Project 2

Subject is not scheduled Not scheduled

Subject guarantor:

Name of lecturer(s):

Learning outcomes of the course unit:

Students are supposed to work with still photography but should widen the possibilities of visual storytelling by using also video and audio to strengthen the outcome of their work. The final presentation of the project will be a project web page, an exhibition, catalogue and international media publications. We will coorporate with NGOs working with refugees in the Czech Republic. Radio Free Liberty/Europe (http://www.rferl.org/) agreed to be project media partner and to publish selected photo features on its websites during the work in progress and as well the final result in the end of the project.

Mode of study:

The long term project ?Strangers in a Strange Land - Migration and Integration ?!? is for students from the 2nd year upwards (Foreign and Czech) and should help to improve their visual language and own photographic identity. Further on students will learn to express their personal vision and the ability to tell a story with social content visually, for a longer period of time (working time 1 year, 2 semesters). The project can be executed from various angles and forms, it could be a documentary about a family/person with refugee background, a detention center, a group of ?fresh? refugees and their present situation of being new residents in the Czech Republic. The project ideas will be discussed, expounded and the students individually guided for developing their visions.

Prerequisites and co-requisites:

The course will be held in English language. All participants need to have basic knowledge in English language and a deep interest in documentary photography and social issues.

Course contents:

FAMU/Prague - Fall 2015

?Strangers in a Strange Land? - A longterm documentary project about the situation of refugees living in the Czech Republic

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The 1951 Refugee Convention spells out that a refugee is someone who ?owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.? UNHCR, The Un Refugee Agency

?Foto Essay: Strangers in a Strange Land?:

Who are and how are living (new) refugees in Czech Republic ??

Since months we see in the media the tragic happenings of houndreds of thousands people fleeing from war torn countries towards the ?gates of Europe? with hope to find peace and a better life for their families in an EU country. Many of those people never reach their final destination, others are more lucky and get into the process of becoming a recognized refugee which enables them to get a legal status in the European Union. European societies become more and more devided how to approach refugees. Some people being supportive and granting refugees the right to live and work in a peaceful country and others who are creating out of fear and the unknown xenophobic visions about refugees and immigrants.

The main goal of the project is to create an in depth work by each student about the refugee issue in Czech Republic, to try to clarify and to explain what it means to be a refugee and mainly to show their individual stories. Where they came from ? Why they had to leave their home country and how they managed to get to Europe ? How is their live as refugees in Czech Republic and the interaction with Czech society ?

Recommended or required reading:

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Assessment methods and criteria:

All students will present their work in progress after the 1st semester and their final project in the end of the year. The work will be evaluated according to the progress and corporation during the semester and the final result/presentation under the following criteria : Originality, Scope, Technical Implementation, Artist Statement, Compliance with Deadlines.

Course web page:

Note:

MA Björn Steinz, www.bjoern-steinz.com

Further information:

No schedule has been prepared for this course

The subject is a part of the following study plans: