with Melanie Gärtner
Dates: Sat 7 Nov – Sun 8 Nov 2026
Registration deadline: Sun 25 Oct 2026
Target group: Beginners and advanced learners
Finding the right balance between closeness and distance is one of the greatest challenges when working with protagonists in documentary film. How do you build trusting relationships without losing sight of professional boundaries? Together with Melanie Gärtner, you’ll explore questions relating to building relationships, collaborating as equals, dealing with power dynamics, and strategies for protecting participants and filmmakers. Practical examples and group reflection will provide an opportunity to discuss your documentary practice and your own approach as a filmmaker.
The seminar is being held in cooperation with the Bennohaus Münster.
Dates:
Sat 7 Nov 2026, 10 am–5 pm
Sun 8 November 2026, 10.00–14.00
Registration deadline: Sun 25 Oct 2026
Costs: Early Bird* €200 / Concession €220 / Standard €260
Further information on funding opportunities can be found here.
Target audience: Beginners and advanced learners
Number of participants: min. 5 /max. 8
Language: German
Venue: Bennohaus, Bennostraße 5, 48155 Münster (Room Benno 3)
*Are you registering for the seminar well in advance? Our early-bird discount applies up to 2 weeks before the registration deadline. As an early bird, you’ll pay just 200 € for the seminar.
Melanie Gärtner studied ethnology, literature and journalism in Frankfurt am Main and Berlin. She has been working as a freelance writer and filmmaker since 2009. Her work focuses on the themes of displacement, migration and human rights. In search of her stories, she travels all over the world, particularly in Africa. Her stories centre on people. What drives them, what defines their world, how do they behave? Through her films, writing and photographs, she explores what concerns people in other parts of the world. In doing so, she takes her time, observing and describing with patience and intensity. Her documentary film *IM LAND DAZWISCHEN* was screened at various festivals in German-speaking countries and has won several awards, including at the LICHTER Filmfest Frankfurt International. Her follow-up documentary, *YVES VERSPRECHEN*, was screened in the First Appearance section at IDFA. Melanie Gärtner is a member of AG DOK and organises the Hessian Documentary Film Festival, LETsDOK.
Further information: http://www.m-eilenweit.de/
The seminar programme of the ‘
’ Filmwerkstatt in Münster is supported by
