Master Classes

EFA Master Classes are courses on continuous training. They are held by highly acclaimed and internationally successful filmmakers who dedicate one week of intensive training to young talents coming from all over Europe, passing on their individual knowledge and personal experience. Rather than bare lecturing, the courses concentrate on the practical side of learning with at least half of the time spent with hands-on training.

Former EFA Master Classes:

2020: EFA Master Classes in PÖFF Back Room

A 2020 innovation is PÖFF Black Room which dives into the wonders of cinema’s visual language. The program is dedicated to the art department and sets out to deepen the knowledge about the unique craft that combines art, design, architecture and a lot of intrepid creativity.

The PÖFF Black Room program is created both for film enthusiasts and professionals. One week full of masterclasses and workshops opened a fascinating perspective to filmmaking through production design. The program was created in collaboration with the European Film Academy which brought together world-renowned masters of the Art Department as PÖFF Black Room mentors.

The first program was led by award-winning production designers Jacqueline Abrahams Jacqueline Abrahams and Maria Djurkovic and the grandmaster of miniature models Simon Weisse. Each of the three mentors gave a virtual masterclass to accredited attendants of Industry@Tallinn and carried out workshops for the selected six production designers.

2019: NEW Series of EFA Master Classes in Tallinn

2019:Keynote & Master Class with Ewa Puszczyńska in Winterthur

As in the case of the imprisoned Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Selntsov, the film industry has to take a stand and stand up for or against political issues. Festivals and oranisations should make use of their world-wide network and the media attention to point to political topics, as the EFA and the Berlinale have done in  the recent past.

Ewa Puszczyńska was one of the first female producers in Poland and stands behind the EFA Winner IDA. She was executive producer of David Lynch's INLAND EMPIRE and producer for Ari Folman's THE CONGRESS and Pawel Pawlikowski's COLD WAR. In her Master Class she talks about her way into the industry, how she experiences it as a woman and about some of her experiences.

2018: FICTION & DOCUMENTARY with Ibolya Fekete

2016: COSTUME DESIGN with Paco Delgado

2015: EDITING with Justine Wright

2015: PRODUCTION DESIGN with Allan Starski

2014: Marc Weigert
HIGH VALUE FOR YOUR BUDGET

2013: Andreas Hykade
ANIMATION TODAY

2012 / Bruno Tarrière & Selim Azzaz
THE SOUND OF THE IMAGE

2010: Alain Derobe
STEREOSCOPIC STORYTELLING - Creating stories and images for 3D film

2009: Danny Boyle
EFA Master Class RUHR: ENERGY IS THE ORIGIN OF CINEMA

2009: Nino Kirtadzé and Peter Liechti
EFA Master Class RUHR: UPGRADING REALITY

2008: Hervé Schneid:
AT THE CUTTING EDGE - The creative use of digital technology for editing

2006: Stefan Jarl
How the Creative Documentary Can Take Advantage
of the Digital Revolution in Camera Equipment

2005: Anthony Dod Mantle
Developing A Personal Visual Dictionary

2004: Mike Figgis
How to Combine Vision And Craft And Make a Film in One Week

2002: Allan Starski
Mastering Visual Effects:
The Challenges of Combining Locations and CGI.

2002: Michael Radford
The Soul of the Actor

2001: Tsui Hark
Time For Hong Kong Action

1999: Mike Newell
Creating A World For A Story

1997: Marc Weigert
Action With Effects

1996: Jan De Bont
Time For Action

1996: André Delvaux
Interaction

1995: Nikita Mikhalkov
Emotional Energetics

1995: István Szabó & Tilda Swinton
Chekhov`s Close-Ups

1994: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Six Actors In Search Of A Director

1993: Jean-Jacques Annaud & Bernd Eichinger
A Bag Full Of Tricks: Marketing And Financing For Directors
And Screen-Writers

1993: Henning Carlsen
The Technique Of Storytelling

1992: Jiri Menzel
Anyone Can Make Art But You Have To Know How To Make
A Comedy