You should be passionate about film making. But it is not yet important, that you already know exactly which job (director, editor, camera,…) you want to do later on or if you want to use the course to find out which department is most appealing to you. While studying Motion Pictures you will have many oportunities to gather experience and identify your fields of interest.

The following documents are required to apply for Motion Pictures.

– a University Entrance Certificate valid in the state of Hesse, Germany. If you expect to receive your University Entrance Certificate only after the deadline of June 1st, you can also hand in the last two high school report cards instead and send the actual document later. If you do not have a University Entrance Certificate, you can also apply for extraordinary artistic aptitude. This means you need a higher minimum score in the entrance examination. More information you can find in our statute.

– proof of English language proficiency: The last two English grades in your high school report cards have to be better than average. Alternatively you can send either a B2 Certificate or similar such as Toefl and IELTS.

– a digital artistic portfolio with a maximum of three work examples (as links in the application form)

– a curriculum vitae including artistic, cinematic and narrative interests, description of experience, skills, social engagements as well as a short motivational statement.

Hint: For applicants with an international University Entrance Certificate, the application process is different and the deadline is the 15^th of April. You will find more information about this here.

The online application portal is open from the 1^st of April to the 1^st of June.

To register as an applicant and upload your documents please sign up at https://my.h-da.de

After signing up you will receive an application number. Please make sure to keep this number in all communication with us outside of the application portal.

As soon as you completed signing up you can begin the application process (Bewerbungsantrag).

During the process you will be prompted to upload the required documents.

Hint: In case you can not deliver the proof of English language proficiency before the 1^st of June, you can hand it in later until before the immatriculation. Instead upload a PDF with a short informal declaration, that you will do so.

Once you typed in all information, you can upload your Application Portfolio Form, including the links to your works.

Make sure to write a short description of your work samples into the form and sign the declaration of originality.

Once your documents are complete and checked by the Student Service Center, as the first step of the artistic entrance examination our examination board will view and evaluate your portfolio. After the evaluation your will receive an email with the results.

About two weeks after the portfolio examination we will have interviews with the applicants. The exact date and time will be sent to you with the results of the portfolio examination.

For 2025: These interviews will take place at Mediencampus Dieburg. (Online interviews only exeptional, e.g. if you live abroad)

Please note: there will not be a practical homework this year. Instead we might give you a small task during the interviews.

If you have studied in a similar program already you might be able to join a higher semester. The procedure is similar, but the examination board will review each application individually after you successfully participated in the artistic entrance examination. Besides the already mentioned documents for all applicants you will need to send in additional proof of all previous university grades including fails. The examination board may also ask for other additional documents.

For any questions regarding the registration process and file upload please contact the Student Service Center.

If you have questions about the artistic entrance exam, please contact

Prof. Herbert Schwering: herbert.schwering@h-da.de

If you need general advice bout the application and studying Motion Pictures please contact: mopi-studieren@h-da.de

How hard is the Entrance Examination?

The entrance examination consists of two parts: the portfolio examination, meaning the evalutation of your digital work samples as the first one and afterwards a practical task followed by an interview as the second one. Most applicants imagine the entrance examination to be harder than it actually is. We are curious to get to know you and are looking forward to your ideas and talents. We would appreciate if you were also looking forward to meet us, because that makes it a lot easier.

What should the digital portfolio look like?

The samples should show how you work with audio and video so far. Show us how you translate your concepts and ideas into film language. The portfolio can consist of short films, but could also contain screenplays, storyboards or series of photos. In general there are no restrictions regarding genres or formats.

What will the practical task look like?

Usually we give you a little homework in order to evaluate your capability of visual thinking. This could be for example a short film, a written task or a series of photos.

What happens during the interview?

First of all we want to get to know you a little better, but you will also get the chance to talk more about your portfolio and the homework.

How will I be notified about the results of the examination?

All important communication will be send by email. Make sure to check regularly.

Can I also apply with a Technical Diploma (German Fachabitur)

Yes, a German Fachabitur is a valid University Entrance Certificate. In the online registration portal you will also find a large list of all other possible documents.

You can find the current Motion Pictures Entrance Examination statute here.

For international applicants without a University Entrance Certificate valid in the state of Hesse, Germany, English information can be found here.