Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 10, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The management of Germany’s first private film university, the German Film School for digital production, filed for insolvency on November 28, 2007 due to impending inability to pay. The film university in Elstal had most recently been struggling with the withdrawal of its state university status. A total of 95 students are studying digital media production and animation at the German Filmschool.
Lawyer Sebastian Laboga, commissioned by Potsdam Local Court to prepare an expert opinion and a Berlin partner at the nationwide insolvency administration firm Kübler, will meet today with representatives of both the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg and the State of Brandenburg’s film funding company, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH. The aim of the talks is to find a way to preserve the film university in the medium or long term, the Kübler firm explains in a press release. “At the present time, teaching at the university is continuing without restrictions,” Laboga explains. “Everyone involved is highly motivated to keep the recognised institution alive and ensure that the 95 students properly complete their education,“ the lawyer states.
The highest priority is to initiate measures so that the current semester can be completed as planned in February 2008. If this succeeds, 30 students in the fifth and sixth semesters could complete their education regularly. „I am optimistic that by the end of the current semester we will have found a solution that also ensures a qualification for those in the first to fourth semesters,“ says Laboga. For the current semester, the university of applied sciences is working with 25 freelance lecturers. A clear signal has already been sent from the ranks of the lecturers that they stand by the school despite the insolvency.
The film university was founded in 1998 by Professor Bernd Willim, its current president. Since March 2000, a total of 114 graduates have been awarded a diploma as a „Digital Artist“. Until September 2007, the film university was recognised as a state university. According to the insolvency administration firm Kübler, however, this recognition was not renewed by the responsible education ministry because the film university was in particular unable to provide evidence of the required guarantee amounting to at least 2 million euros. As a result, the students lose their status as students within the meaning of the Social Code, with the consequence that the previous entitlement to BAföG lapses for students admitted since September 2007. Professor Willim could not be reached for comment on Monday morning.
The Film School currently employs seven permanent employees and one trainee. To secure wages, lawyer Laboga intends to apply to the responsible Employment Agency for authorisation to pre-finance insolvency payments. The students and employees are expected to be informed by Laboga on Tuesday at a meeting about the current situation and the measures now to be initiated.
