Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München
München, Bayern, Germany
- Founded
- 1966
- Students
- 348
- International
- 16%
About HFF München
The Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (HFF Munich, University of Television and Film) is Bavaria's state film school, founded in 1966 with teaching beginning in 1967 and housed since 2011 in a purpose-built complex at Bernd-Eichinger-Platz 1 in Munich's Kunstareal museum quarter. It is small and highly selective, with roughly 350 students taught across seven departments: Medienwissenschaft (I), Technik (II), Kino- und Fernsehfilm (III), Dokumentarfilm und Fernsehpublizistik (IV), Produktion und Medienwirtschaft (V), Drehbuch (VI) and Bildgestaltung/Kinematographie plus Visual Effects (VII), alongside chairs for montage, serial storytelling and image/light/space. Media science and technology are compulsory for every student and cannot be applied for separately. The first degree is currently the Diplom (standard period nine semesters); the school is transitioning to bachelor/master structures - the new M.A. Serial Storytelling: Created by AI & I admits its first cohort from WS 2026/27, and from the WS 2027/28 round admission will run exclusively through bachelor programmes. Admission is decided by a multi-stage aptitude procedure with department-specific assignment tasks; alumni include Wim Wenders, Caroline Link, Doris Dörrie, Maren Ade and Bernd Eichinger.
Bavaria's state film school, founded 1966, teaching since 1967; purpose-built campus at Bernd-Eichinger-Platz since 2011
Seven departments spanning directing, documentary, screenwriting, cinematography/VFX and production & media economics
Diplom as first degree (9 semesters); transition to bachelor/master with the new M.A. Serial Storytelling: Created by AI & I from WS 2026/27
Multi-stage aptitude procedure with hands-on assignment tasks; annual application window 15 November to 28 February
uni-assist VPD mandatory for all international certificates; German B2 required, teaching exclusively in German
Alumni include Wim Wenders, Caroline Link, Doris Dörrie, Maren Ade and Bernd Eichinger
Low cost: EUR 97 Studentenwerksbeitrag per semester and no tuition fees
Key facts
- Founded
- 1966
- Students
- 348
- International
- ~16%
- Faculties
- 7
Admissions & fees
What it costs
No tuition fees. Students currently pay the Studentenwerksbeitrag of EUR 97.00 per semester; the basic contribution for the MVV semester ticket is temporarily suspended. External costs arise only from uni-assist VPD processing and personal living or material expenses.
Admission requirements
Intake is annual for the winter semester. The window opens 15 November and closes 28 February of the following year (exclusion deadline, shifting to the next working day if it falls on a weekend or Bavarian holiday). Candidates register in the Bewerberportal (personal data, certificates) and upload solved department-specific tasks to the Aufgabenportal - late task submission means exclusion from the procedure. Formal entry requires the Allgemeine Hochschulreife or subject-restricted higher education entrance qualification (FOS/BOS 13, direction Gestaltung or Wirtschaft); exceptional talent with a completed recognised vocational training or 36 months of relevant full-time work experience may be admitted by exception. All international certificates (including Austria and Switzerland) require a uni-assist Vorprüfungsdokumentation (VPD, approx. 6-8 weeks processing, fee-based) by the deadline; original APS certificates apply for China, Vietnam and Mongolia. Where the VPD assigns Studienkolleg: course G for most programmes, course W for Produktion und Medienwirtschaft. Contacts: [email protected], [email protected].
Application deadlines
Annual winter-semester intake: applications from 15 November to 28 February (exclusion deadline; e.g. the WS 2026/27 round ended 2 March 2026 because 28 February fell on a weekend). Assignment tasks are published online each year from 15 November; admitted students already have compulsory safety briefings in calendar week 40 before lectures start.
How international applicants apply
uni-assist VPD mandatory for ALL applicants with international educational certificates - explicitly including Austria and Switzerland. Equivalence with a Bavarian general or subject-restricted higher-education entrance qualification is recognised exclusively via uni-assist e.V.; without the Vorpruefungsdokumentation (VPD) uploaded to the HFF Bewerberportal by the annual exclusion deadline (28 February), the application is rejected on formal grounds. Process: apply for the VPD through My assist (approx. 6-8 weeks processing), then submit the degree application in the HFF's own Bewerberportal (go.hff-muc.de/aufnahme) and upload the solved assignment tasks in the separate Aufgabenportal; original APS certificates required for China, Vietnam and Mongolia; applicants whose VPD assigns them to a Studienkolleg route via Studienkolleg Muenchen (G-course; W-course for Produktion und Medienwirtschaft). Very good German at B2 level required for application and studies (no certificate currently requested). HFF also appears as 'Hochschule fuer Fernsehen und Film Muenchen (HFF Muenchen)' on uni-assist's official member-university list.
Languages of instruction
German only: application documents must be submitted in German, and lectures and examinations are conducted exclusively in German. Very good German at level B2 (comparable to Deutsches Sprachdiplom Stufe II) is required for application and study; currently no language certificate has to be filed with the application, but proficiency is presupposed and exercised through the German-language assignment tasks.
Student accommodation
What HFF München publishes about housing. German universities do not allocate rooms themselves, so the links below are where applications actually go.
Rooms are allocated by
Studierendenwerk München
Not by the university. Apply to them directly, and expect a waiting list.
From the university
Financing counselling comes from the international office ([email protected]), while scholarship and credit advice is provided by the Studierendenwerk München.
Campuses & locations
80333 München; single purpose-built campus in the Kunstareal since September 2011, near the Pinakotheken, LMU and TU München
Living in München
Munich, Bavaria's capital with about 1.5 million residents, is a leading German centre for television and film production and hosts the HFF inside the Kunstareal, within walking distance of the Pinakothek museums, LMU and TU München. The flip side is cost: rents are high, and the HFF allocates no dormitory rooms itself - places are distributed centrally by the Studierendenwerk München. Extensive public transport, the nearby English Garden and a dense festival and industry scene compensate many students for the expense.
Student life & support
The HFF maintains its own film database and archive in which student productions are professionally catalogued, an on-site StuBistro/Mensa, a library and technical equipment pools. Student films regularly reach national festivals - five HFF works were nominated for the FIRST STEPS Awards 2026. Financing counselling comes from the international office ([email protected]), while scholarship and credit advice is provided by the Studierendenwerk München. Extracurricular formats include the HFF Munich Summer School, the CreatiF Center for creative entrepreneurship, podcast projects and an annual open day each January.
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