer Nazlı Elif Durlu for this film and for Zuhal, which Ziya also co‑wrote. The film then took seven awards at the Adana Golden Boll Film Festival, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay, and earned Ziya an emerging‑director award at the Ayvalık Film Festival. It reached Turkish cinemas in April 2023. His second feature, The Greatest Funeral Hits (En Güzel Cenaze Şarkıları), is a six‑chapter tragicomedy about a retired teacher whose online relationship with an over‑credentialed “doctor” ripples through her family and friends. Co‑written with Yusuf Tan Demirel and produced by Istos Film’s Anna Maria Aslanoğlu with Sky Films, it involved four fellow PFS alumni: Yusuf Demirel (co‑writer), Doron Tempert (cinematographer), Henrique Cartaxo (editor) and Melis Balaban (associate producer). The film had its world premiere in the “Asia’s Future” section of the Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2025 and then competed in the Antalya Golden Orange national competition. At the Istanbul Film Festival in April 2026 it won Best Screenplay, plus Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor for its cast.

Raam Reddy (2012) studied directing at PFS, where he met cinematographer Doron Tempert, who later shot his debut feature Thithi (2015). The Kannada‑language comedy‑drama, cast with non‑professional actors from a village in Karnataka, won both the Golden Leopard – Filmmakers of the Present and the Best First Feature award at Locarno. It then won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada and over twenty international awards. His second feature, Jugnuma – The Fable (2024), is a magical‑realism drama starring Manoj Bajpayee. It had its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Encounters competition, making it only the second Indian film in 30 years to compete in a key Berlinale section. It went on to win Best Film at the Leeds International Film Festival and the Special Jury Award at MAMI Mumbai, and opened in cinemas across India in September 2025. Raam is now developing his third feature, Lavender Fire, a Gen Z drama set in Mumbai’s modelling and influencer scene. He plans to cast newcomers and write with them, as he did on Thithi.

Aeden O'Connor Agurcia's (2016) debut feature, 90 Minutes, follows four interlinked stories about contemporary Honduras, united by football. It was made by a small team of recent graduates who worked pro bono and raised the funds themselves. It premiered at the 37th Miami International Film Festival in 2020, where it won the Audience Award. Outsider Pictures acquired it for U.S. distribution and worldwide sales, and it later screened in Locarno’s Open Doors showcase. Aeden is an alum of the 2023 Sony Diverse Writers Program and directed the short film Homo Deus (2025). His next feature, Sun Falls (Cae el Sol), is a Honduran–Mexican–Guatemalan co‑production starring Mayra Batalla (Prayers for the Stolen). It follows a young filmmaker who is drawn into gang life during Honduras’ 2018 migrant caravans. The project won the Bolivia Lab Industria Prize at Málaga’s MAFF in 2023 and is now supported by Film Independent’s fiscal sponsorship.

Ani Simon‑Kennedy (2011) studied at PFS, where she met cinematographer Cailin Yatsko. Together, they founded Bicephaly Pictures, a full‑service production company based in New York that has made two features and hundreds of shorts, music videos and branded campaigns for clients including LEGO, Teen Vogue, Colgate and Smirnoff. Ani wrote and directed the feature film The Short History of the Long Road, starring Sabrina Carpenter in her first lead role. It premiered in the US Narrative Competition at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, where it received a Special Jury Mention for Best Screenplay. FilmRise acquired it and released it in 2020, and Rotten Tomatoes critics called it a “potential breakout vehicle for its writer‑director as well as its star.” In 2025, Ani was named one of The Gotham’s Series Creators to Watch and took part in Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative director mentorship program. She is now developing several film and television projects.

Ran Li (2015) is a Chinese director whose PFS diploma film Lucie went to over 60 international film festivals and won over 20 awards, including Best Fiction Film at the Beijing Independent Film Festival. Her first feature, Till Love Do Us Part, a China–Czech co‑production shot in Beijing and Prague, had its world premiere in the 1-2 Competition of the Warsaw Film Festival in 2022. It then won the New Vision Award for Best Feature Film at Cinequest in 2023. The film follows a Chinese university lecturer who falls in love with a theatre director while on a scholarly exchange in Prague, and must choose between a secure future and an uncertain new life. After a festival run across Europe and the US, it opened in Chinese cinemas in December 2024.

Haolu Wang (2013) left a career in banking to study film at PFS, where the Czech director Jiří Menzel became a mentor. She then earned an MA in Directing Fiction at the UK’s National Film and Television School on a BAFTA scholarship. Her NFTS graduation short The Pregnant Ground premiered at Palm Springs ShortFest in 2019. She went on to direct the Doctor Who special Legend of the Sea Devils (2022) and the second half of Netflix’s Bodies (2023), which ranked first worldwide in its week of release and earned her a BAFTA TV Craft nomination for Emerging Talent: Fiction. In 2025 she directed “Hotel Reverie”, a Black Mirror episode starring Issa Rae and Emma Corrin, which brought her an NAACP Image Award nomination. Her feature project A Dutiful Wife, a psychological thriller, won the ArteKino International Award at Rotterdam’s CineMart in 2021.

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