ThePrague film school[1] (Serbo-Croatian:Praška filmska škola,Прашка филмска школа), also known as theCzech film school[2] (Serbo-Croatian:Češka filmska škola,Чешка филмска школа) or thePrague wave[3] (Serbo-Croatian:Praški talas,Прашки талас) was a group ofYugoslav film directors who rose to prominence in the 1970s after graduating from theFilm and TV School of theAcademy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). Five prominent Yugoslav directors born from 1944 to 1947 attended classes at FAMU:Lordan Zafranović (b. 1944),Srđan Karanović (b. 1945),Goran Marković (b. 1946),Goran Paskaljević (1947-2020), andRajko Grlić (b. 1947).[4]Emir Kusturica, who was born is 1954, is sometimes also considered a member of thePraška škola. CinematographersŽivko Zalar (who has worked with Grlić, Karanović and Marković),Predrag Pega Popović (who has worked with Zafranović and Marković),Vilko Filač (who has worked with Kusturica),Valentin Perko, andPavel Grzinčič,[5] also studied at FAMU, as did editorAndrija Zafranović, who worked with Kusturica and his brother Lordan Zafranović.[4][6]
As they were all FAMU students at the end of 1960s and the beginning of 1970s, the directors of thePraška škola were mostly influenced by the directors ofCzechoslovak New Wave, such asMiloš Forman,Jiří Menzel, andOscar-winning FAMU professors,Ján Kadár andElmar Klos.[7] The events of thePrague Spring andWarsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 also strongly influenced thePraška škola and formed the basis for the loosely defined group.[1]
The beginning of the emergence of thePraška škola came in 1968, when Grlić, as a student, directed his first professional television documentary entitledMi iz Praga (Us from Prague).[8] The film, produced byTV Zagreb, focused on the interactions between the Yugoslav students in Prague. In this film, Marković states it was him and Karanović that had enrolled first in FAMU, prompting the others to follow in their steps.[9] The first feature film directed by aPraška škola member was Zafranović'sSunday (Serbo-Croatian:Nedjelja) (1969), starring Goran Marković,[10] followed by Karanović'sDruštvena igra (1972) and Grlić'sWhichever Way the Ball Bounces (Serbo-Croatian:Kud puklo da puklo) (1974), which were praised by the modernism-influenced film critics, but not yet universally accepted by the wider Yugoslav audience.
However, the second half of the 1970s brought fame to the members of the group, and the termPraška škola was coined by critics after the success of its members at several Yugoslav and international film festivals. In 1976, the TV seriesGrlom u jagode, written by Grlić and Karanović and directed by Karanović, was highly successful in Yugoslavia. The same year, Paskaljević received theGolden Arena for Best Director award at thePula Film Festival for his first feature filmBeach Guard in Winter (Serbo-Croatian:Čuvar plaže u zimskom periodu). In 1977, Marković's debut filmSpecial Education (Serbo-Croatian:Specijalno vaspitanje) won theFIPRESCI award at theInternational Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg. In 1978, all four main prizes at the Pula Film Festival were awarded to films directed by former FAMU students: Zafranović'sOccupation in 26 Pictures (Serbo-Croatian:Okupacija u 26 slika), Grlić'sBravo maestro, Paskaljević'sThe Dog Who Loved Trains (Serbo-Croatian:Pas koji je volio vozove), and Karanović'sMiris poljskog cveća, for whichŽivko Zalar was also awarded theGolden Arena for Best Cinematography.
Throughout the1980s, the termPraška škola was associated with many successful films, popular with critics, as well as the general public. Seven out of tenGolden Arena for Best Director awards from 1976 to 1986 went to thePraška škola, with each member except for Marković receiving at least one. The success of two-timePalme d'Or winner Emir Kusturica, who attended FAMU several years after the other members of thePraška škola, further boosted the academy's reputation in field of Yugoslav cinema.
The legitimacy of the termPraška škola is sometimes doubted, as the members themselves never used the term to describe their work, and their work varied in artistic sensibility and directorial approach, sometimes considerably.[3] In 1990, Marković wrote a book entitledČeška škola ne postoji (The Czech School Doesn't Exist), in which he describes his days at FAMU, his relationships with the other students and their artistic similarities and differences.[2] In a 2001 interview, Karanović expressed strong opposition to the term, saying:
However, retrospectives of thePraška škola were held in Belgrade in 2001,[11] and in Zagreb in 2014, when all the initialPraška škola members, except for Karanović, met and reminisced about their Prague years.[1][12] In August 2014, Zafranović, Marković, Paskaljević and Grlić announced they would be filming together for the first time. Grlić and Marković said that ananthology film with the working titleNirvana was to be filmed in the memory of their professorElmar Klos.[7][13] However, this film never came to fruition. In September 2018, a program dedicated to thePraška škola entitledMi iz Praga 1968.-2018. was held in Rijeka, and Paskaljević, Karanović, Zafranović and Grlić joined a panel discussion.
As of July 2024, all the founding members ofPraška škola are still alive and active, except for Goran Paskaljević, who died on 25 September 2020.
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