• Greetings from the state of NRW, the city of Cologne and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW
• Graduates of the Bachelor of Film programme present their final theses

The ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln celebrated two anniversaries today: its 25th anniversary and the graduation of the 10th year of the Bachelor's degree programme in Film.

60 graduates specialising in screenwriting, editing image & sound, camera, creative producing, directing, production design and VFX & animation in the Bachelor's degree programme in Film presented their final projects to an industry audience in the ifs cinema today. Graduation films, fictional and documentary - including animated films -, scripts for full-length feature films and projects from the Creative Production and Production Design departments were presented.  The genres ranged from social drama, coming-of-age and dramedy to thriller and horror.
The final projects of the ifs students have already met with interest in the development phase: 

Eight graduation film projects were funded by the Young Talent Foundation Berlin, while two others received support from the Huntington Foundation and the Beatrix Lichtken Foundation. Graduate Robert Decani was honoured with the German Young Talent Screenplay Award at the up-and-coming screenplay festival in Hanover for his screenplay »Ithaka« - the basis of the screenplay for his graduation film »The Sons of Ilir«. The graduation film »quicksand« has already had its world premiere at this year's Max Ophüls Preis film festival in the short film competition.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the ifs, representatives from the state and city of Cologne as well as the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW were also guests with words of welcome.

Walid Nakschbandi, managing director of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and chairman of the shareholders' meeting of the ifs, congratulated the ifs team on their anniversary and addressed the students: ’The responsibility you bear as students and creatives in a democracy is not only to express yourselves artistically, but also to promote dialogue with your works, which is the necessary foundation of a democratic society. Democracy thrives on the diversity of ideas and the courage to bring these ideas into the world. You have the opportunity to use your creativity to show what a better future could look like. Let's work together to ensure that democracy lives not just in books or films, but in each and every one of us, in our visions, decisions and actions.’

Nadja Radojevic, Managing Director of the ifs, looks to the future with gratitude: ‘Our special thanks go to our shareholder and the state of NRW for their continuous support. The ifs will not only accompany the constant change in the media industry in the future, but will continue to actively shape it - with future-oriented study and further education programmes, socially relevant topics and a strong industry network.’

The day was hosted by actress and presenter Paula Essam.

The ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln gGmbH was founded in 2000 on the initiative of the state of NRW and the Filmstiftung NRW with the aim of strengthening NRW as a media location by training qualified young film professionals. Today, it is one of the leading training and further education institutions for audiovisual media in Germany. The ifs is owned by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW.