"Filmmaking is the finest profession in the world." Florian Gallenberger should know. He studied film directing at HFF Munich. His film Quiero ser won a Student Academy Award, directly followed by an Oscar for a best short film. Today, Florian Gallenberger continues to make movies while teaching students as an honorary professor at HFF Munich.
Do you, too, the dream of making filmmaking your profession? At HFF Munich, one of the most renowned film schools in German-speaking countries, you can choose one of five study courses.
Since its founding in 1966, or instead, since instruction began in 1967, HFF Munich has trained tomorrow's movie talents. The school's illustrious alumni include Caroline Link, Doris Dörrie, Bernd Eichinger, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Wim Wenders, and Roland Emmerich. During the early years, classes were held in a villa in Schwabing until their relocation to a former bed-spring factory in Munich's Giesing section in 1988. Finally, in September 2011, the school moved to its newly built facility in the heart of the Munich art district. Here, all our study programs have been united under one roof. From its film and television studios to a separate post-production wing, plus its three screening rooms – our center offers all the facilities needed to make both filmmaking and film study the slightest activity in the world.
HFF Munich offers five-degree programs:
- Feature Film and Television Feature (Dept. III)
- Film and Television Documentary (Dept. IV)
- Production and Media Business (Dept. V)
- Screenplay (Dept. VI)
- Cinematography (Dept. VII)
The course offerings within the disciplines Media Studies (Dept. I) and Technology (Dept. II) are required curricula for all students. It is not possible to apply for a course of study restricted to these subjects.
Students seeking a more in-depth understanding or specialization can take advantage of the particular study schemes and subdepartments offered by Departments II to VII:
VFX (specialization / Dept. II), Film Editing (specialization / Dept. III & IV), Television Journalism (subdepartment / Dept. IV), Advertising (subdepartment / Dept. V), Creative Writing (specialization / Dept. VI), Serial Storytelling (specialization / Dept. VI) or Image, Light, Space (specialization / Dept. VII).
HFF Munich students can also apply for the extension course in collaboration with the August Everding Bavarian Theater Academy: Theater, Film and Television Criticism.
To inform, comment, and analyze with images – the Television Journalism Subdepartment's mission is to train young, politically alert, and engaged journalists with excellent professional, creative and personal skills.
Journalists bear great responsibility – they provide orientation in an increasingly complex world. They convey information and knowledge, providing the basis for a life in democracy and freedom. They can only fulfill this task if they have received good journalistic training. This is what the Television Journalism Subdepartment stands for: Individual projects of our students have been nominated for the German Human Rights Film Award and the CNN Journalist Award and have been viewed on German television and at renowned festivals.
As part of their primary studies, students in the Documentary Film department can major in journalistic television work and specialize accordingly – from current news journalism to long reportages. The study program's objective is to learn journalistic skills, recognize the laws of the market, and, above all, develop innovative forms.
Professor Doris Dörrie has headed the Creative Writing program and defined its content since January 1997:
"First and foremost, writing is a craft. Practicing. Continuing, keeping at it. Whether it is art, you find out much later. That is my main goal in my work with students: To consider writing a craft while also losing one's fear. "
Doris Dörrie: Über das Schreiben (On Writing)
In the creative process, access to one's creativity can quickly become buried by fear and doubt – but there are many ways to return to creativity and imagination. With our students, we practice discovering buried treasures and the joy of their retrieval.
Our courses cover a broad spectrum, reflecting the variety of creative spaces we open up with our students. For an exhibition, for example, we turned the entire HFF lobby into a public show. The students experienced a "Writer's Room" 's the creative potential, where they collectively developed and immediately produced a Web series. Each year we take our new students on a project week abroad – one of our most essential seminars, which opens students up to totally new writing experiences while also yielding our annual edition.
We highly value openness, curiosity, and networking, which is why we offer frequent interdisciplinary projects for HFF students from all disciplines. Often of international renown, our lecturers bring in new impulses and developments worldwide while combining creative joy with significant craft experience.
Our chair belongs to Department VI – Screenplay. Since its founding in 2005, Department VI – Screenplay has rounded out this university's education profile and is headed by Prof. Michael Gutmann. The composition of the department curriculum is a joint effort.
For more information, go to Curriculum or Projects & editions.
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