On September 17th 1966, the mayor of West Berlin, Willi Brandt, opened the Federal Republic’s first film academy. In the SFB’s Germany House on Theodor-Heuss-Platz, 35 students out of a total of 800 applicants began their studies. In a time when the West German post-war film industry found itself in the deepest existential crisis, hope was placed on the cultivation of creative impulses through an approved system to promote up-and-coming filmmakers. However, it didn’t take long before the dffb found itself in crisis. In the spring of 1967, differences between students and professors escalated until at the end of 1968, they had developed into bitter disputes. Interest in the art of making films was superseded by an interest in film as a means of political agitation. As a result, the dffb curriculum was determined less by film-related topics, and more by issues such as Vietnam, the conflict surrounding the Springer publishing house and the activism of Rudi Dutschke and Benno Ohnesorg. Nevertheless, the documentary and “workers’ films” of the 1970s earned the dffb increasing recognition and helped to establish the reputation of the politically and socially active Berliner Schule (Berlin School). In the depoliticised and individualised climate of the 1980s, interest shifted towards the narrative feature film, although documentary continued to play an important role. Since 1993, and under the guidance of Professor Reinhard Hauff, the programme at the dffb has become more closely tailored to specific professional profiles, and there has also been an increase in co-operation with external producers. In addition to the Directing and Camera departments, the dffb established the Script Academy in 1997, the Production Programme in 1998 and the TV Programme in 1999, followed by the academy of converging media (acm) in 2001.
