EXCLUSIVE: MunichFilmUp!, the international mentoring and residency programme for emerging filmmakers, has unveiled the participants for its sixth edition.
MunichFilmUp! supports recent film school graduates to develop their first feature-length projects. Mentoring is provided by international film professionals.
Founded by the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF München), the programme is organised with content partner Tatino in partnership with the Festival of Future Storytellers in Munich and the Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner.
The programme is supported by the Kirch Foundation, which also awards a €5,000 cash prize to the winning project.
It is led by co-directors Elena Diesbach and Matthieu Darras, alongside co-managers Ivana Hucíková and Antonia Lindner.
The sixth edition of MunichFilmUp! launches on November 13, with selected filmmakers participating in a four-day kick-off workshop followed by a three-week residency in February and March 2027.
The programme concludes in May 2027 at the Cannes Film Festival, where participants will present their film projects to international industry representatives.
The participants of MunichFilmUp! are:
- Jennifer Drake, a Ghanaian-German writer, director, and producer based between Munich and Accra. After earning a degree in business administration in Ghana, she pursued film production and media science at HFF München. Her directorial debut, short film God is Grey (2023), screened at numerous international film festivals, followed by her second short film, Little Lady (2026). She is currently developing her second feature project To Be a Butterfly.
- Reuben Hamlyn is an Emmy and BIFA-nominated filmmaker from London, based in New York. His debut documentary feature, Another Body (2023), won the special jury prize at SXSW and received an Emmy nomination for outstanding directing and two BIFA nominations. A graduate of NYU’s Grad Film program, his fiction short Bitter Weeds (2024) was shortlisted for the Student Academy Awards and Sunday’s Children (2026) premiered at Cannes. He is currently developing his debut narrative feature project Pale Comfort.
- Chinese filmmaker Yupeng He is a 2025 MFA graduate in film directing from Columbia University. His short film A Bright Sunny Day (2023) premiered at La Cinef at Cannes, while A Summer’s End Poem (2024) was selected for competition at the Berlinale. He is developing his debut feature project Like Reptiles Through the Night.
- German-Tunisian writer and director Maïssa Lihedheb, an MFA candidate at NYU Tisch, is a recipient of the Spike Lee production grant, an Ang Lee scholarship, and a Princess Grace award honoree. Her short films include Dogfriend, which screened at Tribeca and BFI London, and Samra’s Dollhouse. Founder of the BIPOC Film Society Berlin, she is developing her debut feature project A Wedding and Funeral.
- German filmmaker Caspar Wallrabe graduated from Berlin University of the Arts in 2017, then pursued directing at HFF München in 2020. His latest short film has screened at national and international film festivals. Alongside his filmmaking, he is a writer and member of the editorial team of Revü – Flugblatt für Film. He joins MunichFilmUp! with his feature project Fantasma.
- Polish writer and director Izabela Zubrycka is completing her studies at the Łódź Film School. Her documentary A Handful of Dirt (2023) premiered internationally at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. She is currently developing her debut feature project The Tangled Girl, supported by development funding from the Polish Film Institute.
-
2026 film festivals and markets calendar: latest dates
No comments yet