In an effort to take in the college experience with greatest impact, I decided that the college experience could not be complete without a study abroad experience. Last spring, I took on the challenge of applying to a Study Abroad program New York University offers in collaboration with FAMU International in Prague. On paper it is the equivalent of taking Intermediate Filmmaking at Tisch School of the Arts. The difference is that in Prague, the students film their projects using a 35mm motion picture camera instead of digital cameras offered in NYC. FAMU (the Film & TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts) is world renown. One of the great film schools in all of Europe, their faculty are comprised of professional filmmakers who, the majority of which, themselves graduated from the school. I am so grateful to NYU for their commitment to keeping this program alive and well.
It is difficult to express the magnitude of the 6-weeks in just a few words. In fact, it’s quite a miracle to stand back and realize how much a group of filmmakers can accomplish working solid together for six strong weeks. The added pressures instilled from the limited amount of film we are given on which to shoot our scenes forced us to take further steps to ensure that our stories were solidly written and the production’s filming was planned out well in advance. All this on top of the language barriers and you have the making of an experience unlike no other.
As a filmmaker, I found it a wonderful challenge to decide how best to share this experience. In the end, I decided that the best way was through a series of 8 short vignettes. It is my hope that, collectively, they express the full breath of my experience in Europe this summer. These shorts are dedicated to the Gilman program as a thank you for the support and commitment to us: the students and educators who seek to expand their understanding of the world by bringing it closer together. This is why I travel, and I hope it comes through in the work I create.
Alexandro Pacheco, Class of 2020
Tisch School of the Arts/New York University
