Open to film students
& fresh graduates
From all over the world
FOR
6 PROMISING
YOUNG
FILMMAKERS
Munich FilmUp!25/26
Submissions open from
June 1st to August 1st 2025
A mentoring & residential Programme
MunichFilmUp! was founded to create an inspiring space for creativity and ideas, to enable young filmmakers to find their own personal way to evolve their stories into finished screenplays. The objective is to turn six film visions/ideas into an equal number of feature-length debut films. The program supports young filmmakers who are in their last year of film school or have graduated no longer than 3 years before the beginning of the program.
The 6 promising young filmmakers are offered a 7-month journey that starts in Munich at the Filmschoolfest, is followed by an individual 3-week-long Pop Up Film Residency and ends in Cannes with one-on-one meetings with film industry professionals and the Kirch Foundation Award Ceremony. In between, the participants benefit from online mentoring consultations and workshops.
The winner of the Kirch Foundation Award is selected by a jury of international film industry professionals. The award of 5.000 Euros is presented by the Kirch Foundation and intended for further development of the project. Travel, visas and accommodations for program activities are paid for by MunichFilmUp!
THE
PARTICIPANTS 2024/25
MunichFilmUp! 2024/25 participants
THE
PARTICIPANTS 24/25
Aizada Amangeldy
Aizada is a dramaturgist and director from Kyrgyzstan. She holds a master’s degree in Dramaturgy and completed an advanced apprenticeship in Dramaturgy at VGIK in Moscow, where she had the honor of being the last student of Cannes award-winning screenwriter Yuri Arabov. Throughout her career, Aizada has worked on several acclaimed TV series and documentaries, which were broadcast on the country’s main television channel. She worked as a Senior Script Editor at the National Filmstudio Kyrgyzfilm named after T.Okeev. Aizada is currently developing a screenplay trilogy based on her life experiences, exploring themes of love and Islam, titled 18th Birthday, Husband, and Wife.
18th Birthday
When 17-year-old Daria is caught with drugs at her elite private girls school in Bishkek, she must navigate bullying and addiction to escape expulsion before her graduation and 18th birthday.
Maximilian Bungarten
Maximilian Bungarten (b. 1993 in Mechernich NRW, Germany) studied production, media economics and documentary film directing at the University of Television and Film Munich. In 2019, he attended Université Paris VIII as a DAAD scholar. He co-founded Benedetta Films with Felix Herrmann and Camille Tricaud. Their documentary Eleven Tomorrows premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival. His short film The Age of Innocence was nominated for Best Queer Short at Clermont-Ferrand 2023.
Bumper Cars
Summer in the suburbs: teenager Casper drifts aimlessly, experiments with drugs, gets involved with Jessica and meets unknown men at a highway rest stop. But an encounter on a bumper car ride forces him to get to the core of the origin of his restlessness.
Chheangkea
Chheangkea is a Phnom Penh-born filmmaker, currently based in Brooklyn, NY. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in architecture from MIT and his MFA in filmmaking at the NYU Tisch Graduate Film Program, focusing on writing-directing and cinematography. Through his films, Chheangkea seeks to showcase the complexities and colors of queer and Cambodian stories.
Little Phnom Penh
Spanning two ever-changing decades, from post-Khmer Rouge Phnom Penh to early 2000s California, a Cambodian woman grapples with her identity, family, and love amidst profound cultural and historical upheavals.
Cristina Iliescu
Nothing Sadder than a Limo
An assistant director, two contestants, 26 surveillance cameras, and 18 working hours a day add up to one Romanian reality show filmed on an island in Southern Asia.
Jakub Jirásek
Jakub Jirásek is a writer, director and musician. Born in Prague in 1993, raised in Switzerland, currently based in Prague. He got a Master degree in Film directing at FAMU in Prague, spent one semester of Erasmus at Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3. His fiction short Don’t Be a Pussy was premiered at Premiers Plans d’Angers, won a few prizes at festivals including YDA 2020 and was shortlisted for BAFTA Student Award in 2020.
The Delivery
A couple’s “cool parent” plan to supervise their teenage daughter’s first time trying marijuana spirals into chaos when the food delivery guy turns out to be her classmate, turning their afternoon into a cringe-fest of privilege, parenting fails, and secondhand embarrassment.
