CET Czech Republic

I had a beyond incredible time with CET/FAMU Prague. I fell completely in love with the city and made many amazing friends. My experience living in the provided apartments was close to perfect and Prague always provided something new and interesting to do. The CET staff was also helpful, caring, and responsive.

The main issues I had with the overall experience were mainly academic. While I did feel like I had the undying support of multiple great teachers, namely Pavel Marek and Michael Gahut, making a film with this program felt extremely difficult, despite the fact that my group members and I have been studying film production for the past 3 years. This was mostly due to the disorganization and mistakes made by the production team hired by CET/FAMU to help us. Nevertheless, we were still able to make a few good connections through our set and do not regret the overall experience working with 35mm film.

Other than that, doing something I love in a completely different country and culture was a once in a lifetime opportunity that has shaped me further as a student, filmmaker, and human being. I definitely recommend this program and destination.

One of the best parts about this study abroad program is that you live in apartments instead of dorms. Apartments ranged from 2 to 5 students, but the apartments with more students had the space to accommodate them. Since we were enrolled at CET and at FAMU we had classes in both buildings, but they were only 15 minutes away from our apartments by tram. All of the CET FAMU students lived in the same apartment building which made it easy to collaborate and spend time together, but we also quickly became immersed in Czech culture because we had to visit grocery stores and use public transit on our own!

CET provides students in this program with a budget for film and other supplies for projects, which is not only very kind of them but also makes the program accessible for students from all socio-economic backgrounds. We worked on weekly assignments for the first half of the semester and spent the second half of the semester working on our final projects which were displayed in a public gallery for a week. This program includes working with both film and digital cameras, so bring one of each if you have them!

Other highlights include very kind staff members and incredible optional weekend trips to small Czech towns and even Munich!

CET Prague was an incredible experience! The program is really great for filmmaking, especially if you have made a film. If you have not, it isn't impossible, you just have some work to do to catch up. The professors are pretty hands off as far as helping you figure it out, its very trial and error. Of course, thats okay, but since you get the (really cool) chance to make 16mm or 35mm film in this program, its nice to know what you're doing.

As far as Prague, its an incredible city to study abroad in. Czech is a fun language, theres PLENTY to do, and so many pretty parks and beer gardens. I also had the chance to go to hiking at nearby state parks. It was so much fun. Another Pro is that Prague is so central that traveling is so easy. The program handles many of the details, I would for sure recommend it!

CET Prague really lived up to all of my study abroad expectations. From the housing placement, to the Czech buddies, to the travelling seminars, to the small program, I really could not have asked for more. I really feel like I got more out of my time in Prague than a lot of the other Prague programs because of CET. I appreciated that our public transportation pass was included as well as all of the activities on the travelling seminar that took us to Budapest, Krakow, Vienna, and Mikulov.

First and foremost, this program can be everything you've wanted from a film study abroad program, or it could be relatively mundane and uninformative – it's ultimately up to you which it is. The educational style is very different from that in the U.S., there aren't nearly as many deadlines or assignments. And, more or less, the ultimate goal is always your final film, not the smaller projects in-between. Also, specifically because of the program we are a part of, some of the professors are more artists than teachers. So, sometimes in the classroom, especially with the language barrier (the Professors' proficiency in English varies from ok to completely fluent), it may seem like you're not getting what you expected.

BUT, this is where it's up to you! All of the professors are VERY capable professionals in their craft, and they want more than anything to talk to you about it. Take them out for a beer, go down to Klub FAMU, and talk about literally anything that comes on your mind (sometimes it doesn't even have to be about film, although that's the topic that stays incredibly interesting). A lot of the knowledge I've learned through this program has been through one-on-one consultations and meetings, it's just so helpful to work with true professionals. If you want to glide through the program and just get by, you probably could, but you're not coming to film production at FAMU for that. If you want to learn, you can and you will, just look out for the opportunities and people. In other words, don't expect everything to come to you. It's there, just grab it!

Having a final film to work on is the other truly amazing part of the program. First of all it's one of the only ones left that still uses real 16mm/35mm film (depending on your group). The other thing is you're not weighted down with a long list of requirements like one may expect from group projects assigned back at your home institution. Don't fret, they don't let you go wild with no restraints, but it is YOUR film, and you can ultimately make it what you want. Your last month will be intensive, but you'll learn so much just going through the experience of film production for your own real film.

