Master of Arts in Film

Co-creation and Innovation for Social Change

The MA Film is aimed at young filmmakers from audiovisual creative fields (including directing, producing, cinematography, editing, sound design, screenwriting, production design).

The goal of the Master's Programme is to expand the film-aesthetic possibilities of the students through an innovative curriculum by creating a framework in which film projects exploring a range of socially relevant topics are created in a co-creative, and anti-hierarchical atmosphere of learning.

Key areas:

• co-creation as a project development and learning method
• formation of one's own aesthetic signature
• critical analysis of the role of visuality in constructs such as race, gender, class, sexuality, and ability 
• holistic approach to filmmaking: acquiring valuable interface competences by taking on key roles in the production process 
• development of an individual project concept through artistic research

The MA programme refines students' cinematic language through creativity-oriented, co-creative training and strengthens their position as a filmmaker through industry connections and networking.

Target Group:

Filmmakers from audiovisual creative fields (e.g. directing, producing, cinematography, screenwriting, production design or editing) with a strong team spirit. Also important is an interest in innovative co-creative working methods as well as socially relevant topics to be explored in artistic research investigation. 

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Film: Course Content

Socially relevant Filmmaking

The programme emphasises social relevance and theories of critical thinking. Students will be enabled to reflect on their own positioning in their filmic practice while simultaneously engaging with the political, cultural and social implications of what produces, disrupts and/or expands the visual field of representation in the imagery.

In its two-year curriculum, the MA Film combines four central elements:

1. Project orientation
During their studies, students go through several project phases. They develop innovative film projects in co-creation, two of which are realised during the course of the programme. In addition,  artistic research is promoted to develop an individual project concept to be presented to the industry after completing their studies.

2. Practical orientation 
The project work is flanked by practical courses on the topics of script development, mise-en-scène, production, post-production as well as evaluation and marketing strategies.

3. Contextualisation
Theoretical modules enhance the practical content with critical and systemic thinking so that issues of social relevance and the role of social responsibility within the film industry are placed in a broader context.

4. Presentation/networking:
Film projects, pitches/presentations to industry representatives, networking events and an international  student exchange experience including a joint project with UNSCA - University of North Carolina School of the Arts specifically promotes access to the international film industry and the expansion of the students own networks.

Also, supported by renowned filmmakers, artists and academics, the students further develop their artistic personalities and their forms of cinematic language expression.

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Film: Career

In the full-time Master's Programme in film, young media professionals expand and deepen their theoretical and practical knowledge in order to challenge and enrich audiences with their work.

The programme provides an artistic creative field for research in preparation for an industry that is facing increasingly complex conditions and must respond to them with new content, aesthetic forms, working methods and structures.

Graduates of the MA FILM are able to identify socially relevant topics and thus enrich the industry with innovative aesthetic and production-related concepts. They are trained to recognise, develop and implement new processes and formats. As directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, producers, editors and sound designers with comprehensive knowledge in methods of managing creative collaboration, they are able to work directly implementing ideas from others or their own, in the audiovisual industry. The knowledge of cooperative processes, production-related aspects and new media enables the students to affirm their status as artists and, furthermore, to occupy key positions in audiovisual media production.

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Film: Admissions

Academic Requirements

To obtain a Master’s degree, applicants must have an undergraduate degree (Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent degree) with a minimum of 180 ECTS credits or a higher degree (e.g. a German »Magister« or »Diplom«) from an accredited university. The ifs welcomes talented applicants who have received degrees in unrelated fields.
In justified exceptional cases, applicants with exceptional artistic skills whose CVs lack one or more of these formal requirements may request to enroll in the programme as advanced training participants.

Work Experience

Applicants must have worked in the field of film or media production for at least one year.

Language Skills

Good German and good English language skills are required: Applicants who did not obtain their university entrance qualification at a German-speaking institution must provide proof of good knowledge of German at the level of DSH-1 (“Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang". The DSH-1 exam can alternatively be replaced by equivalent certificates or proof, like e. g. B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (“Gemeinsamer Europäischer Referenzrahmen für Sprachen”) or TestDaf level TDN 3.

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Overview of Masters programmes - ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln

		3D Animation for Film & Games
		Digital Narratives
		Entertainment Producing
		MA Film
		Serial Storytelling

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