Schedule & Workshops

The club night had two parts. In the first part, Andi Bierl gave a systematic introduction to the possibilities of a moving camera. Each movement was presented in a simple, easy-to-understand diagram and then illustrated with moving excerpts from famous films. In the second part, the group brainstormed different characters who appear to a cyclist in the brief outline of a film story after he has a breakdown in the forest.

The BDFA offers the option to download films from its website that have screened at festivals and are remarkable in a special way. This time we watched eight entries from the "Fantex" festival. Fantex means fantasy film. One characteristic of these films was that they broke with the norms of "normal" filmmaking, with story, plot points and logical progression. In the club, the majority of the films were rejected by most members. This led to a discussion about whether such "works" belong at festivals.

This club night was planned as an exchange of experiences around filming with smartphones. After an extensive opening discussion, three practical film examples were shown. Bernd Burger had bought an inexpensive smartphone so that, if it fell into the water while paddling, the loss would not be too great. The reduced image quality was clearly visible as well. Hans-Jürgen Kindler brought excerpts from an influencer film. It combined general filming rules with the possibilities offered by smartphones. Afterwards there was an overview of technical accessories. Günter Pruner showed how a smartphone can help a filmmaker out of a tight spot when, completely unprepared, he is asked to film a vernissage.

This club night was dedicated to films by members. Bernd Burger showed a tour of especially prominent sights in Rome. Michael Campos Viola had submitted a film about a Perchten dance to a competition. In a special making-of, he combined excerpts from the jury discussion with scenes from the film and information about the recording equipment used. A longer discussion followed the screening. Guest Andi Bierl had won the big lion for best film at the Bavarian Film Festival. He brought this film, "Der scharfe Toni", for us to watch. Toni, one member of a quartet of friends, had died, and the three survivors had to overcome several mishaps on the way to the funeral. In the making-of shown afterwards, it was impressive to see how Andi had mastered the difficulties of shooting with skilfully used aids, especially the green screen.

Rudolf Egensperger hosted this club night. He showed a 2012 travel film about a cruise from Hamburg to Genoa, sailing west around Europe.

The first stop was Le Havre in northern France, with a bus trip to Rouen and a visit to the old town. In northern Spain, La Coruna was the starting point for a trip to Betanzos, a relatively unknown town with an interesting medieval centre. In Portugal, the day's excursion led through Lisbon and a selection of its many sights. A detour to North Africa took us from Casablanca to Morocco's capital Rabat, including the royal palace and a kasbah from which the city had developed. Back in southern Spain there was a walk through Cadiz and a tour through Valencia, with the modern buildings by the famous architect Calatrava as a highlight. At the end of the evening one club member said: A cruise makes me think of a bee - it flies from flower to flower and takes a small amount of nectar from each.

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.