First Museum Dedicated to Film Will Open in Prague

There are currently no museums dedicated solely to film in the Czech Republic. But this will change soon – the NaFilM Film Museum will welcome its first visitors in December. The museum will be located in the centre of Prague in the historic Mozarteum building. Tickets are now available for purchase at Hithit.com.

After many successful interactive shows, NaFilM proved to everyone that a film museum can entertain and educate visitors of all generations. Following this, the team of young curators were able to find space for a permanent exhibition. The museum’s doors will open on to Jungmannova Street in the unique historic building designed by architect Jana Kotěry. 

A visit to the museum promises a unique experience

The NaFilM museum will not be a museum in the classical sense of the word. The intention is that visitors will not only learn something new about film, but will also experience it. A team of young curators, architects and inventors have created unique and playful installations that inspire creativity and the use of imagination. NaFilM will transport visitors into the past, where they can try and use an old-fashioned style projector. They’ll also transport you into the future through virtual reality and holograms. The creators make sure that visitors, regardless of age, will learn about film and its history first-hand. They have created truly original installations that cannot be seen or experienced in any other museum. 

The museum came to be all thanks to a group of students who were awarded a prestigious prize at Charles University on the anniversary of their alma mater. “Starting a film museum was initially just a crazy idea we had during our studies – I visited a number of film museums when I was abroad and I was surprised that there was no such museum in our country. But people doubted our plans and questioned what kind of difference a student can actually make. Five years have passed and now we know for sure that students can make a huge difference! I’m glad that we were determined enough to fight for the project that we were so passionate about and will benefit the public. It’s just more proof that one must always dream big!” said Adéla Mrázová, who is one of the founders of the NaFilM museum along with Terezie Křížkovská and Jakub Jiřiště. A number of Czech filmmakers, such as Jiří Menzel, Zdeněk Svěrák, Olga Sommerová, Helena Třeštíková and Jan Hřebejk, supported the students with video spots. 

How can you help support the museum?

However, the opening of the film museum in the Mozarteum does require some demanding reconstruction. The creators have therefore decided to crowdfund the rest of the money from those of the public who want this new cultural space to open and want to get personally involved. On the crowdfunding portal Hithit.com, donors can purchase paint for decorating the premises, lights for the exhibition, or parts for the individual exhibits. Donors can then choose from a variety of rewards for supporting the reconstruction, including museum tickets and a host of extraordinary experiences.

You can visit the public collection in support of the museum from October 15^th to November 29^th at Jungmannova 748/30, 110 00 Praha 1 – Nové Město. 

To learn more, you can visit www.nafilm.org and you can buy tickets and support the museum here 

Author: Holly Webb

Photo: Richard Špůr