Institute for Film Design

The Film Department at the HfG was set up in 1961. It is acknowledged to be one of the earliest theoretical and practical film schools in West Germany. Initially its main concern was to implement the Oberhausen Manifesto, however the department soon became an intellectual center of New German Film. The training program was heavily influenced by Alexander Kluge and Edgar Reitz. When the HfG closed, the department continued as the Institute for Film Design. The focus shifted away from film production to legal issues in movie and television production. Since 1995 the institute has devoted itself to developments in new media.

There are approximately 150 videotapes in the HfG Archive on permanent loan from the Institute for Film Design. The films were made between 1962 and 1970. The original film reels are stored along with audio material in the Documentary Film Centre, Stuttgart.