Maya Duftschmid
Director & ScreenwriterBorn in Munich in 1994, Maya moved to the idyllic Allgäu region with her family at an early age. There, she grew up in a magical place surrounded by meadows and forests. The big wide world found its way into her secluded life through the old tube TV – as a child, she watched movies with wide-open eyes. The rest of the time she dreamed herself into other worlds – something that has stayed with her to this day.
For Maya, writing and directing films means sensing what is in the air and weaving the lack of people into a timeless narrative. These are not quiet films, but films with a bang. Films with strong worldbuilding that reflect our flawed world and are empathetic. Films that seem bizarre but are honest about our emotional worlds. She wants stories that, despite their obvious weirdness, can also conquer entertainment cinema – stories that are fun and don’t shy away from bold decisions. Her goal: to leave the viewer stunned, in the sense of “That didn’t really happen, did it?”.
Maya studied screenwriting at the HFF Munich from 2015 to 2020. After co-writing several award-winning short films, including “BRAT”, which won the Lola for Best Short Film, she decided to expand her education and study feature film directing at HFF Munich.
Maya lives and works in Munich.
© photo: Florian Strandl
Filmographie
EVERY YEAR A JUBILEE
feature film | 90‘ | PENG Pictures
(writer-director | in production)
CHECKER TOBI UND DIE HEIMLICHE HERRSCHERIN DER ERDE
writer’s room for feature film | Megaherz
(Storylining)
CHECKERIN MARINA
writer’s room for feature film | Megaherz
(Storylining)
FAST PERFEKTE FRAUEN
TV-movie | 90‘ | Network Movie, ZDF
(co-writer with Gabriela Zerhau)
LÖSUNG
musicvideo | 5‘ | band: DasFormat
(director)
TERRA
musicvideo | 5‘ | band: KISS KISS DEAD
(director)
LOST AND FOUND
short | 18´ | Maya Duftschmid, HFF Munich
(screenwriter, director)
BRAT
short | 9´ | Allergikerfilm, HFF Munich
(co-writer with Anna Roller)
COINS
short | 9´ | HFF Munich
(co-writer with Nicole Huminski)
I CARE
short | 20′ | Schmidbauer Film | HFF Munich
(co-writer with Michael Ciesielski)
MÆRE
medium-length film | 30′ | Schmidbauer Film, HFF Munich
(co-writer with Lisa Reich & Josef Zeller)
EMMILOU RUN
medium-length film | 30′ | HFF München & Freundeskreis
(screenwriter, director)
THE PERFECT SOCIETY (WT)
medium-length film | approx. 30′ | Schmidbauer Film, HFF Munich
(screenwriter, in production)
STORY OF FEAR
psychothriller | 90′ |graduate project
BLAUPAUSE
short | Cloud-Rap-Musical | 13′ | HFF Munich
(screenwriter, director)
JAMAIS VU
short film | 25′ | Cellardor Film & HFF Munich
(screenwriter)
TELL ME MR. LO
documentary short | 8′ | HFF Munich
(screenwriter, director)
CLOSE
short film | 14′ | HFF Munich
(screenwriter)
KLEINHEIM
short film | 9′ | HFF München
(co-writer with Michael Ciesielski)
Education
Diplom 2020 – Drehbuch
Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München
Studium – Regie für Kino & Fernsehfilm
Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München
Awards
LOST AND FOUND
FilmZ Mainz – Festival des deutschen Kinos – Nomination
Underdog Filmfestival Wolfsburg – Best Short Film
Shorts Trinationales Film Festival – Best Camera
CineFest Miskolc Int. Film Festival – Competition
Int. Student Film and Video Festival Bejing – Competition
and more.
MÆRE
Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis 2022 – Competition
FBW – Prädikat „Besonders Wertvoll“
BRAT
LOLA Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis 2021 – Winner
Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis 2022 – Competition
Palm Springs Int. Shortfest 2022 – Competition
and more.
COINS
Sguardi Altrove International Film Festival – Premiere
Aesthetica Short Film Festival – Competition
Foyle Film Festival – Competition
Camerimage Festival 2021 – Nomination
Glasgow Short Film Festival – Competition
and more.
TELL ME MR. LO
Dokfest. München 2017 – Winner of Young Talent Award
Rotarier Filmpreis München – Winner
Docs Without A Border Filmfestival – Winner: Viewer Impact
Flimmerfest – Honorary Mention
Int. Fünf Seen Filmfestival – Nominated
Leiden International Short Film Experience
Neisse Film Festival
FiSH – Festival im StadtHafen Rostocks
Filmkunstfest Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
CLOSE
Next Generation Short Tiger 2017 Cannes – Shortlisted
Blaue Blume Award 2018 – Winner
Interfilm Berlin 2017
Filmfest Dresden 2017
Flicks Shortfilm Festival 2017
KLEINHEIM
LOLA Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis 2017 – Nomination
BLAUPAUSE
Independant Days – Int. Filmfestspiele Karlsruhe – Nomination Best Composer & Female Award
Oberaudorfer Musikfilmtage
JAMAIS VU
Blaue Blume Award 2018 – Nomination
Filmschoolfest Munich 2018 – Wettbewerb
Filmz – Festival des Deutschen Kinos – Wettbewerb