Application

• General information

  The HFF Munich will accept students in the following degree programs for the 2026/2027 winter semester:

  • Fictional Direction (Department III)
  • Documentary Direction (Department  IV)
  • Editing (Department III and IV)
  • Media Production (Department V)
  • Screenplay (Department VI)
  • Cinematography (Department VII)
  • Visual Effects (Department VII)

  Trigger warning for applicants for a degree at the HFF

  Filmmaking means getting deeply involved with reality, whether we are working in the documentary, hybrid or fictional field. It is an exploratory journey into the worlds, fantasies and emotions of other people and of ourselves. It is also an exploration of diverse ways of thinking, ideologies and systems. This includes dealing with one's own limits and possibilities, as well as one's own (pre)judgments. It can be painful, with ups and downs. Within our seminars, we show future filmmakers examples of relevant, controversial or forgotten films from film history as well as current film examples. There are always films that contain racist or sexist language and depictions that deal with forms of violence, including sexualised violence, and abuse or the oppression of individuals or classes, poverty, exploitation and suffering. Often in an enlightening or accusatory sense, sometimes, especially in older films, also affirmatively. We always strive to contextualize these film examples and classify them from a critical perspective. For many reasons, however, it is important to us to show you the entire range of cinematic work and to subject it to a new consideration. Only then, can we sharpen and develop our own positions. We would like to encourage future filmmakers to be open towards and confront problematic, socially relevant issues, as this is part of our responsibility as filmmakers. We will not leave you alone with this task.

  Mandatory Courses

  For students at HFF München mandatory are courses in:

  • Media Studies (Department I)
  • technology (Department II)

   Please note: the HFF Munich does not accept applications for these departments.

  In-Depth Courses

  Additional courses are offered in the following fields:

  • Television Journalism
  • Advertising
  • Creative Writing
  • Serial Storytelling
  • Image, Light, Space

    Please note: the HFF Munich does not accept applications for these departments.

  Degrees

  The HFF Munich awards a diploma after the successful completion of one of our degree programs. A bachelor or master degree is not awarded.

  Study Start and Duration

  Yearly, each degree program begins in the winter semester.  Each degree program is designed for nine, full-time semesters.

  Tuition Fees

  The HFF Munich does not charge tuition. However, both national and international students must pay a Munich  Student Union fee of approximate 85,00 €  per semester.

  Application Period

  Yearly, the application period begins on November 15 and closes on February 28 of the following year. 

  The application period for the winter semester 2024/25 starts on November 15, 2024 and ends on February 28, 2025 (deadline).

  Application Procedure

  The initial  application procedure (first round) requires two steps:

  1. All requested documents must be submitted online on the applicant's portal. Then, the candidate will be guided from the applicant's portal to the application task portal.
  2. All tasks must be uploaded in the application task portal.

  Please note: the current application tasks are posted online on the German site only. The application tasks must be fulfilled in German.

  From the initial applications received, the HFF Munich chooses candidates for the second round of the application procedure. Candidates will receive either an invitation for the second round or a rejection notice from the HFF Munich.

   

  Applicant's Portal

  The application for the first round of the admission procedure for the winter semester 2024/25 must be uploaded in our  applicant's portal and in the application task portal

• Application procedure

  The application process for the 2026/27 winter semester begins on November 15, 2025, and ends on March 2, 2026.

  To apply, you must create an account in the applicant portal (1) and upload the completed application tasks for the respective degree program in the task portal (2).

  1. Register in the applicant portal (link)
  Here you upload your personal data and the formal admission requirements (certificates) with the corresponding evidence to your personal account.
  
  ! After entering all data, you must click on the SUBMIT BUTTON, otherwise your application will not be registered in the system !

  2. Once you have completed your entries in the applicant portal, you will receive a link to the task portal.
  In the task portal, upload the completed application tasks for each degree program.

  If the completed application tasks are not submitted by the deadline, admission to the admission procedure is not possible.

• Dates for applications

  The application period for the annual admission procedure at the HFF Munich begins on November 15 of each year and ends on February 28 of the following year (cut-off date).
  (Exception: If February 28 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or public holiday in Bavaria, the deadline is extended to the following working day.)

