FAMU 80: Department of Documentary Filmmaking

Documentary filmmaking has been taught at FAMU since its founding in 1946 as part of the Department of Directing. It became an independent discipline in 1961, when director Antonín F. Šulc and then-dean Bedřich Pilný submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Education and Culture to establish a programme in film and television journalism. They demanded that the teaching of "all types and genres of documentary and popular-scientific film, including newsreels and television programmes of similar character" should not be merely a marginal supplement, but a fully autonomous subject of study and care.

The first students entered the new programme in the academic year 1962/63. One of them was Jiří Danda (born 1944), who will attend the screening and discuss the early days of the Department of Documentary Filmmaking. He will also recall filming the reportage Majáles 65 together with the group "Stativ".

Since the department's founding, more than 400 students have passed through it, many of whom have pursued careers in documentary and other filmmaking in directing, screenwriting, dramaturgy, cinematography, or production roles. Among them are holders of Czech Lions and American Oscars. Others work after graduation at festivals, television stations, radio stations, editorial offices, or schools.

The programme features a ninety-minute collection of student works – not a "best of" selection, but a cross-section: from each decade of the department's existence, one work will be screened, representing different themes, authorial approaches, and types of exercises from various years of study at the Department of Documentary Filmmaking. After the screening, there will be a discussion with the present filmmakers.