Filmmaking Faculty

Nicolas graduated from ENSAV National film school (Toulouse) in 2006. He worked as a camera assistant for more than 10 years, with valuable experience as a focus-puller on international projects, such as Overdrive, Knightfall, and Carnival Row. He has also worked on more than 200 commercials. Moreover, Nicolas has had the opportunity to work closely with cast members like Omar Sy, Gerard Depardieu, Scott Eastwood, Ana de Armas, Sam Neill , Tim Roth, Donald Sutherland, William Fichtner, Carrie-Anne Moss, Nathalie Baye, and Tomer Sisley. Recently, he worked on the TV series Lupin (Netflix), Arte (Canis Familiaris 2023), Canal + (Neuf Mec 2022), the Czech feature film Jak přežít svého muže (2023), and among others.

In addition to the many credits listed above, he continuously works as a cinematographer for short-movies, commercials, and features films. He is passionate about travel, photography, and storytelling, which gives him the opportunity to share his knowledge with directors all over the world.

His recent projects were internationally-acknowledged and awarded in Nashville, Hollyshorts, Sitges, Girona, London, Kolkata and many other festivals.

Robin Kasparik graduated from Tomas Bata University in Zlín in directing and screenwriting. His short film “Séance” (2009) was screened at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Hollywood. He received permission to adapt Stephen King’s short story “I Am the Doorway” for film, and this work won Grand Jury Prize at the Nashville Film Festival 2017 and was screened at the horror/fantasy festival in Sitges. He also worked on multiple big co-production film sets in Prague for Netflix, HBO and Disney +  and etc.  

An internationally renowned Czech actor and stuntman, Martin Hub has brought his unique talent to some of the most iconic films in global cinema. With standout performances and stunt work in major Hollywood blockbusters such as Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, and Gladiator, where he served as Russell Crowe’s official stuntman, Martin has made his mark on the international stage. His expertise in choreographing action sequences and performing high-stakes stunts has been instrumental in films like James Bond, Mission Impossible, and Van Helsing. Don’t miss this exclusive masterclass, where Martin will share behind-the-scenes stories from his 30+ years in the industry, as well as his insights into the art of acting and stunt coordination.

Varvara Satunova is a film editor and mixed media filmmaker. She is a graduate of FAMU Prague in editing and of Masaryk University Brno in film studies. Varvara focuses on film language and audiovisual storytelling, often combining her theoretical knowledge with practical experience. She focuses on documentary, fiction, and experimental films.

Varvara worked as an editor on the short-film-poem We are the Epicentres of Earthquakes (Tomáš Hlaváček, 2020) and feature documentaries Housing Against Everyone (Tomáš Hlaváček, 2021), and The World According to My Dad (Marta Kovářová, 2023). She is currently working on other 2 projects as an editor – a feature documentary titled People on Sale, by Oleksi Chubun and Jan Hecht, and an experimental poem, In the Light of Noema by Tomáš Hlaváček. She is also developing her own found-footage film, A New Image of Man.

Matěj Podskalský is a screenwriter, director, and editor. He studied directing and editing at FAMU in Prague. Matěj focuses on animated films, but he is highly motivated and passionate about all audiovisual storytelling.

Matěj worked as a screenwriter and editor on the short animated film Red Shoes (Anna Podskalská, 2021), which was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. He is currently writing a screenplay for an animated feature film called Firebird, which is supported by the Czech Audiovisual Film Fund.

Matěj also has a lot of experience in the post-production field – he worked for four years in the post-production studio, UPP, where he collaborated on international films and tv series such as All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix), Das Boot (Bavaria Fiction), Munich Games (Sky Original), and others.

Michael Havas was born in Czechoslovakia in 1947 and soonafter his family was forced to emigrate. Michael grew up in New Zealand, where, in 1968, he graduated his MA with honors in English and German literature. Then in 1969-71, he was granted the Swiss Federal Scholarship at the University of Zurich, where Michael did his postgrad studies in medieval German and modern Swiss drama. Then Michael graduated from FAMU in 1979 with a master’s degree in documentary film.

Since 1972, Michael has written, directed and produced over 60 films, many of which have won international awards. He has worked for numerous TV networks and organizations, such as BBC Bristol, Channel 4, The Discovery Channel, New Zealand TV, Maori TV, Condor Features Zurich, Nomad Films International Australia, Czech Television, ARD, ZDF, ORF, Swiss TV, MTV Europe, Bertelsmann Publishers, Beyond Films Australia, Ravensburger Film and TV Germany, Koninck International London, Lumen Films Paris, Max Planck Society, and Amnesty International.

Michael has worked with such reputable filmmakers as Caroline Kennedy, Sir Peter Ustinov, Peter Gabriel, Erich von Däniken, Joseph Svoboda, Ester Krumbachová, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, Michael Frayn, Denis Marks, the Brothers Quay, Rem Petrov, HSH Hans Adam of Liechtenstein, David Crystal, Jan Švankmajer, Jiří Bárta, Pavel Koutský, Olivia Newton-John, Veronika Žilková, Jan Malíř, Igor Luther, Axel Corti, Martin Šácha, Julian Arahanga, Steve Lichtag and many others.

