with Daniel Abma
Date: Sat, 13.06. – Sun, 14.06.2026
Registration deadline: Sun, 31.05.2026
Target group: beginners & advanced participants
Conflicts play a central role in documentary film. When protagonists experience conflicts during filming, strong, dramaturgically essential scenes are often created – because without conflict, there is no story. In this two-day workshop, we will explore the potential of conflict in documentary film.
We will examine the phenomenon of “conflict” as a cinematic and dramaturgical device, analyse non-fictional scenes and categorise different types of conflict. We will also watch the film Im Prinzip Familie (engl. Family by Principle) by Daniel Abma , followed by a workshop discussion.
In the second part, we focus on conflicts in your own filmmaking: We will look at your current projects, reflect on the material you are working on, explore which conflicts are visible in them and provide impulses for their further development.
Daniel Abma was born in the Netherlands in 1978. After studying primary school education, he moved from Amsterdam to Berlin, where he initially worked as a media educator. He then studied directing at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF in Potsdam.
His feature-length documentaries NACH WRIEZEN (2012), TRANSIT HAVANNA (2016), AUTOBAHN (2019) and IM PRINZIP FAMILIE (2024) were screened at festivals around the world such as Karlovy Vary, IDFA, Vision du Réel and DOK Leipzig and have won several awards, including the Grimme Award for NACH WRIEZEN and the German Documentary Film Award for IM PRINZIP FAMILIE.
Daniel Abma has been a lecturer in documentary film directing at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF since 2017 and works as a tutor and trainer at pitch workshops at festivals such as DOK Leipzig, Baltic Sea Docs Riga, Cinedoc Tbilisi and Docudays Kiev throughout Europe. From 2018 to 2022, he was a member of the selection committee of the DOK Leipzig Film Festival, where he also moderated film talks.
Date:
Sat, 13.06.2026, 10am – 5pm
Sun, 14.06.2026, 10am – 2pm
Registration deadline: Sun, 31.05.2026
Costs: Early-Bird* 200 € / Reduced 220 € / Regular 260 €
Further information on funding options can be found here
Target group: beginners & advanced participants
Number: min. 5 participants / max. 10 participants
Language: German
Location: Bennohaus, Bennostraße 5, 48155 Münster (Room Benno 3)
*Are you registering early for the seminar? Our early bird discount applies up to 2 weeks before the registration deadline. As an early bird, you only pay €200 for the seminar.