Babelsberg's Konrad Wolf Film University (German: Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf) is Germany's oldest and largest film school. The university provides undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate studies in all aspects of the filmmaking process. Furthermore, it is Brandenburg's only art school, located in Babelsberg alongside the Babelsberg Film Studio.
The German Academy of Film Art (German: Deutsche Hochschule für Filmkunst) was founded on November 1, 1954, at Babelsberg Palace in Potsdam-Babelsberg, and was renamed the Film and Television Academy of the GDR in 1969. It was named after director Konrad Wolf in 1985, and it was renamed Academy for Film and Television in 1990. After 60 years of operation, the school was granted university status and renamed Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg on July 8, 2014.
Film courses are available through the university's Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts programs. Animation, animation directing, audio-visual application design, cinematography, digital media culture, script/dramaturgy, film and television production, film culture heritage, film music, film and television directing, media science, editing, directing, drama, sound, sound for picture, scenography/production design, and scenography were the courses offered in 2015/16.
The Media Studies program is the university's most research-oriented course, and it includes both basic academic research and application-oriented research that reflects artistic practice. Every year, program students work with Sehsuechte, Europe's largest student film festival, which takes place in April on the university campus and at the Thalia Cinema at the Potsdam-Babelsberg station.
Many films have been shot at the university over the years, including Netto, And Along Came Tourists, Move, Combat Girls, Little Thirteen, and Breaking Horizons. In 2011, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sponsored an award for exceptional artistic and scientific achievements.