»Exploring the current significance of film in digital culture«
Dr. Peter Scheinpflug is the new Professor of Media Studies at the ifs
»Take a Look!« – Insights into Film Programmes and Careers
»Open House« on March 21, 2026, at the ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln
The Sam Spiegel Film and Television School and ifs have launched a joint Female Leadership Programme
The programme aims at empowering excellence for alumnae of both schools
Recap: ifs @ Berlinale 2026
Pitch, Panels, Networking
“Successful experiment”: SOKO Köln episode by ifs students airs on 17 February on ZDF
Screenwriting students developed and wrote the episode »Doppeltes Kaliber«
ifs @ Berlinale 2026
Numerous alumni, students, and professors from the ifs are represented with projects at the 2026 Berlinale
Inside »The Pitt« – Creative Collaboration in the US Showrunner Model
with R. Scott Gemmill (»The Pitt«), Uta Briesewitz (»The Pitt«, »Stranger Things«) and Valerie Chu (»The Pitt«, »Nashville«)
ifs success at the Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival 2026
Graduation film »My Name Akim« wins audience award for best medium-length film
ifs Publishes First Comprehensive Report on Showrunning in Europe
»Showrunning in Europe – Skills, Tasks, Responsibilities«
ifs graduation film nominated at 24. Visual Effects Society Awards
»Flying from War« by Ciara Borgards in the category »Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project«
ifs @ Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival 2026
Two ifs films celebrate their premiere at the festival: »My Name Akim« in the medium-length film competition and »Splitter« in the short film competition
Peaceful holidays 2025
The ifs will be closed from 22 December 2025 to 2 January 2026.
ifs ecnounter: Edimotion with »Jurassic Park«
with Editor Gesa Jäger
Dr. Melanie Andernach is the new professor of Creative Producing at the ifs
With this appointment, the ifs gains a nationally and internationally award-winning and experienced producer as its new professor.
New appointments to professorships at the ifs
Julia Daschner is the new professor of Cinematography, Jan Martin Scharf is the new professor of Serial Storytelling
MA Digitial Narratives field trip to Prague
The programme took part in the international Zip-Scene Conference
MA Digital Narratives: Alumni Success Stories
They talk about their life after graduation
Graduation film awarded FIRST STEPS 2025 prize
Animated film »Fake News« wins in the Short Steps category
»Splitter« shortlisted for the German Short Film Award 2025
The graduation film was selected in the category “Feature film with a running time of 15 to 30 minutes".
ESP at Iberseries & Platino Industria
Jeppe Gjervig Gram, Head of Program ESP, as speaker at industry panel
Wim Wenders scholarship for project by ifs Alumna Fitore Muzaqi
The project » Amica« receives a grant of €20,000.
From Lucerne to the ifs
Alexander Geiser from the HSLU University of Applied Sciences in Lucerne as a visiting student at the ifs
From the classroom to Cologne’s busiest square
Three MA Digital Narratives students presented their project HAL at Nimm Platz
Experimenting with AI and dance
MA Digital Narratives students presented their prototypes developed in cooperation with the Moovyfest Köln
MA Digital Narratives students present first prototypes
MA Digital Narratives students presented the first prototypes of their Master’s projects
How to entertain: »Masterclass Entertainment« 2025 at the ifs
Part-time professional training on non-fictional entertainment
Boosting the Next Generation:
Panel on Diversity in the Film Industry – Success and future prospects of University Cooperation at FILMFEST MÜNCHEN
Master's pitch of the ifs series talents at the Seriencamp 2025
Final presentation of the Master's Programme »Serial Storytelling«
Final presentation MA Serial Storytelling 2025
Projects & Alumni
European Showrunner Programme at ifs Announces New Cohort
Top Series Writers from Across Europe Join Fourth Edition of Prestigious Training
“Natural history data in a creative experiment”
Lecture on the cooperation between the MA Digital Narratives and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
Graduation BA Film & 25 years ifs
Review of the celebrations to mark the double anniversary
ifs celebrates 25th anniversary & graduation of the 10th year of the BA Film programme
Greetings from the state of NRW, the city of Cologne and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW
»1st Female Gaze - CineOne & sPOTTlight Young Talent Award for Image Creators in NRW« goes to ifs graduate Zoé Dumas
IFFF Dortmund + Cologne Young Talent Award presented for the first time for the image design of the ifs graduation film ‘El Mártir’
MA Digital Narratives students in Skövde
Students from the MA Digital Narratives and the MA 3D Animation for Film & Games programmes took part in the new Blended Intensive Programme, a collaboration with the University of Skövde in Sweden
MA Serial Storytelling students at Series Mania Forum
Exclusive meetings a. o. with Jeppe Gjervig Gram (BORGEN), Tarja Kylmä (Invisible Heroes), and Edgar Medina (DOGPACK)
Part-time Master's programme »Entertainment Producing« starts again at the ifs
Sustainable support and scholarship providers from the industry. Application phase runs until 15 April 2025, online information event on 1 April
STREAM, the network of 10 European training institutions, signs a common charter of values and objectives for series
Ensuring the future of European series through cooperation
Showrunning in Europe: Spotlight on Fanny Herrero
with Fanny Herrero (»Call My Agent! (Dix Pour Cent)«, »Standing Up (Drôle)«)
99FIRE-FILMS AWARD for »Die Geste« by Patrick Paradon
A 99-second short film on the subject of ‘THE POWER OF KINDNESS’ was shot in 99 hours for the competition.