  Dates for the admission procedure for the 2026/27 winter semester will be published here shortly.

  Please note the following for admission to the admission procedure:
  International educational qualifications (including Austria and Switzerland) must be recognized as equivalent to a general or (relevant) subject-specific university entrance qualification obtained in the Free State of Bavaria.
  Recognition is carried out by uni-assist.e.V.. The review period is 6-8 weeks.

  Please note:
  - Applicants who are admitted to the program are required to be present in calendar week 40 (except for October 3, 2025), during which mandatory full-day safety training sessions will take place.
  - In the first week of the semester (calendar week 41), introductory events for first-semester students will take place all day, including in the evenings.

  The next open house will take place on January 17, 2026. For more information, please visit www.hff-muc.de / Startseite.

• Applying with foreign certificates of qualifying education

  International educational qualifications (school certificates, etc.) are ALL educational qualifications that were NOT obtained within the education system of the Federal Republic of Germany.

  International educational qualifications (including those from Austria and Switzerland) must be recognized as equivalent to a general or (relevant) subject-specific university entrance qualification obtained in the Free State of Bavaria.
  Recognition is carried out by uni-assist e.V.. You can find more detailed information further down on this page.

  Without recognition, you will not be admitted to the admission procedure at the HFF Munich.
  uni-assist will create a so-called preliminary examination documentation (VPD) for this purpose.

  Even if you have already started studying at another university in Germany, your international educational qualification must be checked by uni-assist e.V.

  (If you already have a VPD for your studies at another university, please send it in advance to the Student Secretariat of the HFF Munich together with your study application. We will then inform you whether further examination by uni-assist is necessary.)

  Bitte beachten Sie: das Ergebnis der Hochschulzugangsberechtigungs-Recherche im Tool "Check Hochschulzugang" bei uni-assist e.V. ist nur eine Auskunft auf Grundlage der Selbstangaben und ersetzt keine Prüfung der Zeugnisse. Als Nachweis der Zugangsvoraussetzungen dient alleine das Dokument "Vorprüfungsdokumentation" (VPD). Weitere Informationen hierzu finden Sie unter der Rubrik "uni-assist e.V.".

  uni-assist. e.V. 

  Uni-assist e.V. is a service center for international university applications. Uni-assist checks and evaluates international educational qualifications of university applicants.

  Verification procedure

  
  The verification procedure via uni-assist e.V. consists of two steps:
  1. First, you submit an application for preliminary verification documentation (VPD) via the My assist portal at uni-assist e.V..

  2. At the end of the verification procedure, you will receive the preliminary verification documentation (VPD) from uni-assist e.V..

  Applicant number uni-Assist e.V.

  The applicant number you receive from uni-assist e.V. is not the same as the application number you receive when you register on the HFF Munich applicant portal.

  Documents / Certificates

  To verify your university entrance qualification, please submit your certificates that qualify you for university study in your country of origin, including the corresponding lists of individual grades, to uni-assist e.V.

  The documents required by uni-assist e.V. must be submitted in a certified translation into German or English. Further information can be found here:https://www.uni-assist.de/bewerben/dokumente-sammeln/beglaubigungen-uebersetzungen/

  Upload the documents required by uni-assist e.V. online to your My-assist account. All information on online applications can be found here: https://www.uni-assist.de/bewerben/online-bewerben/

  Applicants from Mongolia, Vietnam, and the People's Republic of China

  Please submit the original APS certificate.

  University entrance examinations abroad

  Please submit certificates of university entrance examinations passed abroad and/or a letter of admission from a foreign university.

  International university certificates

  Please submit all international university transcripts from colleges, academies, universities, etc., including the corresponding lists of individual grades per semester or academic year (e.g., transcripts of records, academic certificates, indexes, etc.).
  Semesters already completed or currently being completed in Germany must be verified by means of enrollment certificates.

  Passed the assessment test at a preparatory college

  If you have already passed an assessment test at a preparatory college in Germany, please send this to the HFF Student Affairs Office in advance for review.

