Application
The DFFB offers five full-time programmes: Screenwriting, Cinematography, Directing, Production and Sound & Vision Editing.
NOTE regarding applications 2025/26
For technical reasons, no confirmation of your applications will be sent via email this year, even if it was mentioned in the automatically generated response. We ask for your understanding and wish all applicants much success!
The following application tasks are from this year and are for guidance purposes only. It is no longer possible to apply for the academic year 2025/26!
Application Process
To enrol in studies at the DFFB, candidates must go through a comprehensive application process: Students first submit an application and portfolio. The DFFB then selects a small proportion of applicants and invites them to attend a one-week entrance examination at the academy. This examination is overseen by an examination board.
How to Apply
Applications are accepted every year via a process that begins in autumn for the following year.
- The academy’s online application process is divided by study specialisation.
- To apply to a specialisation, students must submit photos, film exercises, texts, images and other materials.
- After this submission, the examination board selects a small number of candidates to take the entrance examination at the DFFB during spring.
- The entrance examination includes oral, written and practical elements. These elements are intended to identify an applicant’s potential as well as their practical, collaborative, and creative abilities.
- At the end of the examination process, a new class is selected to join the DFFB for the following academic year.
- Every year, 6–10 students from Germany and abroad are admitted into each specialisation.
- Admission to the programme depends solely on successfully passing the entrance examinations.
Dates and Deadlines
- October: The DFBB publishes the application information for the preselection process on its website.
- November–January: Open period for the online application process; deadline for all applications is in January.
- April–May: Applicants are informed of the decisions of the examination board and a small number of applicants are invited to attend the entrance examinations.
- May–June: The entrance examinations take place at the DFFB in Berlin.
The candidates are informed in advance of the precise dates and structure of the examination week.
Further Requirements
Applicants should be at least 21 years old at the beginning of their studies.
Practical experience or academic degrees in related fields are not required, but increase the chance of admission.
A candidate cannot apply more than twice for admission to the DFFB.
Language skills
- Please note that good written and spoken German is required to study at the DFFB.
- International applicants must prove their German language skills in the form of the Goethe Certificate B2 (or equivalent), which must be presented at the start of their studies in autumn.
- The written application may be submitted in English and the oral/practical examination may be conducted in English, if a candidate's German language skills are insufficient at this time.
- Good written and spoken English-language skills are required for all candidates. English is the second language of the DFFB, and a number of seminars are taught in English by international teachers.
Study Fees
- Students must pay annual registration and equipment insurance fees to the DFFB; the cost is €225 per academic year.
- During the first four academic years students must also purchase a Deutschland semester ticket (to take public transportation germanwide), which currently costs approximately 176,40€ per semester