Jan Tesitel is a graduate of directing from FAMU in Prague. During his studies, he shot a short film, People Involved, which was nominated for Best Student Film at the Czech Lion Awards (2011). His first feature film David (2015) premiered in the East of the West competition at Karlovy Vary Film Festival. He is currently in the development stage of his second feature film Plague, produced by Unit and Sofa Praha. He also works as a director on numerous programs for Czech Television and commercials. Jan worked as an Assistant Director on the films Listopad (2014) by Gary Keith Griffin and Ghoul (2015) by Petr Jákl. Currently he is directing new film from creators of czech fairy tail Princes Cursed in Time called Golden Hair (2025).

George Cremaschi was born in New York, where he studied music and composition. He has worked professionally as a musician, composer and recording engineer since the 1980s throughout the US, South America and Europe. He has appeared on over fifty commercially available recordings as a musician, and written and produced countless compositions and scores for many settings from solo to orchestra, electronics, film, dance, poetry and theatre.

He works regularly with a variety of international and local groups, frequently participating in interdisciplinary site-specific collaborations with choreographers, video artists and light designers, and also is the co-founder and leader of Prague Improvisation Orchestra (PIO), a 15-member group working with a wide range of improvisational concepts. In addition to teaching film sound production and post-production at FAMU, where he has been sound mentor on hundreds of short film projects since 2011, he teaches sound art and sound production at

Prague City University and has been guest lecturer at conservatories in Belgrade, Brno, Malmö, Oakland, Prague, Tallinn and Vienna.

Elizabeth Quirós is a Panamanian producer based in Prague and a production tutor at the Prague Film Institute. She is also the co-owner and managing director of Craft Lab, a marketing creative agency with in-house production. After pursuing her International Business and Economics degree in the Chinese language, she ventured to Spain to get her masters degree in Strategic Planning and Decision-making.

Her background in business and marketing propelled her into the realm of film and video production, where she has successfully produced dozens of commercial ads, music videos, short films and more recently, a TV series for major international partners.

On set, she assumes roles as an executive producer or line producer. Elizabeth’s extensive involvement in various production departments such as costumes, props, set design, casting, and catering has provided her with comprehensive insights into every facet of the production stage.

Kiril Todorov is originally from Burgas, Bulgaria. After graduating from Sofia University, he studied his master’s degree in Film and TV directing at New Bulgarian University. He started his VFX career as VFX artist and 2D Compositor in Worldwide FX, Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia. After moving to Prague, he worked as a VFX artist in UPP, one of the largest post-production houses in Europe. In this role, he has worked on Hollywood movies like Wonder Woman, Allied, Terminator: Dark Fate, and others.  Kiril is skilled in editing, color grading, and directing. His career spans several music videos, commercials, TV programs, and more, giving him a range of expertise in the post-production world.

Mgr. Barbora Holubova Ph.D. graduated from the Faculty of Arts of Charles University (UK) in Italian Studies. She then got her PhD. in pedagogy from the Faculty of Education at Charles University. She wrote her thesis on Didactics of Film/Audiovisual Education.

From 2013 to 2015, Barbora got her secondary school teacher training from the Institute for Professional Development, Faculty of Education at Charles University.

She worked at the Faculty of Education as an organizer of in-service-teachers´ training and then she taught courses of Czech Film History to US students at the Institute of Preparatory Studies, UK. She finished her Ph.D., focusing on film education at the Faculty of Education UK.

Andrew Horne is an American screenwriter and director based in Prague. Andrew has written and directed 4 of his own short films with escalating success and accolades from all over the world from Italy to Hollywood. His first feature script was produced in the winter of 2025 and is currently in post-production. With his craft-heavy and hands-on approach to screenwriting, he has been making his way around the Prague scene working with various organizations and individuals.

Entirely self-taught, Andrew plunged himself into the depths of storytelling with genres ranging from Gothic Horror, to Period Drama, all the way to Western. An avid movie-watcher, reader, and analyzer, he is well-immersed into the film community of Prague. He’ll be the first to tell you he reads the script for “There Will Be Blood” every time he sits down to write.

Prarthana Gupta (Ana) is a Freelance Production Designer, Visual Artist, and Creative Designer from India, currently based in Prague, Czech Republic.

With her background in Theatre, Psychology and Art, she is able to understand and create visual media that brings us closer to the human psyche and all its weirdness. She has designed for various short films, music videos, commercials, and feature films. While she works as a production design tutor at PFI, she also doubles as a sculptor, production designer, and graphic designer for film and TV.

Ajay Kulkarni is a freelance cinematographer based in Estonia, Czech Republic and India. He has collaborated with directors across the world in the fields of Music Videos, Commercial Ads and award-winning short films. With his background of Biotechnology Engineering and further studies in Film School, he has excelled in understanding the storytelling language and translating them into visuals with modern technics. He has been awarded in various International Film Festivals, such as LA Film Festival, LV Prasad International Film Festival, Rolling Stones and more.

Igor Kristof is President of the CSFA – Czech Stunt Fighters Association – a stunt coordinator, sword master and film producer. He is the youngest of the brothers who founded the Three Brothers production company back in 1991. In 1975 he also co-founded the stage fencing group, ‘The Cadets’.

With The Cadets, he helped give rise to the fame of the Kaltenberg Knight Tournament and, with more than 3 000 performances, has gained acclaim for the art of stage fencing throughout Europe, USA and the United Arab Emirates. Between years ´90-´93 he independently directed group performances in Germany and Denmark. He created dozens of choreographies for TV and film projects and, as Assistant Director, has more than 60 documentary productions behind him, in most case international projects. Since the 90’s he has also been producing feature movies and TV series.