HESSEN TALENTS is a project organised by the Hessen Film and Media Academy (hFMA) and has been the most important platform for presenting the work of young filmmakers from Hessen in an international context for the last 17 years now: students from four Hessen universities in Darmstadt, Kassel, Offenbach and Wiesbaden where filmmaking is taught present their graduation and seminar films to the international film industry at the Berlinale’s European Film Market (EFM). The programme is put together by an audience of professionals at the Hessen University Film Day, an industry event at the Kasseler Dokfest and the professors at the four Hessen filmmaking universities.

12 graduation and semester films form the diverse, inter-university 2026 HESSEN TALENTS short film programme, which include both essay films and documentaries as well as animated films and fiction. With two screenings – for industry as part of the EFM (17.2. at 2pm at CinemaxX 13) and for the general public at Berlin’s fsk Kino (19.2. at 3pm) – both industry representatives, funders and partners as well as interested members of the public will be given the opportunity to get to know the diversity of films being made by Hessen’s up-and-coming talents.

Yet the project isn’t just aimed at those on the outside, but also those taking part in it: decked out with industry accreditations, the project participants take part in an comprehensively supervised excursion to Germany’s most important film festival. Together with their professors, they attend film screenings and events from all sections of the Berlinale. In daily discussion rounds, they have the opportunity to reflect on what they have seen and learnt as well as on the different facets of the film industry – from film economics to film culture. A comprehensive supporting programme, which includes professional tours of the European Film Market with a focus on the film industry, a guided tour of the Forum Expanded exhibition to provide additional curatorial context and a whole series of exclusively organised Open Classes with international directors presenting their films at this year’s Berlinale, enable the participants to gain insights into the working methods of the most successful and innovative industry representatives and filmmakers of the moment and enter into an active exchange with them.

Borjana Gaković, project manager

Prof. Alexander Herzog, Hochschule Darmstadt

Prof. Bettina Blümner, Hochschule Darmstadt

Prof. Jan Peters, Kunsthochschule Kassel

Prof. Marie-Hélène Gutberlet, Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach am Main

Prof. Tom Schreiber, Hochschule RheinMain, Wiesbaden

Prof. Jan Peters, Kunsthochschule Kassel

Borjana Gaković, project manager (on behalf of Kunsthochschule Kassel)