%0 Journal Article %1 doi:10.1080/01439685.2021.1936981 %A Dvořáková, Tereza Czesany %D 2021 %I Routledge %J Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television %K cold-war czechoslovakia film-education %N 3 %P 511-526 %R 10.1080/01439685.2021.1936981 %T The Limits of Political Influence – the Limits of Creativity: The First 25 Years of FAMU %U https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2021.1936981 %V 41 %X This study deals with the Czechoslovak film school FAMU from its inception until the 1960s. Several specific issues from the history of the institution are selected. The study examines to what extent the establishment of the school was influenced by the Communist Party (which strongly influenced Czechoslovak cultural policy from 1945 before seising monopolistic political power in February 1948) and if the Soviet VGIK was really a model for FAMU, as is sometimes maintained. The second area of interest is the production practice of student films, which the author uses to illustrate the institutional, as well as broader social and political changes in the school during the first 25 years of its existence. Emphasis is placed on topics such as students’ creative freedom (including their occasionally dissenting approaches), formal versus real competencies in the initiation of a film project, approval mechanisms and possible circumvention of the given rules, etc. The study works with those student films that were officially distributed in Czechoslovakia at the time. It is based on original archival and oral history research combined with secondary sources, including commemorative audio-visual works. The study’s methodological approach is rooted in the history of film institutions, production studies, and the political history of film.

@article{doi:10.1080/01439685.2021.1936981, abstract = {This study deals with the Czechoslovak film school FAMU from its inception until the 1960s. Several specific issues from the history of the institution are selected. The study examines to what extent the establishment of the school was influenced by the Communist Party (which strongly influenced Czechoslovak cultural policy from 1945 before seising monopolistic political power in February 1948) and if the Soviet VGIK was really a model for FAMU, as is sometimes maintained. The second area of interest is the production practice of student films, which the author uses to illustrate the institutional, as well as broader social and political changes in the school during the first 25 years of its existence. Emphasis is placed on topics such as students’ creative freedom (including their occasionally dissenting approaches), formal versus real competencies in the initiation of a film project, approval mechanisms and possible circumvention of the given rules, etc. The study works with those student films that were officially distributed in Czechoslovakia at the time. It is based on original archival and oral history research combined with secondary sources, including commemorative audio-visual works. The study’s methodological approach is rooted in the history of film institutions, production studies, and the political history of film. }, added-at = {2021-10-24T01:47:27.000+0200}, author = {Dvořáková, Tereza Czesany}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/278a4c54ce6176110b187e3ca6d011be7/jpooley}, doi = {10.1080/01439685.2021.1936981}, eprint = {https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2021.1936981}, interhash = {0ac6750c0b512825a7f85e36801dc41c}, intrahash = {78a4c54ce6176110b187e3ca6d011be7}, journal = {Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television}, keywords = {cold-war czechoslovakia film-education}, number = 3, pages = {511-526}, publisher = {Routledge}, timestamp = {2021-10-24T01:47:27.000+0200}, title = {The Limits of Political Influence – the Limits of Creativity: The First 25 Years of FAMU}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2021.1936981}, volume = 41, year = 2021 }