With its well-preserved historic cinemas and regular film festivals, Prague is one of the most attractive cities for both big budget and small, independent cinema in all of Europe. This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the history of cinema culture in Prague and an exploration of the city’s current status as a major world center of film production and exhibition. The course will end with the viewing of a new first-run film and a discussion with local experts about the film. The goal of the course is to use Prague as a case-study for examining European cinema culture, while also highlighting the uniqueness of Prague as an important global film capital, both historically and in the contemporary world.

In addition to learning about major filmic developments in the city throughout the 20th century and viewing examples of films made in Prague, students will visit a number of important sites for film production, exhibition, education, and preservation including historic cinemas, film studios, shooting locations for famous films, the Prague film school, the national film archive and a functioning editing room.