Munich Film Up! is a 9-month mentoring & residential program welcoming fresh film school graduates with first feature film projects. Presented by HFF München, Munich Film Up! is run in cooperation with the Pop Up Film Residency as exclusive content partner, and in partnership with Film School Fest Munich and Filmfest München.
Each year 6 participants from all over the world take part in the Lab that notably consists in two workshops held in Munich: first in parallel to the Film School Fest Munich in November, and then during the Filmfest München in June, when they present their projects to film industry executives. In between, each aspiring filmmaker benefits from a tailor-made Pop Up Film Residency in one of the residences of our network.
More infos: www.munichfilmup.org
1st edition in 2022: Lana Bregar, Erec Brehmer, Anastasiya Gruba, Loïc Hobi, Cyrielle Raingou, Pratik Thakare
2nd edition in 2023: Sadeq Es-Haqi, Hang L Nguyen, Soham Kundu, Nancy Calmando, Viv Li, Ashmita Guha Neogi
3rd edition in 2024: Leila Basma, Romy Bous Nasr, Leonardo Martinelli, Gretta-Garoliina Sammalniemi, Inès Sieulle, Berthold Wahjudi
CHHEANGKEA IENG
Cambodia/USA
Chheangkea is a Phnom Penh-born filmmaker, currently based in Brooklyn, NY. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in architecture from MIT and his MFA in filmmaking at the NYU Tisch Graduate Film Program, focusing on writing-directing and cinematography. Through his films, Chheangkea seeks to showcase the complexities and colors of queer and Cambodian stories.
AIZADA AMANGELDY
Kyrgyzstan
Aizada is a dramaturgist, producer, director, and queer feminist activist from Kyrgyzstan. She holds a master’s degree in Dramaturgy and completed an advanced apprenticeship in Dramaturgy at VGIK in Moscow, where she had the honor of being the last student of Cannes award-winning screenwriter Yuri Arabov. Throughout her career, Aizada has worked on several acclaimed TV series and documentaries, which were broadcast on the country’s main television channel. She is currently developing a screenplay trilogy based on her life experiences, exploring themes of love and Islam, titled 18th Birthday, Husband, and Wife.
JAKUB JIRÁSEK
Czech Republic
Jakub Jirásek is a writer, director and musician. Born in Prague in 1993, raised in Switzerland, currently based in Prague. He got a Master degree in Film directing at FAMU in Prague, spent one semester of Erasmus at Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3. His fiction short Don’t Be a Pussy was premiered at Premiers Plans d’Angers, won a few prizes at festivals including YDA 2020 and was shortlisted for BAFTA Student Award in 2020.
CRISTINA ILIESCU
Romania
Cristina Iliescu is a Romanian filmmaker who lives in Bucharest, România. They are writing a PhD on the impact of the internet and generative AI on experimental cinema. Iliescu’s hybrid film practice interweaves reality, fiction and a digitally native take.
MAXIMILIAN BUNGARTEN
Germany
Maximilian Bungarten (b. 1993 in Mechernich NRW, Germany) studied production, media economics and documentary film directing at the University of Television and Film Munich. In 2019, he attended Université Paris VIII as a DAAD scholar. He co-founded Benedetta Films with Felix Herrmann and Camille Tricaud. Their documentary Eleven Tomorrows premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival. His short film The Age of Innocence was nominated for Best Queer Short at Clermont-Ferrand 2023.
HANNA STOCK
Germany
Hanna, born in 1995 in Bad Aibling, began her career with internships at production companies before starting vocational training in media design at Bavaria Film in 2015. There, she worked across various departments of fictional film production and directed her own short films. Since 2018, she has been studying screenwriting at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF), while also working as a camera assistant. In addition to her writing, Hanna has gained experience in the documentary field, having directed short documentaries.
