First year: Undergraduate studies
The first year of the undergraduate studies programme is similar to the first year of general studies at the Filmakademie (see courses of study).
First year: Undergraduate studies – Specialisation
Winter semester
- Introduction and practice: Interview techniques and research
- Dok'n'Roll: The best of documentary film history / film analyses
- Concept and content development: dialogue and sharing in plenary sessions and support in individual discussions
- Pitching: Training and presentation of projects in the second year
- Cinematic storytelling and visual design / dramaturgical sound design
- Ballet for four: Practical workshop with production design, film sound and editing
- Seminars on dramaturgy and exposé
- Filming: From the end of January to the end of February followed by the start of editing and post-production
Summer semester
Seminars to accompany the completion of the flm projects:
- Creative and technical sound design
- Financing documentary films / impact producing
- Evaluation and marketing / audience building
Third and fourth years: Graduate studies
Courses such as research seminars, interview practice, finding and developing concepts and content, cinematography, sound and editing exercises, visits to editorial offices, festival excursions, pitching training, case studies with international guests or cross-media workshops are the focus of the main study programme.
Practical film work addresses the special aspect of documentary work that, depending on the subject and financial situation, there can be both a one/two-person team, in which different professional crafts are practised in unison, as well as a large film team, such as in docudramas, which is quite comparable to fictional feature films.
The projects are realised in the course of the main study programme in cooperation with all students of the Documentary Film department, from brainstorming for ideas to the finished film. All individual roles, such as script, production, direction, camera, sound and editing, are staffed by Filmakademie students. The individual phases of the projects (research, writing, filming, editing, final production) are determined at the beginning of the semester on the basis of a binding schedule.
In addition, the department's regular cooperation with renowned editorial offices and film funding organisations (e.g. MFG, Junger Dokumentarfilm/SWR, Kleines Fernsehspiel/ZDF and other public television stations) enables students to already make their mark within the documentary market during their studies.
Diploma project
The diploma project is usually an open-format documentary film that is developed and realised over a period of 1-2 years. Students are free to decide whether to realise the diploma film in cooperation with a broadcaster or independently.
