University in Germany
München, Bayern, Germany
University profile
The Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (HFF München) is a state film and television school in the centre of Munich, Bavaria. Its maintaining body is the Free State of Bavaria, and the Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen and the City of Munich contribute to its costs with goods and services. Teaching began in 1967, following the school's foundation in 1966, and the HFF describes itself as one of the most renowned film schools in the German-speaking world. Its guiding approach is "learning by doing", with students' own films at the centre of the training, supervised by lecturers who remain active professionally in film, television and the arts.
The school sits on Bernd-Eichinger-Platz 1 (formerly Gabelsbergerstraße 33) in the Maxvorstadt district, within Munich's Kunstareal beside the Pinakotheken and the Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst. The building, designed by Peter Böhm, opened in 2011 and for the first time houses all departments under one roof, with three cinema lecture halls, two TV studios, two film studios and a full post-production wing. The HFF is also a venue for Filmfest München and DOK.fest München.
Study is organised in departments (Abteilungen): Abt. I Medienwissenschaft; Abt. II Technik; Abt. III Kino- und Fernsehfilm (including a montage focus); Abt. IV Dokumentarfilm und Fernsehpublizistik (including a montage focus); Abt. V Produktion und Medienwirtschaft; Abt. VI Drehbuch; and Abt. VII Bildgestaltung with specialisations in Kinematografie and Visual Effects (VFX). Additional chairs and areas include Fernsehjournalismus, Serielles Erzählen, Bild, Licht, Raum, Werbung and a chair for KI in der Medienproduktion, established in May 2022 through the Hightech Agenda Bayern. A new four-semester M.A. in Serial Storytelling: Created by AI & I starts in winter semester 2026/27. The school is moving from Diplom to Bachelor degrees, and from the winter semester 2027/28 intake it admits applicants to Bachelor programmes only.
Facilities include the Technik department's camera and sound equipment, Film Studio 1 of 310 m² and Film Studio 2. The Bibliothek is a specialist film and television library with about 90,000 books, about 35,000 DVDs and a collection of international screenplays. The StuBistroMensa on Bernd-Eichinger-Platz is run by the Studierendenwerk. The HFF does not allocate dormitory places; student housing is allocated centrally through the Studierendenwerk München.
International students apply through the same entrance procedure, with foreign school and university certificates assessed by uni-assist e.V. The International Office advises on mobility and funding, runs the HFF Munich Summer School every September and co-directs the MunichFilmUp! mentoring and residency programme. Graduates include Caroline Link, Doris Dörrie, Maren Ade, Bernd Eichinger and Wim Wenders; about 2,000 graduates have been recorded since 1967.
The International Office advises students on funding options and awards DAAD PROMOS and STIBET I scholarships. General guidance on scholarships and student loans is also available from the Studierendenwerk München (scholarship and student-loan advice).
Each semester students pay the Studentenwerksbeitrag of 97.00 EUR (a semester contribution, not tuition); the basic contribution for the MVV Munich semester ticket is provisionally suspended.
The MunichFilmUp! mentoring and residency programme, launched in 2021, takes six participants a year for seven months, and the Kirch Foundation funds a KIRCH FOUNDATION AWARD of 5,000 EUR for the best project at the closing pitch at FILMFEST MÜNCHEN.
See the International Office and the application page for funding contacts: [email protected].
Deutschlandstipendium at HFF München →
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View scholarships for Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (HFF) →Studies begin each year in the winter semester and are full-time. The standard period of study is 9 semesters. The HFF is converting from Diplom to Bachelor and Master degrees: new applicants are admitted to Bachelor programmes only from the winter semester 2027/28 intake. Undergraduate courses are Regie für Kino- und Fernsehfilm (Abt. III, also with a Montage focus), Dokumentarfilm und Fernsehpublizistik (Abt. IV, also with a Montage focus), Produktion und Medienwirtschaft (Abt. V), Drehbuch (Abt. VI) and Bildgestaltung with a focus on Kinematografie or Visual Effects (Abt. VII). Medienwissenschaft and Technik are compulsory teaching for all students and cannot be applied for separately.
The application period for the annual entrance procedure for the winter semester 2027/28 runs from 1 December 2026 to 1 March 2027 (exclusion deadline). Applicants register in the Bewerberportal, where they upload personal data and certificates, and then upload the set application tasks for their chosen programme in the Aufgabenportal. Without timely submission of the tasks there is no admission to the entrance procedure. Admitted applicants must attend in week 40 for compulsory safety training and the following introductory week.
Access requires the general university entrance qualification (allgemeine Hochschulreife), or a subject-linked qualification (fachgebundene Hochschulreife, FOS 13 or BOS 13) in the Gestaltung or Wirtschaft stream. FOS 12/BOS 12 and Fachhochschulreife are not sufficient. In cases of exceptional talent shown in the aptitude test, exceptions are possible for applicants with a recognised vocational qualification or at least 36 months of relevant full-time professional practice. Vocationally qualified applicants under §29 / §30 QualV are also eligible.
All certificates not obtained in the German education system, including those from Austria and Switzerland, must be recognised as equivalent to a Bavarian general or subject-linked entrance qualification. Recognition is by uni-assist e.V., which issues a Vorprüfungsdokumentation (VPD); the check takes about 6-8 weeks, is fee-charging and starts once fees and complete documents have arrived. The VPD is uploaded to the Bewerberportal by the deadline, and applications without it are rejected on formal grounds. Applicants from Mongolia, Vietnam and the PR China submit the original APS certificate. Applicants whose VPD assigns them to a Studienkolleg receive an assignment letter from the HFF (course G for all programmes except Produktion und Medienwirtschaft, course W for that programme). The Studienkolleg lasts 2 semesters with 30-34 teaching hours per week and ends with the Feststellungsprüfung; it is free of charge, with books at about 50 EUR per semester and a 85.00 EUR matriculation fee at LMU. Applicants needing a visa apply for a category D study visa promptly after receiving the assignment letter and must show valid health insurance at matriculation.
Very good German at level B2 is required for application and study; application documents are submitted in German, and lectures and examinations are held in German. No certificate currently has to be submitted.
The M.A. Serial Storytelling: Created by AI & I (4 semesters, 120 ECTS, from winter semester 2026/27) requires a first professionally qualifying degree of at least 180 ECTS or an equivalent degree, English and German at B2, and an aptitude assessment with a personal interview.
Main campus: Bernd-Eichinger-Platz 1, 80333 München (Maxvorstadt, Kunstareal). All departments are housed in a single building completed in 2011, designed by Peter Böhm together with the Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst.
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