Meet Prague Film School: The Institution Betting That Access Beats Scale

Founded in 2004, Prague Film School provides full-time programmes in filmmaking, documentary film production and acting for film, alongside intensive four-week workshops. The English-language school welcomes students from more than 30 countries each year and is deliberately small in scale, with up to 100 filmmakers enrolled annually. Its model is built around close access to teachers, mentors, professional equipment and production facilities.

The opening of the new enrollment cycle comes as the Czech Republic enters another phase of changes to its audiovisual production incentive system. Under the current programme administered by the Czech Audiovisual Fund, qualifying live-action feature films, fictional series and documentaries can receive incentives equivalent to 25% of eligible Czech expenditure, while qualifying animated and digital productions can receive 35%. The maximum incentive is CZK 450 million per project.

Changes taking effect in 2026 also include streamlined project administration, revised minimum expenditure and runtime requirements across project categories, and the inclusion of documentary series within the incentive programme. The developments follow reforms introduced in 2025, when the principal production incentive increased from 20% to 25% and the higher 35% rate was introduced for qualifying animation and digital production.

India has also emerged as an important part of Prague Film School’s international community, with the school seeing substantial interest from Indian students looking for practical, internationally oriented film training. That connection is reflected in the achievements of its Indian alumni. Cinematographer Jay Oza has built a notable body of work including Gully Boy, while filmmaker Shalini Usha Devi won Best Screenplay for Soorarai Pottru at India’s 68th National Film Awards. Alumnus Raam Reddy’s The Fable was selected for the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival, and Harsh Vaibhav, screenwriter of the Assamese folk-horror feature Bokshi, saw the film selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam and other international genre festivals. More recently, several Prague Film School alumni contributed to Anuja, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film in 2025, further demonstrating how graduates connected to India are moving from the school’s international classrooms into significant productions and festival circuits worldwide.

For students arriving at Prague Film School, the significance of studying in the Czech capital extends beyond the classroom. Prague has a century-long filmmaking history and continues to serve as a production base for Czech and international projects. The school’s approach is designed around that environment, treating the city not simply as its location but as an active part of students’ filmmaking experience.

“Prague itself, a working set for global productions, is part of the curriculum,” according to the school’s media kit. Students also have access, through school discounts or free of charge, to local filmmaking resources including Barrandov Film Studios, Czech Television’s film lab, historical and modern filming locations, and contacts with specialised film-service organisations.
The school’s filmmaking programme is structured around production from the outset. Students cover screenwriting, directing, cinematography and post-production, writing, directing, shooting and editing four short films of their own within the first three months. By the end of the first semester, students may have worked across close to 20 productions before specialising during the second semester in screenwriting, directing, camera or post-production and completing a diploma film.

Prague Film School also offers Acting for Film, a screen-focused programme designed particularly for actors moving from theatre into filmed media, as well as Documentary Film-Making, which combines practical production with dramaturgy, directing, script development, theory and analysis. Four-week filmmaking and acting workshops provide shorter intensive options, with each workshop concluding in a public showcase screening at a local cinema.

Students train with professional filmmaking equipment including Arri Alexa and Arri Alexa Mini cameras, RED Epic, Blackmagic, Sony XDCAM and Canon systems. Facilities also include Avid Media Composer editing systems, an Avid Pro Tools recording studio, post-production studios, a green screen studio, acting studios and a digitised film and sound library.

The school itself reflects the intersection between Prague’s history and its contemporary production culture. Prague Film School operates from a UNESCO heritage building dating to the 14th century in the historic centre of the city, with modern filmmaking technology and production facilities housed behind its historic façade.

Co-Founder Tariq Hager helped establish Prague Film School in 2004. A Brown University philosophy graduate who later studied in New York University’s PhD programme in Cultural Anthropology, Hager had also acted in film and television as a child. The school’s educational philosophy has subsequently developed around accelerated professional training, close mentorship and an international learning environment rather than the scale associated with larger academies.

With students arriving from more than 30 countries each year and faculty drawn from Czech and international professional communities, Prague Film School combines European art-house influences with the traditions of American independent cinema. Its one-year format is intended to move students rapidly from filmmaking fundamentals towards a professional-level body of work.

As the Czech Republic continues strengthening the conditions surrounding its audiovisual sector, the 2026/27 intake will enter a city where professional production activity and film education exist side by side.

About Prague Film School

Founded in 2004, Prague Film School provides accelerated, practical training in filmmaking, documentary film production and acting for film. Based in a 14th-century UNESCO heritage building in the historic heart of Prague, the English-language school welcomes students from more than 30 countries annually. Its programmes combine intensive hands-on production, small class sizes, international faculty and access to professional-grade filmmaking and post-production facilities.

Media Contact:
Admissions Office
Prague Film School
Pstrossova 19, Prague 1, 110 00, Czech Republic
Phone: +420 257534013
Email: admissions@praguefilmschool.cz
General Enquiries: info@praguefilmschool.cz
Website: praguefilmschool.cz