Prague's a great place to study abroad: things are far cheaper than in Western Europe, the city is incredible (not too big, not too small), and the culture is refreshing. But more than anything else, if you're looking at film production at FAMU what you care about is the film. So, from somebody who's been here, it's an experience that can be the pinnacle of your academic career – if you put the work in.

As I had never traveled out of the country before, I was very concerned about how living abroad would be, from both an academic setting as well as a general adapting to life not in America. But CET was very helpful in all aspects, from ensuring proper equivalencies would be acquired at my home institution, to knowing where to buy groceries. I also loved how they organized trips to places like Cesky Krumlov that I never would have even considered going on my own.

Choosing to study abroad with CET Prague was one of the best choices I've made!

CET itself is a really unique program which offers opportunities that few other programs offer. When talking to my friends on other programs, they could not believe all the opportunities we had with CET. The traveling seminar to Poland, Austria, and Hungary is incredibly unique and one of the best weeks I've ever had. A perfect balance between lectures, planned tours, and activities, and free time. And when there wasn't anything planned, CET gave us the opportunity to visit museums and reimbursed us for our tickets-- they go above and beyond with things like this! Throughout the semester, they also plan several day trips to places like Kutna Hora, Jáchymov, Terezín, etc. Finally, they also gave us the opportunity to attend an opera and sports event (soccer, hockey, etc.) which I have never heard of other programs doing. CET made sure that we had every opportunity to get to know Prague, the Czech Republic, and Central Europe as a whole.

There is a really wide variety of classes offered so you can find ones you would enjoy and I really learned a lot over the course of the semester. Often, my classes included excursions to various areas in Prague which I may not have gone to on my own and added a nice variety so we weren't always just sitting in a classroom.

Finally, the staff in Prague is absolutely incredible! Maggie (the student life coordinator) was always suggesting great places to go and was really helpful in answering all my questions about Prague. You can really tell she cares about the students here. Kim, the director, is very approachable and easy to talk to. The rest of the resident directors are really great and knowledgeable!

Overall, I'd recommend this program to anyone!

I spent the spring term in Prague studying with CET and at FAMU. FAMU is one of the leading art schools in Prague and many alums go on to do incredible things. There is a very tight-knit artist community in Prague, especially when it comes to filmmakers and photographers and studying in Prague at FAMU gave me a sense of that and an access point into that world.

The program is great in that you are required to take several classes with a core group of CET photography students. In my case there were 10 of us CET Photography students so we had 3 main classes together lead by CET. These classes were terrific. I loved our Fine Art Photography course taught by Stepanka Stein. She was an incredible professor and is a very successful photographer as well. In this course we had several small assignments in the beginning of the term, and the later half of the semester was devoted to a larger project of our choosing to be hung in our final exhibition, and the making of a photo book. In addition to regular class meetings we would often visit galleries and exhibitions around Prague as a class, and had several technical lighting seminars (with professional commercial photographers, interesting locations, models, make-up artists, etc.). This class was by far my favorite part of the program and in the end I produced work that I am proud of.

Additionally, we were able to enroll in photography classes at FAMU. This was initially very exciting, however, the system for enrolling was a bit all over the place and therefore we photography students did not have our schedules solidified for at least a month after arriving in Prague. For me, this was a bit of a challenge as I like to have a schedule and stick to it. The courses at FAMU were very different than what I was used to as an art student studying at a Liberal Arts college. I signed up for 3 FAMU electives. None of them had specific assignments but were more spaces for students and their professors to come together to talk about their work and process. I think that is a great system if that is what you're used to it, however, as someone being thrown into these classes not knowing what to expect, it was difficult for me to understand what was expected of me. These classes did prove to be a great way to meet Czech students. It was also very interesting to take classes with FAMU professors as most, if not all of them, are successful photographers and teaching is more of a side gig. Therefore, I was introduced to a lot of well known artists and able to consult with them.

The living situation was terrific. Apartments were clean, furnished with the basic necessities and I had a great experience with my American roommates and my Czech buddy. My apartment was in Praha 7, a terrific neighborhood with easy transportation to the city center, several beautiful parks, great cafes and bars, and lots of art. I could not have asked for a better place to live.