  Processing time

  Uni-assist requires approximately 8 weeks to review educational credentials.

  Please note: You are responsible for submitting your documents to uni-assist e.V. in a timely manner.

  Costs

  There is a fee for issuing preliminary review documentation (VPD).
  Information on the current fees and payment methods can be found here.

  uni-assist e.V. will only begin reviewing your application once the processing fee has been received and your documents are complete.

  VPD

  As a result of the review by uni-assist e.V., you will receive a VPD (preliminary review documentation) for your application to the HFF.
  The VPD will be sent to you by email. Therefore, please ensure that you provide uni-assist e.V. with a current email address.

  Upload your preliminary review documentation (VPD) together with your other application documents to the HFF Munich applicant portal by the application deadline (February 28 of each year/cut-off date).

  Applicants with international educational qualifications who do not submit a VPD from uni-assist e.V. for the admission procedure will be rejected on formal grounds.

  If your VPD from uni-assist e.V. shows that you are eligible to attend the Studienkolleg, please contact the HFF Student Secretariat.

  Further information on the Studienkolleg can be found under the heading “Studienkolleg”.

  preparatory college

  International educational qualifications must be checked by uni-assist e.V. before admission to the admission procedure at HFF Munich.
  After this review, uni-assist e.V. will create a preliminary review documentation (VPD).
  If you are assigned to the preparatory college, send your VPD with your resume and details of your desired course of study to the Student Secretariat by email at studierendensekretariat@hff-muc.de

  For all degree programs at HFF Munich, except for Production and Media Management, you need an assignment for humanities and social sciences degree programs (attendance of course G).

  For the Production and Media Management degree program, you need an assignment for economics and social sciences degree programs (attendance of course W).

  Applicants requiring a visa

  If you require a visa, please apply for a Category D visa (purpose of stay: study) immediately after receiving your letter of acceptance from the HFF.

  When enrolling at LMU, you must provide proof of valid health insurance.

  Further information can be found here: http://studienkolleg-münchen.de/sie-moechten-das-studienkolleg-besuchen/visum

  Language skills

  To apply and study at the HFF Munich, you must have a very good command of German at the level of the German Language Diploma (Level II).

  Please note: application documents must be submitted in German. Lectures and exams are held exclusively in German.

   

• Applicants with educational certificates from the Federal Republic of Germany

  HFF Munichs´s admission requirements for candidates with German educational certificates can be found here.

• Application tasks

  Note:

  International educational qualifications must be recognized as equivalent to a general or (relevant) subject-specific university entrance qualification obtained in the Free State of Bavaria. Recognition is carried out by uni-assist.e.V. This also applies to certificates from Austria and Switzerland.

  The application tasks for the admission procedure for the 2026/2027 winter semester can be found for the corresponding degree programs via the following links:

  • Regie für Kino- und Fernsehfilm (Abt. III)
  • Regie für Kino- und Fernsehfilm / Schwerpunkt Montage (Abt. III/M)
  • Dokumentarfilm und Fernsehpublizistik (Abt. IV)
  • Dokumentarfilm und Fernsehpublizistik / Schwerpunkt Montage (Abt. IV/M)
  • Produktion und Medienwirtschaft (Abt. V)
  • Drehbuch (Abt. VI)
  • Bildgestaltung / Schwerpunkt Kinematografie  (Abt. VII/K)
  • Bildgestaltung / Schwerpunkt Visual Effects/VFX (Abt. VII/VFX)

  M.A. Serial Storytelling: Created by AI & I (starting December 1, 2025)

  To apply, you must
  1. create an account in the applicant portal, submit your application there, and
  2. upload the completed application tasks for the respective degree program to the task portal (you will receive the link to this portal when you complete your application in the applicant portal).

• FAQ – Frequently asked questions

  The HFF Munich is currently in the process of transitioning from diploma to bachelor's and master's degree programs. Starting with the application process for the 2027/2028 winter semester (expected to begin in November/December 2026), the HFF Munich will only accept applicants for bachelor's degree programs. The application process for the 2026/2027 winter semester will begin on November 15, 2025.