The Prague film school (, ), also known as the Czech film school (, ) or the Prague wave (, ) was a group of Yugoslav film directors who rose to prominence in the 1970s after graduating from the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). Five prominent Yugoslav directors born from 1944 to 1947 attended classes at FAMU: Lordan Zafranovià(b. 1944), SrÃÂan Karanovià(b. 1945), Goran Markovià(b. 1946), Goran Paskaljevià(1947-2020), and Rajko Grlià(b. 1947). Emir Kusturica, who was born is 1954, is sometimes also considered a member of the Praà ¡ka à ¡kola. Cinematographers à ½ivko Zalar (who has worked with GrliÃÂ, Karanoviàand MarkoviÃÂ), Predrag Pega Popovià(who has worked with Zafranoviàand MarkoviÃÂ), Vilko Filaà(who has worked with Kusturica), Valentin Perko, and Pavel GrzinÃÂiÃÂ, also studied at FAMU, as did editor Andrija ZafranoviÃÂ, who worked with Kusturica and his brother Lordan ZafranoviÃÂ.
As they were all FAMU students at the end of 1960s and the beginning of 1970s, the directors of the Praà ¡ka à ¡kola were mostly influenced by the directors of Czechoslovak New Wave, such as Miloà ¡ Forman, Jià ÂàMenzel, and Oscar-winning FAMU professors, Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos. The events of the Prague Spring and Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 also strongly influenced the Praà ¡ka à ¡kola and formed the basis for the loosely defined group.
The beginning of the emergence of the Praà ¡ka à ¡kola came in 1968, when GrliÃÂ, as a student, directed his first professional television documentary entitled Mi iz Praga (Us from Prague). The film, produced by TV Zagreb, focused on the interactions between the Yugoslav students in Prague. In this film, Markoviàstates it was him and Karanoviàthat had enrolled first in FAMU, prompting the others to follow in their steps. The first feature film directed by a Praà ¡ka à ¡kola member was ZafranoviÃÂ's Sunday () (1969), starring Goran MarkoviÃÂ, followed by KaranoviÃÂ's Druà ¡tvena igra (1972) and GrliÃÂ's Whichever Way the Ball Bounces () (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 term Praà ¡ka à ¡kola was coined by critics after the success of its members at several Yugoslav and international film festivals. In 1976, the TV series Grlom u jagode, written by Grliàand Karanoviàand directed by KaranoviÃÂ, was highly successful in Yugoslavia. The same year, Paskaljeviàreceived the Golden Arena for Best Director award at the Pula Film Festival for his first feature film Beach Guard in Winter (). In 1977, MarkoviÃÂ's debut film Special Education () won the FIPRESCI award at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg. In 1978, all four main prizes at the Pula Film Festival were awarded to films directed by former FAMU students: ZafranoviÃÂ's Occupation in 26 Pictures (), GrliÃÂ's Bravo maestro, PaskaljeviÃÂ's The Dog Who Loved Trains (), and KaranoviÃÂ's Miris poljskog cveÃÂa, for which à ½ivko Zalar was also awarded the Golden Arena for Best Cinematography.
Throughout the 1980s, the term Praà ¡ka à ¡kola was associated with many successful films, popular with critics, as well as the general public. Seven out of ten Golden Arena for Best Director awards from 1976 to 1986 went to the Praà ¡ka à ¡kola, with each member except for Markoviàreceiving at least one. The success of two-time Palme d'Or winner Emir Kusturica, who attended FAMU several years after the other members of the Praà ¡ka à ¡kola, further boosted the academy's reputation in field of Yugoslav cinema.
The legitimacy of the term Praà ¡ka à ¡kola 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. In 1990, Markoviàwrote a book entitled ÃÂeà ¡ka à ¡kola 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. In a 2001 interview, Karanoviàexpressed strong opposition to the term, saying:
However, retrospectives of the Praà ¡ka à ¡kola were held in Belgrade in 2001, and in Zagreb in 2014, when all the initial Praà ¡ka à ¡kola members, except for KaranoviÃÂ, met and reminisced about their Prague years. In August 2014, ZafranoviÃÂ, MarkoviÃÂ, Paskaljeviàand Grliàannounced they would be filming together for the first time. Grliàand Markoviàsaid that an anthology film with the working title Nirvana was to be filmed in the memory of their professor Elmar Klos. However, this film never came to fruition. In September 2018, a program dedicated to the Praà ¡ka à ¡kola entitled Mi iz Praga 1968.-2018. was held in Rijeka, and PaskaljeviÃÂ, KaranoviÃÂ, Zafranoviàand Grliàjoined a panel discussion.
As of July 2024, all the founding members of Praà ¡ka à ¡kola are still alive and active, except for Goran PaskaljeviÃÂ, who died on 25 September 2020.