World premieres, nominations and panels: alumni, professors and students of the ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln at the Berlinale 2025
Including the world premiere of »The Kiss of the Grasshopper«, alumnus Duc-Thi Bui nominated for the German Screenplay Award
KI. Medien – neue Weiterbildungsreihe zu KI in den audiovisuellen Medien
On 27 March, the ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln launches the new further education series ‘KI. Medien’.
European Showrunner Think Tank
with showrunner Fanny Herrero (»Call My Agent!«, »Standing Up«) @ Göteborg Film Festival’s TV Drama Vision
Showrunning in Europe: Comparing Markets
with Marie Roussin (»Mixte«, »Lupin«), Teodora Markova (»Soviet Jeans«) and Teresa Fernández-Valdés (»Cable Girls«, »Grand Hotel«)
ifs @ The Max Ophüls Film Festival 2025
ifs Film »quicksand« celebrates premiere in short film competition
Online Info Event: MA Serial Storytelling
with ifs student Anna Richards
MA Digital Narratives students present prototypes
The students developed ideas for AR solutions
Peaceful Holidays 2024
The ifs is closed from 21 December 2024 to 05 January 2025.
ifs film honoured at the Poitiers Film Festival
»El Mártir« wins the Grand Prix du jury
European Showrunner Programme
Insight from a intensive two-day workshop in Cologne
German Young Screenwriter Award for ifs student Robert Deçani
»Ithaka« awarded at the up-and-coming screenplay festival in Hanover
ESP @ WCOS World Conference of Screenwriters
Current participant Rachel Kilfeather from the European Showrunner Training was invited as a panellist
»Applied Colour Science for Film Production«
Insights into the workshop with Dr. Charles Poynton & Laurens Orij
Alumni power at the international series festival Seriesly Berlin
Michael Griessler wins Seriesly pitch with »Existence«
Welcome to the MA Digital Narratives programme!
Nine international participants start their studies
Summer School Screenwriting 2024
with Alkioni Valsari and Keith Cunningham
New international Festival »Seriesly Berlin«
Alumnus Matija Dragojević will serve as Head of Programming
Final Presentation MA Digital Narratives
Nine participants from four continents presented their projects
The future of digital storytelling
Final presentation of the Master's programme »Digital Narratives« 2024
New German Cinema Award at the Munich Film Festival for ifs graduation film
»O Chale«: Atika Jumaih Bashiru awarded for Best Acting Performance
The MA Digital Narratives students had a series of talks with professionals from academia and the industry
Guest speakers gave insights about their fields of work.
Internal pitch of the Writers Room Project
The MA Serial Storytelling welcomed a select group of industry professionals
ifs @ Seriencamp
European Showrunner Think Tank and ifs Series Showcase
Seriencamp Conference 2024
Recap: Great ifs events and a prize for ifs alumnus
First on-site workshop of the European Showrunner Training
The workshop was led by Head of Programme Jeppe Gjervig Gram and showrunner Marianne Wendt
Showrunning in Europe: Spotlight on Miikko Oikkonen
with writer, showrunner and director Miikko Oikkonen (»Estonia«, »Bordertown«, Finland)
European Showrunner Training at ifs announces Participants
Top writers from accross Europe to take part in Round 3
World premiere for ifs film »O Chale« at the Munich Film Festival
Final film nominated four times for the New German Cinema Award
Laurien Michiels presented her final project »The Room of Resonance«
It was part of the exhibition »XR for the people of Europe« at the Places Festival in Gelsenkirchen.
On an excursion to the Oberhausen Short Film Festival
The MA Film students visited the international short film festival.
ifs @ FMX Conference
ifs students present their film project »The Lumber Room« and inform at the stand on the School Campus
How to entertain: »Masterclass Entertainment« at the ifs
Professional training in non-fictional entertainment
»Partie« Time!
Insights from MA 3D Animation for Film & Games: In the future, we're all brains and hearts
Moodee Moore
Insights from the virtual character creation project in the MA 3D Animation for Film & Games by student Fernando Chan
»Social Impact Storytelling & Showrunning«
European Showrunner Think Tank with Matthew Hastings & Tyron Ricketts
Social Impact Storytelling & Showrunning
with Matthew Hastings and Tyron Ricketts
Showrunning in Eastern Parts of Europe
with Wiktor Piątkowski, Teodora Markova, and Stanislavs Tokalovs
Meeting Point Vilnius
Serial storytelling workshop by ifs professor Dr. Joachim Friedmann
Series Mania Forum in Lille
European Showrunner behind-closed-doors Think Tank session
»Passion for film?« – Insights into film study programmes and workshops
»Open House« on 09 March 2024 at the ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln
»European Showrunner Network« Event
Intensive exchange at the Berlinale
ifs @ Berlinale 2024
Screenwriters‘ Lounge, Pitching Salon, Encourage Film Talents a.o.
ifs alumna honoured with the German Screenplay Award 2024
Sandra Schröder wins »Golden Lola« for screenplay »I woke up as a beast«
Clone of ifs alumna honoured with the German Screenplay Award 2024
Sandra Schröder wins »Golden Lola« for screenplay »I woke up as a beast«
Adapting the Showrunner Model to a Project's Needs
»Adapting the Showrunner Model to a Project's Needs«
Showrunning in Europe: Who Runs the Show?
»Showrunning in Europe: Who Runs the Show?«
Showrunning in Europe: Directing in the Showrunner Model
Showrunning in Europe: Directing in the Showrunner Model