Schedule & Workshops

At the start of the club night we raised a toast to the 90th birthday of our oldest member, Rudolf E., while also filming a few scenes for a planned film. Afterwards we held the internal club competition for films that may be submitted to the BDFA competition. Nine films were judged by the members present. The result: Three films with the same score in third place: "Der Blumentopf" by Fritz Sutor "Der letzte Schrei" by Michael Campos Viola "Kopenagen" by H.-Jürgen Kindler in second place: "jetzt aber looos" by H.-Jürgen Kindler in first place: "Komm nicht zu spät" by Dorothee Sodtke

To prevent AI from hovering over our filmmaking as an unknown and unsettling phantom, our club held a full day workshop on the subject. Michael Campos Viola and his wife Filipa introduced artificial intelligence as a useful tool for our hobby in a clear way, step by step, and in a way we could follow on our laptops. They showed us why AI results must always be checked and why human experience and creativity remain essential. Then AI can help across all parts of the filmmaking process. At the club night afterwards, Michael complemented what we had learned with practical film examples.

On this club night we collected ideas for our 2026 collaborative film. By the end we had 12 working titles on the list, with stories at different stages of development. At a later point we will review which ideas are realistically achievable. A vote on the titles that most sparked the imagination took place on 28 January. First place went to the working title "High Tech Cyclist Healed in the Forest". Next came "Rollator", with third place going to "MFVC Image Film".

The first club night of the “new year ’26” was dedicated to competition films from the BDFA archive.

The film “Dem Dom auf das Dach gestiegen” shows unusual images of Cologne Cathedral from two guided tours. The author is more interested in the various size records the cathedral holds than in an orderly explanation of the highly complex structure.

“On the Rocks” is a collection of images of rocks and glaciers created while passing through the Prinz Christian Sund in Greenland. It ends with high-proof spirits chilled over glacier ice.

The student film “Scheisse ist nur eine Variante” is a black-and-white parody of a gangster film that, in an extremely realistic style and without a recognizable plot but charged with frivolous aggression, shows one person after another being shot until only the “godfather” remains.

Another student film titled “Drud” shows a very strong performance by the lead actor. After a tragic accident during the two friends’ pubescent taunting, one dies and the other is haunted, burdened by guilt, by a ghostly being – the Drud.

A somewhat intrusive and unconvincing commentary dulls the impact of the film “Die Wildnis ruft,” despite the very good animal footage from the northern Rocky Mountains.

In the film “110,” any help arrives too late once the police introduce automated answering machines.

When AI kicks in during the music video “The Girl in the Sky,” a surreal, over-sharp but ultimately inconsequential fluttering emerges.

Our club invited film enthusiasts, hobby filmmakers, and culture lovers to a public talk by our chair Günter Pruner titled “Dramaturgy, Screenwriting and Storytelling.” Several members from friendly clubs—especially the Pasing photo club—joined us. Using his PowerPoint slides, Günter explained the highly complex topic clearly and accessibly. He began with the importance of knowing the target audience for a film. He then detailed the “hero’s journey” and the “three-act structure” as tools for crafting engaging concepts. To shape a film from the first idea to a screening-ready project, he recommended making sequential written decisions: from logline to exposé, to treatment, to screenplay, to storyboard, and finally to the shooting plan. He closed with tips on how to create collaborative films within the club.

Our internal one-minute competition received a gratifying ten film entries. Topics ranged from misused coffee beans and an AI urged to self-destruct to misplaced multi-million lottery winnings and withered potted plants, including the Bavarian phrase "da dadarrda da a," which is indecipherable for non-Bavarians. Members voted by raising hands. Tied for first place were "Kafee ma(h)len" by Bernd B. and "KI Abschaltung" by Michael C.; second place went to "Blumentopf" by Fritz S. and "Jetzt aber looos" by Hans-Jürgen K.

In September our club took a filming excursion to Stein an der Traun to the specialty coffee roastery "Baruli." Everyone filmed the tour of the business and the surroundings. At tonight's club evening, the first four members presented their films. Even though the footage was similar for everyone, the results differed greatly because each filmmaker chose a different focus.

Topic: Club community film "Der letzte Schrei."

This year's collaborative film was edited to completion by Michael C., which became the perfect reason for a public screening. Attendance doubled compared to a normal club night, and the room was full of guests and members alike. The film received the applause it deserved, and we toasted its success with a selection of drinks.

Talk by Rudolf E. on "Teachers' college: art and pornography - how it came about and what happened next."

In the 1960s and 70s, Bavarian public television broadcast a program called "Lehrerkolleg." Lessons were recorded at the Institute for Classroom Observation in Pasing and then critically discussed.

In 1970, Rudolf held a session with a twelfth-grade class on "Art and Pornography" as a direct reaction to what was then called the "sex wave." This school lesson was part of the TV broadcast.

Rudolf described how the rigid mood of the post-war years slowly shifted, triggered by events such as the 1962 "Schwabing riots," and how this liberation affected everyday life - especially attitudes to sexuality.

He closed the evening by screening the original TV recording.

Michael invited everyone to a relaxed, cosy get together with various cold drinks and lots of tasty treats. The reason was his half round birthday and his election as vice president. Even his mother travelled from the North Sea. There was a lot of discussion and laughter, "we save the world". Hans-Jürgen presented a short three minute homage to the celebrant to amuse the audience. Overall it was a fun and pleasant evening. That too is filmmaking in the MFVC.

That evening Michael Campos Viola did not simply guide us through a presentation, but through a multimedia experience about the transformation of film, from analogue chemical film to the era of artificial intelligence.

In 13 dramaturgically structured chapters he combined images, animations and transitions into an audiovisual essay. It was not a classic talk, but a staging about perception and tools. Technology became atmosphere, animation became emotion.

Michael showed how AI can be understood not as a replacement but as an extension of creative processes, a new brush in the filmmaker's toolbox. This was not just theory but an experience. How does film change when the tool itself thinks along?

The audience experienced the smooth transition from analogue film reels to digital data streams, from colour and sound to code and light, visually impressive and precisely staged.

In the end there was silence, the good sign that an evening had not only informed but also moved us. A wake up call, as one participant called it, and at the same time a strong signal that the MFVC does not fear the future of film but helps shape it.

Today the MFVC held its annual general meeting with new elections. After the report from the treasurer, the auditors and the discharge of the previous board, the elections took place.

The new board is as follows:

1st chair: Günter Pruner 2nd chair: Michael Campos Viola Treasurer: Carola Schmidle Secretary: Bernd Burger

Advisers: Hans Stenech, Rudolf Egensperger, Dietmar Sodtke Auditors: Petra Freifeld and Wilfried Probst

Ulla Sutor received a bouquet of flowers as the outgoing auditor for her many years of service.

After a review of the positive activities of the past twelve months, we want to continue enjoying our hobby in the future and, in a cheerful group, make the occasional little film together, quite apart from the social aspect and the good atmosphere in the club. A particular focus will be on recruiting new members.

Honoured were: Angela Brüch for 5 years, Hans Bauer for 20 years and Fritz Sutor for 25 years of membership.

Fritz and Ulla then thanked everyone with a round of prosecco. This too is MFVC community in practice.