Schedule & Workshops

Once again this year, we gathered for what has now become a cherished tradition—our summer festival—beneath the large oak tree that provides cool shade in Ulla and Fritz's garden. Under beautiful summer weather, we spent wonderful hours enjoying draft beer, grilled sausages and steaks, salads, a fantastic dessert, and engaging conversations. For the first time, our new member Wolfgang attended with his wife Eva. Both were welcomed with open arms into the MFVC summer festival circle, leaving the impression they had been with us for many years.

Special thanks go to our hosts Ulla and Fritz, our grill master and sausage coordinator Jürgen, the skilled cooks of the salads and desserts, and all the many helping hands that contributed to the success of this festive occasion.

We are all already looking forward to the 2027 summer festival, hopefully again beneath the magnificent oak tree of Ulla and Fritz.

At this club night, our new member Dr. Wolfgang Papst introduced himself through film. He began with black-and-white film excerpts made by his grandfather and some by his father, showing that filmmaking had a tradition in his family. His own filmmaking, now on colour film, was initially connected with his professional work as a physicist at several stations in East Asia. He also presented a selection from a long list of subjects, with a focus on a journey to Greenland and floating icebergs in different light.

Michael Campos Viola has been commissioned to make a film about the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. He showed several episodes he has collected so far. Bernd Burger had been white-water paddling and had strapped a GoPro action camera to his chest for filming. We watched the results. Rudolf Egensperger showed a filmed tour through Nymphenburg Palace and park and, as a second film, one titled "Being and Appearance. A few small remarks on a world-moving topic." It dealt with optical perception and several aspects of painting.

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.

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.

The talk ranged from placing an object in the frame to analysing form in an image, the golden ratio, imaginary lines, pans and tracking shots, reading direction in the image, the illusion of depth and the function of colour. A very interesting topic for all of us, supported with images and clearly explained. Rudolf, thank you for this. At the end we analysed some scenes from our film "Die Holzköpfe", which we consider prize worthy.

Today we celebrated our filmmakers Angela, Doro and Carola for their victory at the BAF 2025 with their film "Ein Bisschen Ewigkeit". Recordings of the jury discussion and the laudation were shown.

Some of us, the hardy ones, watched 35 films in a day and a half at the 46th Bavarian Amateur Film Festival 2025 in Unterföhring. A real feat. After the last film you are exhausted. Our women's team, Angela, Carola and Doro, won the special prize "Fantasy and Creativity" with the "Orlich Lion" at this year's Bavarian Amateur Film Festival for their fairy tale film "Ein Stückchen Ewigkeit". They can now rightly say that they have shown across Bavaria that they have the most impressive imagination and creativity.

Today's meeting was to find film ideas for 2025, as always a difficult task for us all. We decided to make eight one minute films. For the annual film we are still searching. So far only three ideas are on the table, but more will follow.

We watched: "Schmotziger Donschtig" by Bernd, "Südtirol 2015" by Fritz, "Tallin 2017" by Rudolf, "Nepal-Himalaya-Park 2024" by Jürgen, the one minute film "Muhdz" by Jonny, "Hansi's Sauwetter" and "Der Beuchet-Stuhl" by Hans, and "Das Kinderlied" by the VHS group Munich. An inspiring evening that left us wanting more.

Günter explained the advantages of the VLC player in a detailed and clear way. We learned what mistakes can be made when editing our films and how they can be avoided. A topic that affects all of us. You never stop learning. Thank you for this talk.

We are looking for the title of our dentist film. The choice fell on "Der letzte Schrei". Today was Fritz's evening. Seventeen members watched the film by Fritz and Ulla about their trip to Hong Kong, with excursions to Macau and Yangshou in China.

This time with more comfortable temperatures, thanks to our dentist. That completed the filming for this film. Much was shot as a single take.

Travel documentary "Bergen" by Rudolf. "Wildbienen" by Angela. "A coach trip to Verdi, Verona and Vincenca" by Bernd. "Ein Stückchen Ewigkeit" by AnDoCa (Angela, Doro and Carola). "Eine höllische Nacht", a making of by Hans. Documentary "Rom" by Jürgen. The winners were quickly determined: 1st place "Wildbienen" by Angela. 2nd place "Ein Stückchen Ewigkeit" by AnDoCa. 3rd place "Bergen" by Rudolf.

In proper sub zero temperatures we continued shooting the dentist film. Whether lightly dressed on a bicycle or open in a convertible behind the cyclist, it was still fun, even though we were all freezing. The next shoot promises a warm dental practice.

Today's main topic was our upcoming film project, the dentist film. The storyboard was discussed and changed in some parts among the many participants. Apart from the remaining search for actors, the biggest challenge was planning, creating and distributing the tasks. Equipment and props are also in place. Remarkably, and within the planned time, all tasks were allocated among us by 10 pm. That is how filmmaking works.

Discussion and search for participants for casting our planned dentist film. Then a general Stammtisch discussion.

Screening of holiday and documentary films from our members. Jürgen: My favourite island Tenerife. Bernd: White water adventure on the Salza. Fritz and Ulla: Travel experiences in St Petersburg. Rudolf: Holiday in France, river trip around Beaune. Günter: First attempts with the new drone. Hans: Experiences in 2016, 2017 and 2021 in and around Krimmel.

We watched four films from our summer trip to the Allgäu and the cheese making. From club members Jonny, Bernd, Angela, Fritz and Ulla. Afterwards we discussed the style, technique and design of each film. Everyone learns from it.

