• Degree Programmes
  • Design for Theatre, Film and Television
  • Film and Television
    • Cinematography
    • Directing
    • Documentary Film-making
    • Film Editing
    • Film and Television Producing
    • Screenwriting
    • Sound Recording and Sound Design
• Doctoral Studies
• Elomedia Doctoral Program

Documentary Film-making

Tuition in the specialisation area of Documentary Film-making provides a wide base for a creative and independent mastery of documentary cinematic expression. The students learn to master the various work phases of a documentary film in the role of the director – planning, scriptwriting, filming, sound recording and sound design, editing and production – in cooperation with students of other specialisation areas. As their minor subjects, the students select vocational studies of at least one other specialisation area at the School (cinematography, sound, editing, and production) to master their medium. As applied vocational areas, the students can familiarise themselves with commissioned films, television documentaries, new media and other applied vocational areas as well as draw on the minor subject modules of other areas to support their studies.

The students familiarise themselves with the history of film and especially that of documentaries, and receive a comprehensive introduction to the new forms of contemporary documentaries. Through exercises and practice film productions (BA and MA films), they learn process management in a film production in the role of a director. Film analysis, reflecting on the conditions of one’s own medium, writing and thinking are important forms of tuition that support practical activities. Knowledge of other arts and experimental and fictional cinema as well as familiarising oneself with documentary expression in the fields of new media, visual arts and other media is vital. The students' ability to observe and interpret reality, their preparedness to encounter people, critical thinking, willingness to experiment and ability to work in a team are developed through courses, workshops, exercises and practice film productions.

BA and MA level graduates of Documentary Film-making find employment as independent directors of documentaries, in other professional tasks of the film industry, operatives in the film industry financing system, teachers in the field of cinema, festival organisers, film journalists, and in various other applied professions, such as in the area of the new media, or as journalists or other professionals of media or television.