In Department III, our qualification goal – matched, in fact, to concrete careers – is feature film direction for theatrical and television films. Our program is thus focussed on the realization of fictional story-telling – the staging of stories, with actors and a camera – through large or small, hopefully always precise images.
During their first four semesters of core studies, students are introduced to the fundamentals in all the major creative areas of film production. During this period, our aim is to discover, address and further students’ interests. In addition to the general curriculum covered during the core studies, the subdepartments offer additional lectures and workshops for the students specializing in those fields.
The core studies also give the students valuable orientation for selecting a specialization for their main studies.
The preliminary diploma in Department III marks the beginning of our second program segment, the main studies. Building upon the fundamentals covered during the first phase of studies, we now focus on special training and concentration in the discipline of scene directing for fictional story-telling in cinema and television.
More about practical & theoretical instruction in Department III
Studies in Department III are based on three different, interlinking elements:
- Practical and theoretical instruction / workshops, seminars
- (Exercise) films to be realized by each student during the course of her / his studies.
- Individual mentoring and consulting of students and / or their projects.
Our theoretical and practical curriculum is transmitted in seminars and workshops held by tenured staff and renowned industry practitioners, domestic and foreign.
Our permanent instructors include Prof. Andrzej Mellin from the Polish film school in Lodz;
Jo Heim, cinematographer from Munich; and Miroslav Mandic from the Ljubljana film school.
The screenplays that students are required to realize at HFF are produced – from ideation and story development to writing the screenplay – within a comprehensive mentoring system. All students receive guidance from instructors, as well as individual tutoring.
During their training, HFF students are required to create a catalogue of films. To further this, we attach great importance to providing continuous mentoring and consultation to student productions during all phases of production: screenplay development, director’s concept, pre-production, principle photography and post-production.
The diploma films for Department III are frequently realized together with coproduction partners from the film industry, with the support of television broadcasters and / or the Bavarian funding board FilmFernsehFond Bayern.
Our film discussion series, Verschiedenes Reden über Film (Diverse Discussion about Film), held in the in-house screening room, offers students the most comprehensive impression of current international motion picture production, plus selected historical filmmaking examples – focusing on various perspectives and manners of reception.