Partners of the ifs internationale filmschule köln are currently the Filmstiftung NRW and the ZDF Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen.
The ifs is funded largely through a state grant provided by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as through the Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen, sponsorship funds provided by the film and television industry and through participation and tuition fees.
Furthermore, the ifs receives additional support from the industry through contributions in kind, consulting for the conception and development of the study and further education programs, lecturers and the establishment of internships.
The ifs has also established close ties to other members within the higher education landscape. The exchange of professional and educational competence, mutual support, and common synergies are the distinctive attributes of these cooperation agreements.
The ifs is a member of CILECT, the international association for film and television schools, and its European sub association GEECT. Furthermore the ifs is member of the German Short Film Association.
Current cooperation partners of the ifs are:
international
Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing, Warschau/Polen
Aalto University of Art and Design, Aalto/Finnland
Akademia Filmit e Multimedia Marubi, Tirana/Albanien
Dar-Al-Kalima-College, Bethlehem/Israel
Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Theatre ENSATT, Lyon/Frankreich
Film Hogeschool Sint-Lukas, Brüssel/Belgien
Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME), Budapest/Ungarn
Nederlandse Film en Televisie Academie, Amsterdam/NL
Sam Spiegel Film School, Jerusalem/Israel
University of California, School of Film, Theatre & Film, UCLA/USA
Tampere Art and Media School, Tampere/Finnland
Salford University, Manchester/UK
The Film and Television Institute of India, Pune
The School of Sound, London/GB
Universidade Lusófona, Lissabon/Portugal
Universität Utrecht, Utrecht/NL
Universität Ghent, Ghent/Belgien
national
Fachhochschule Köln
Cologne Game Lab
Fachhochschule Dortmund
Filmakademie Ludwigsburg
Folkwang Universität der Künste, Essen
Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Stuttgart
Hochschule für Musik Freiburg
Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen Konrad Wolf, Potsdam
Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln
Universität zu Köln
BSF Bundesverband Filmschnitt
Film+
AG Kurzfilm
Cologne Game Lab
In its role as a cooperation partner, the ifs has been committed to the Cologne Game Lab (CGL) since its establishment in 2009 – to specifically promote the knowledge transfer and creative exchange between film and games, and to advance cross-media developments of non-linear narrative content and its design. As an institute of the Cologne University of Applied Sciences the CGL researches and develops interactive content and provides specialist training for gaming industry professionals. As well as (digital) games, the institute also covers interactive film and TV formats, nonlinear training opportunities and related digital art and entertainment forms. The institute's core focus is on creative responses to conception, game design and authorship as well as to audiovisual design. CGL is headed by Professor Björn Bartholdy (KISD, Cologne International School of Design) and Professor Gundols S. Freyermuth, PhD (ifs internationale filmschule köln). The CGL was built mainly on funds from "Medien.NRW", the State Government funding competition.