Hanna Stock
Hanna, born in 1995 in Bad Aibling, began her career with internships at production companies before starting vocational training in media design at Bavaria Film in 2015. There, she worked across various departments of fictional film production and directed her own short films. Since 2018, she has been studying screenwriting at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF), while also working as a camera assistant. In addition to her writing, Hanna has gained experience in the documentary field, having directed short documentaries.
Delulu
In a small Bavarian village, 15-year-old Ina’s desperate need for affection leads her to mistake her best friend’s brother’s exploitation for love, blurring the lines of consent and triggering a series of events that devastate her friendships and unravel her grasp on reality.
THE
MENTORS
Anna Ciennik
Participant: MAXIMILIAN BUNGARTEN
Project: Bumper Cars
Both French and Polish, Anna Ciennik is a multilingual screenplay consultant and scriptwriter. She recently co-wrote Erige Sehiri’s sophomore film produced by Maneki films, and is writing Déni Pitsaev’s debut, produced by Dublin films and Nabis filmgroup.
As a script consultant, her credits include Clara Sola by Nathalie Álvarez Mesén (Directors’ Fortnight 2021), Amparo by Simón Mesa Soto (Cannes Critics’ Week 2021) or Julie keeps quiet by Leonardo Van Dijl (Cannes Critics’ Week 2024). She works for labs such as Locarno Residency, Cannes Residency, Open Doors, ESP, TFL ScriptLab, among others.
Before jumping fully into script development Anna had a career in the industry as line producer and post-production supervisor and she worked at Les Arcs European Film Festival as manager of the European Industry events. Between 2017 and 2021, she curated five editions of its co-production markets. She works on a regular basis for co-production markets, production or sales companies, and film commissions as a reader or pitching coach.
Anna is a member of the Collectif 5050, the SCA, and a bit of a wine and language geek.
ANTONIA GIRARDI
Participant: HANNA STOCK
Project: Delulu
Antonia Girardi is a Chilean programmer and screenwriter born in 1987. She holds a master’s degree in Latin American Cultural Studies and is an alumna of SPEAP, the Experimental Program in Arts and Politics founded by Bruno Latour. She has contributed to collective books such as El novísimo cine chileno (Uqbar, 2011) and Film on the Faultline(Intellect Ltd, 2015). Since 2019, she has been the Director of FIDOCS, the Santiago International Documentary Film Festival, one of the leading documentary film festivals in Latin America. She first joined the festival as a programmer in 2015.
Filmography as Co-Writer:
Currently – Impunidad, directed by Felipe Gálvez (Feature Film, in development)
Project selected for the Ikusmira Berriak residency.
2023 – Los Colonos, directed by Felipe Gálvez (Feature Film)
The film premiered in the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival 2023, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize. Chile’s official submission for the Academy Awards.
2018 – Rapaz, directed by Felipe Gálvez (Short Film)
Premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week 2018.
LEONARDO STAGLIANÒ
Participant: JAKUB JIRÁSEK
Project: The Delivery
Leonardo Staglianò wrote a film, two plays, three books on writing and several articles and short
stories published in newspapers and magazines. He’s been working in the field of story development for a dozen years, for independent producers, film funds, TV channels and streaming companies. He’s a Biennale College, Torino Film Lab, Berlinale Talent Campus, Scuola Holden and Tisch alumnus.
SELCEN ERGUN
Participant: AIZADA AMANGELDY
Project: 18th Birthday
Selcen Ergun is a director, screenwriter, and producer based in Istanbul. A Berlinale Talents (2018) and Medienboard Nipkow Artist-in-Residency (2019) alumna, she is also a member of the European Film Academy. She holds a master’s degree in Design as well as in Directing & Screenwriting. Her debut feature, Snow and the Bear, was supported by Eurimages and premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. It was nominated for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and won over 15 international awards, including the New Directors Award at the 66th San Francisco International Film Festival. She has directed award-winning short films, interactive projects, and commercials for leading brands. Ergun has also mentored, consulted, and served on juries for platforms such as CinéCollective, Meetings on the Bridge, and M2 Film Lab.
