Budding Filmmakers and Professional Training in Germany

Germany leads Europe in terms of the range of programmes it offers in film studies.

What began with a handful of film schools in the 1960s burgeoned into an impressive array of programmes, particularly in the ’90s. The expansion was triggered by the growing number of commercial TV stations with a growing demand for well-trained recruits.

“In Germany there are at least 14 places to study film, if you include special courses of study at various universities and polytechnics. That’s unparalleled in Europe – and perhaps anywhere else in the world,” says Susann Schimk, a graduate of the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen Konrad Wolf in Potsdam Babelsberg and now a producer in Berlin (at Credo Film). Thanks to the number of film schools, she adds, academic training has not only supplemented, but virtually replaced, the traditional form of training: viz. learning by doing.

A wide range to choose from

For Susann Schimk this abundance of educational opportunities is simply “lavish”. That’s true “not only in terms of quantity, but also in terms of quality”, says Andrea Hohnen, who has been viewing the works of graduating film students for six years and organizes the presentation of the First Steps young filmmakers award initiated by producers Bernd Eichinger (Constantin Film) and Nico Hofmann (teamWorx). Thanks to the vast array of training options, young people can learn the skills they need for the métier in any number of ways. Whether by working on their own as in Berlin, focussing on the craft as in Hamburg or exploring the overlaps with other arts during their studies as in Cologne – anything goes. “Each school has its own profile.”

Six film schools

There are six film schools in Germany at present. In addition, universities, art schools and polytechnics throughout the country have set up special courses of study in subjects like design, visual communication and multimedia.

The oldest and to this day biggest film school is the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen Konrad Wolf (or HFFB for short) in Potsdam Babelsberg, which was founded in 1954 as the Deutsche Hochschule für Filmkunst. Until the fall of the Berlin Wall, it supplied the manpower for the entire East German film industry. Now located in a media park on the grounds of the legendary Babelsberg Studios, which date back to the era of Fritz Murnau, the HFFB trains approximately 580 students from Germany and abroad in 12 subjects.

The Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie (dffb) was founded in West Berlin in 1966. Director Wolfgang Petersen (The Boat) is just one of its many illustrious alumni. The forge of the German arthouse cinema, the dffb focuses on directing, cinematography and production. With roughly 120 students from 30 different countries, the school has its campus at Potsdamer Platz, the site of the annual Berlinale film festival.

The Munich Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film (HFFM) was started up in 1967. At present some 200 students pursue courses there in motion pictures and telefilms, documentary-making and TV journalism, as well as production and the media industry. In addition, the Hochschule focuses mainly on Camera and Scipt.

In the late 1980s, on the initiative of director Hark Bohm, the University of Hamburg introduced a two-year course of film studies, modelled on similar programmes in France, Great Britain and the US. In 2004, the course was relocated from the University of Hamburg to Hamburg Media School. The Hamburg-based producer Katharina Trebitsch has been Program Chair since 2005. The Film Program is comprised of four departments: Scriptwriting/Dramaturgy; Camera/Set design; Directing; and Production. Each department has room for six students.

The Kunsthochschule für Medien in Cologne got off the ground in 1990. About 200 students there can pick and combine subjects in various departments according to their subsequent areas of specialization. Two years later followed the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg (FA) in Ludwisburg, which takes a hands-on approach to learning the ropes of filmmaking.

Curricular requirements

Except in Hamburg, film school in Germany takes eight semesters, usually divided up into a basic course of study for everyone and subsequent specialization in cinematography, directing, production, dramatic art or writing screenplays, among a host of possibilities. But as multifarious as the opportunities may be, the hurdles for admission are high. Applicants are usually required to pass an entrance examination – and compete with a multitude of candidates. “It’s not rare for up to 700 applicants to be vying for only a score of admissions,” notes Andrea Hohnen, “and this ratio goes for a number of schools.”

“Film studies make their mark on a nation’s culture”

Many of the opportunities for film training arose during the boom in the ’90s triggered by the growth of commercial TV stations and the creation of new multimedia facilities in states like North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg. Despite the current slump in the media industry, one should be “grateful” for the abundance of educational opportunities available nowadays, says Andrea Hohnen. Aspiring filmmakers can choose the approach that suits them best. “Whether young people want to work independently or commercially, make films for the cinema, TV or publicity, anything goes,” she explains. One of the fundamental functions of film studies is to “make their mark on a nation’s culture. And that makes film training something that is geared towards the future.”