On 1 April, the distinguished media studies scholar Dr Peter Scheinpflug will take up the Chair of Media Studies at the ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln.

Peter Scheinpflug studied theatre, film and television studies, German language and literature, and sociology at the University of Cologne, and completed his master’s degree at Washington University in Saint Louis. He subsequently worked first as a research assistant and lecturer for special assignments at the Institute for Media Culture and Theatre at the University of Cologne, and later as a research assistant at the Department of German Language and Literature at the University of Mannheim.

In his 2014 doctoral thesis, »Formelkino. Medienwissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf die Genre-Theorie und den Giallo« (Formula Cinema: Media Studies Perspectives on Genre Theory and the Giallo), he explored anti-essentialist genre theories using the Italian film genre Giallo as a case study. In 2025, Peter Scheinpflug completed his habilitation with the work »Medien begreifen. A Media-Anthropological Theory of Tactility«, in which he reinterprets mediality, media usage practices, media criticism and media culture through the lens of tactility. 
In recent years, Peter Scheinpflug has also focused his research primarily on contemporary German and genre film, on which he is currently working a monograph. To this end, he also founded the conference series ‘Studies on German Genre Film’ in 2025. 
In addition, he has published on topics including the history of German film and television, genre theory, the practices and inter-discourses of digital culture, touchscreens, Christoph Schlingensief, Christmas films, comics, and film classics by directors such as Fritz Lang, Ingmar Bergman, Miloš Forman, Lina Wertmüller and Wong Kar-wai.

Peter Scheinpflug describes his professorship at the ifs as follows: “Bertolt Brecht wrote in 1931: ‘The film viewer reads narratives differently. But even the writer of narratives is, in turn, a film viewer.’ Today, one would have to add a multitude of media: watching TikTok videos, playing games, streaming series, posting on social media, flicking through TV channels, using virtual reality, being smartly connected, prosuming memes, writing prompts … I am very much looking forward to exploring the contemporary significance of film in digital culture with the students at the ifs. The programme at the ifs uniquely combines academic research with film practice, enabling us to explore, through discussions and exercises, the challenges and potential of current aesthetic, technical and social developments – both for media studies and for forward-looking film projects.”

Nadja Radojevic, Managing Director of ifs: “With the appointment of Dr Peter Scheinpflug as Professor of Media Studies, we have secured for ifs a versatile media scholar who examines media across their entire spectrum of form and content. Furthermore, our students will benefit from his many years of teaching experience and his dedicated teaching skills.”

Founded in 2000, the ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln is one of Germany’s leading institutions for education and further training in audiovisual media. Its aim is to offer film and media professionals a high-quality, future-oriented education through a close integration of theory and practice. Its location in Cologne, a hub for film and media, particularly shapes its commitment to industry relevance. The ifs is a subsidiary of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. The degree programmes are offered in cooperation with TH Köln, and the lecturers are appointed by TH Köln.

Created on 31.03.2026