UNA GUNJAK
Participant: CRISTINA ILIESCU
Project: Nothing Sadder than a Limo
Sarajevo born, Paris based writer, director and editor, Una Gunjak studied in Italy and then in the UK, at the NFTS, where she graduated from the Editing department. Her short film ‘The Chicken’ premiered at the Cannes’ Critics Week in 2014, won the European Film Award for Best Short Film and competed at Sundance.
‘Excursion’, Una’s first feature premiered at Locarno Film Festival 2023, taking home the Special Mention Award. It went on to screen at more than 50 festivals so far, winning awards for Best Script at FAF Belgrade and Best Actress at Marrakech Film Festival. ‘Excursion’ has secured theatrical release in many countries across Europe and the Mediterranean.
Una is an editing consultant for the First Cut Lab and the Dok Incubator, and is currently developing her sophomore feature “How Melissa Blew a Fuse”, supported by the Hubert Bals
Fund and Europe Creative Media.
The
SCHEDULE
15TH JULY - 1ST SEPTEMBER, 2024
Applications are open
1ST SEPTEMBER - 1ST OCTOBER, 2024
Time for the selection committee
1ST AND 2ND OCTOBER, 2024
Online interviews with finalist submissions & final selection
19TH - 24TH NOVEMBER, 2024
Kick-Off & First get-together at Filmschoolfest Munich 2024
DECEMBER 2024
Participants work together on their projects (online).
JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2025
Each participant travels to the individual residency for a three-week stay –
operated by the Pop Up Film Residency. The goal of the residency is discussed individually. The development work is structured and focused accordingly.
MARCH - APRIL 2025
Extra mentoring online by film & media representatives.
18th - 22nd of MAY 2025
Cannes
All six participants travel to Cannes for the award ceremony of the Kirch Foundation Award and to present their projects in one-to-one meetings to professionals from the international film industry.
Q&A – MUNICH FILM UP! IN
10 QUESTIONS
#1. Am I required to develop my film project in English?
#2. Can I submit more than one project per lab?
#3. Can I submit a short/mid-length project?
Each filmmaker may submit a feature-length project.
#4. Can I apply with an adaptation or documentary project?
Yes for both. We accept feature film projects only, but are open to hybrid formats.
However for an adaptation, you should be able to demonstrate proof of securing the adaptation rights for your project .
#5. What if the project has two screenwriters ? Can a second writer or producer take part?
Munich Film Up! will cover the expenses of the main writer/filmmaker (as detailed in the participant obligations).
A second writer/filmmaker may join the sessions at their own expense and share the same room assigned to the main writer/filmmaker.
#6. What is the attendance fee for the Lab?
The expenses for travel to Munich and local accommodation for both FILMSCHOOLFEST and CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, for the mentoring and networking sessions, as well as for the PopUp residencies are covered by the Lab program.
#7. If I am accepted, how and when will I be notified?
Online interviews will take place in the first week of October. Notification of acceptance will be sent out in mid October.
#9. Do I need to submit a copy of my graduation with my application?
Yes, we need to check the date of your graduation from film school. Candidates are eligible for up to three years after graduation.
#8. Can I apply with a project that has been submitted or supported elsewhere?
Yes.
#10. What video codec should I use for my application video?
We do not download video files. Please upload it online and send us the link.
WANT TO
CONTACT US?
If you have any questions about your application, you can send us an email
at International@hff-muc.de.
Our teams will answer you as soon as possible!
TEAM
DIRECTORS
Diesbach
Co-director
Elena Diesbach, Co-director: Elena Diesbach heads the International Office of the HFF Munich, where she plans and implements international study and exchange programs together with professors of the university and (inter)national film industry experts, and advises and supports HFF students in their international activities. In 2018, she founded the HFF Summer School, which since then has stood for a high-quality, English-language advanced and continuing education program at the HFF Munich.
Darras
Co-director
Previously, he founded & directed the European Network NISI MASA, and later on co-founded and was the artistic director of the TorinoFilmLab. A writer for the film magazine Positif, Matthieu Darras has been working as festival programmer, notably for the Cannes Critics’ Week and the San Sebastian Film Festival (since 2010). He co-founded First Cut Lab in 2015 and serves as Director.
TEAM
HOSTS
All of them are to discover on its website. Let’s go!