Filming with the smartphone. Günter gave a technically demanding talk about this way of filming. What the smartphone can do and the many accessories, from an Ultra cage kit, ND filters which are a must, to an additional microphone, and more. The subsequent demonstration of the Blackmagic app went beyond what we smartphone filmmakers can imagine. Here you are in the professional realm.

Hans Stenech's evening. Hans brought two travel documentaries. A trip to the Namib Desert from 2003 and a five week tour through Nova Scotia in eastern Canada from 2012. Both were interesting travel reports. An evening recommended for imitation.

Film night. Five of the eight members present brought six films, plus a club production. Shown were: 1. A shooting day from "Der Alte mit dem ZDF" by Hans-Jürgen, 2. "Feuerwehreinsatz in Eichenau" by Hans Bauer, 3. "Apfelkiachl" by Fritz Sutor, 4. "Ammersee im Winter" by Bernd Burger, 5. "Nachtbahnhof" by Bernd Burger, "Making of im Zirkus" by Jonny, and the club production "Von der Wiege bis zur Bahre – Fahre fahre". To general amusement and astonishment, H.-Jürgen gave a talk about the guidelines for cultural film funding dated 1 January 2024, issued by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. We did not know whether to laugh or cry. We discussed.

Today it was time for "ramma damma". Four sturdy men and one lone but energetic woman met at 9 o'clock in our archive to clear things out. There was plenty to do. After four hours a full trailer was taken to the recycling centre. The reward afterwards was Greek.

Six members present selected three favourites from the 19 submitted ideas for the internal competition 2024 and assigned them as follows: 1. Zahnschmerzen mit Folgen, 2. Radlerrast, 3. Paar wird angespritzt. For fun, short descriptions for all three films were entered into ChatGPD. Some funny results came back with the titles: 1. Nacht der Entscheidungen, 2. Die unerwartete Rast, 3. Wasser Verwechslungen. It was an entertaining evening. The motto for our internal MFVC competition 2024 was set as "Die Überraschung".

Today we talked again about our "cheese dairy" excursion to the Allgäu. The rest of the evening was devoted to "film ideas 2024". An astonishing number of ideas, nineteen in total, were submitted and discussed with energy. A selection will be made and then the filming will follow.

Jonny showed us several making of films, including how the daily soap "Marienhof" was shot at Bavaria Studios 20 years ago. We saw how a new set for 3 million Deutsche Mark was built specifically for the series. Further films were "Making of Maldini" and "Tim der Besetzer", where the little brother helps his big sister with a casting. Finally Hans-Jürgen showed his short film "MoMo". Man Of Making Of. Work by Jonny during the film season. Thirteen club members were present.

Screening of his film "125 years of the Emmering sports club". A meticulous film created by him down to the last detail about the past 125 years of the Emmering sports club. For these 40 minutes of film he shot for 370 hours and spent eight months in total. Hats off. Thirteen club members were enthusiastic.

This club night was intended to show the results of the joint filming trip to Schäftlarn. It was interesting that four of the six films were similar yet still had their own style. Of the remaining two videos, one had a problem filming only the monastery church and showed attempts to solve it. The sixth film interviewed some of the club members in the flower rich monastery garden about their relationship with the club. A special aesthetic was achieved by choosing slight overexposure in a black and white image.

The celebration of the MFVC's 40th birthday became a successful family celebration for Bavarian video filmmakers. The warm congratulations from friendly clubs and from the Bavarian and national boards showed a welcome sense of togetherness among filmmakers. The success of the event was mainly thanks to the meticulous planning by our chair Günter Pruner and his helpers. His confident moderation and the short, well rehearsed film excerpts entertained the many visitors. The high level of effort, including the demanding projection technology, was worth it.

First there was a discussion about the MFVC 40 year celebration. Then we reported on the results of the LFVB annual general meeting. Afterwards we reviewed the photos from the 44th Bavarian Amateur Film Festival.

Eighteen films were screened on Saturday and competed for the prizes. After each film the author received a certificate and a bag with some valuable gifts. After each block of four or five films, the four jurors came forward and discussed the films competently and with humour in front of the large audience. Despite the competitive element, a relaxed and friendly atmosphere developed. On Sunday morning the prizes were awarded after the cultural programme. The first prize for the best Bavarian film, the large Bavarian Lion with a lozenge shield from the Nymphenburg porcelain manufactory, traditionally donated by the Bavarian Minister President, went to the film "Leben im Hospitz Germering" by Günter Pruner and Jonny Freifeld from our club, despite strong competition. In the afternoon this great success for our club was celebrated in style.

Both club nights were reserved for detailed planning of our festival and the BAF, the Bavarian Film Festival. Our chair Günter Pruner prepared a plan with great care and tried to foresee every eventuality. Almost all of our members, only the very old were excused, took on several tasks. On Friday there was also a dress rehearsal.

Although organising the Bavarian Film Festival in Germering takes a lot of time and energy, we still held an interesting film evening. Hans Stenech assembled photos from an earlier trip to Sicily and the Aeolian Islands into a narrated film. Hans-Jürgen Kindler filmed diligently at our summer party and produced a lovely memory film. Bernd Burger showed a family holiday of paddling and camping in Slovenia. Rudolf Egensperger contributed two shore excursions from a cruise in the eastern Mediterranean, to ancient Olympia and to biblical Jerusalem.

During the holidays we wanted to shoot the "Frischluft" film in good weather. Because of holidays it was difficult to find dates when the whole team could meet, and agreed dates were repeatedly upset by bad weather. The film outing to Schäftlarn finally took place in August after several postponements.

After discussions about the aim of filming together on an excursion, with Schäftlarn as the favourite, we moved on to a Stammtisch to let the filming year wind down into the holidays.