by Prof. Nina Fischer and Sabrina Labis
4–6 June 2026
Summer Semester 2026
As part of the class Experimental Film and Media Art, students had the opportunity to take part in an excursion to the Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg in June 2026. Founded in 1985, the festival has established itself as one of Europe’s renowned platforms for the artistic short form, bringing together cinema, exhibition, performance, music, and discourse.
During the three-day excursion, students attended selected screenings, festival programmes, and accompanying events, engaging with a diverse range of contemporary approaches to experimental and short-form filmmaking. The festival provided an opportunity to encounter current artistic positions beyond the university context and to experience the different formats, working methods, and discourses that shape the international short film scene.
An important part of the excursion was the opportunity for students to present their own work within the festival context. In an open screening format, works by students of the Fachklasse were shown to a festival audience, creating a space for exchange and discussion around their ongoing artistic practices.
Selected students also participated in a pitching workshop, where they had the opportunity to present their film projects to a professional audience. The workshop offered a practical insight into the processes of developing and communicating artistic projects within a professional festival environment, while encouraging the students to articulate their ideas, approaches, and intentions to an audience beyond the university.
The excursion thus connected the experience of watching and discussing contemporary short films with the students’ own artistic production. By moving between screenings, encounters, discussions, and the presentation of their own work, the students were able to engage with the festival not only as spectators, but also as emerging filmmakers and artists.
