The aim of the Freeszfe Association is to create an autonomous artistic space to guard the 155-year-old tradition of the University of Theatre and Film Arts, Budapest (SZFE). We have built this community to provide an inspiring environment and opportunities for those who no longer tolerated the lack of dialogue and the crushing of artistic freedom. In 2020 the privatization of SZFE was accompanied by immense national and international protests and expressions of solidarity with the ousted academic staff. In our Association, the former and current students, teachers and employees of SZFE work together in the spirit of free creation.

We have designed an artistic space where plays, films, short stories, visual designs and other works of art can be created freely, without any outside pressure. We carry out educational activities within the framework of the Emergency Exit Program. Within this European cooperation, foreign universities recognise the education provided by Freeszfe Association, and by doing so, they provide a way of escape for students and teachers alike from the consequences of the new model of the institution that eliminated academic freedom and made autonomous creative work impossible. This unique collaboration is supported by the University Mozarteum (Salzburg), the University of Performing Arts in Ludwigsburg (Akademie für Darstellende Kunst in Baden-Württemberg), the Puppetry Department of the Akademia Teatralna im. Aleksandra Zelwerowicza) at Bialystok, the Swiss Academy of Drama (Accademia Teatro Dimitri) and the Filmakademie Wien (Vienna).