Department III - Feature Film and Television Feature
Heads:
Professor Dr. Georg Feil
Professor Andreas Gruber
The Feature Film and Television Feature department is focussed on narrative cinematic forms and visual story-telling. According to the new curriculum, the basic course of studies, instead of being geared toward narrowly defined professions, is designed to offer studies that are as thematically broad and interdisciplinary as possible. During this orientation phase, students familiarize themselves with as many areas of professional film production as possible, discovering their individual talents and inclinations.
During the main course of studies, students then deepen their understanding of a specific professional area by focussing their training – as a screenwriter, director or auteur for feature films and television features.
The studies in the department Feature Film and Television Feature are based on three different, yet interconnected elements:
- practical and theoretical courses / workshops / seminars
- the (exercise) films each student is required to produce
- individual support and counseling for students and their projects
The theoretical and practical courses, seminars and workshops are held by tenured faculty and renowned practitioners from Germany and abroad.
Tenured faculty include Prof. Andrzej Mellin, Polish Film School (Lodz, Poland); Michael Verhoeven (Munich); Jo Heim (Munich); and Miroslav Mandic, FAMU Film School (Prague, Czech Republic).
For the phase idea generation, story development and screenwriting, we have set up a mentoring system. Students receive individual support for the development of the screenplays produced during their course of study.
To offer students a panorama of current international cinema – as well as of exemplary historic films – the weekly lecture series "Verschiedenes Reden über Film" (“Various Talk about Film”) presents movies in the HFF Screening Room. The topics examined include differences in perspective and audience reception.
Each student produces a portfolio of films during his course of study. We attach great importance to providing continuous counseling and support for student productions during all project phases: screenplay development / directing concept / production preparation / shooting / postproduction.
The department Feature Film and Television Feature graduation films are frequently made in collaboration with coproduction partners in the film industry, with the support of television broadcasting companies and/or the Bavarian film fund, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern.
Production support for student film projects is provided by the head of department production, Hans-Joachim Köglmeier, and his assistants, Gerlinde Neumann and Gertraud Michalke.
Margot Freissinger handles festival participation for student films.
Monika Geng-Weber is in charge of administrative organization for the department.
Students interested in the specializations Cinematography or Screenplay in combination with the department Feature Film and Television Feature program will find additional information in those sections.