Agentur Serra-Roll Contact

Maya Duftschmid

Director & Screenwriter

Born in Munich, Maya and her two siblings grew up in a magically secluded place surrounded by wild meadows and dark forests – also known as the Allgäu. The big wide world was brought into her hermit life by an old tube television, projecting thrilling images onto her fresh wide open eyes and flushing her with pure awe. During this time she learned to love the dimensions of cinematic storytelling, but also became aware of the impressionable power of media images. A firm believer in the undeniable impact cinematic realities can have on our society, Maya is drawn to filmmaking that acknowledges its social scope while still being entertaining. She likes to fill her characters up with Weltschmerz and a deep search for meaning. And even though she doesn’t shy away from the human abyss, her stories always strive for the silver lining.

After graduating from high school in 2012 Maya volunteered for a small film festival in her hometown. There she got to learn from filmmakers from around the world and has been closely associated with the wonderful festival team ever since. She returned to the big city to work in the sacred halls of Bavaria Film and on international sets as a production and director’s assistant for “That Trip We Took With Dad“ by Anca Lazarescu. From 2015 to 2020 she studied screenwriting at the HFF Munich, which she completed with her feature film script “Story of Fear“. During her studies she wrote several short films, three of which she directed. This allowed her to try out a wide variety of narrative styles and work in different teams. Her films were screened at the Hofer Filmtage, the Short Tiger in Cannes, the Sky Blaue Blume Award and many more. Kleinheim was nominated for a Lola at the German Short Film Award 2017.

Because she just can’t seem to get enough, Maya is now studying film directing at the HFF Munich.

© photo: Florian Strandl

EMMILOU RUN | screenwriter & director: Maya Duftschmid
EMMILOU RUN | screenwriter & director: Maya Duftschmid
TELL ME MR. LO | screenwriter & director: Maya Duftschmid
CLOSE | screenwriter: Maya Duftschmid
CLOSE | screenwriter: Maya Duftschmid
CLOSE | screenwriter: Maya Duftschmid
GÖR | screenwriter: Maya Duftschmid
GÖR | screenwriter: Maya Duftschmid
LOST AND FOUND | screenwriter & director: Maya Duftschmid
LOST AND FOUND | screenwriter & director: Maya Duftschmid
LOST AND FOUND | screenwriter & director: Maya Duftschmid
LOST AND FOUND | screenwriter & director: Maya Duftschmid
LOST AND FOUND | screenwriter & director: Maya Duftschmid
LOST AND FOUND | screenwriter & director: Maya Duftschmid
LOST AND FOUND | screenwriter & director: Maya Duftschmid
LOST AND FOUND | screenwriter & director: Maya Duftschmid

Filmographie

2022

LOST AND FOUND
short | 18´ | Maya Duftschmid, HFF Munich
(screenwriter, director)

PÖBELN
short | 9´ | Maya Duftschmid
(screenwriter, director, in postproduction)

2021

GÖR
short | 9´ | Allergikerfilm, HFF Munich
(screenwriter)

COINS
short | 9´ | HFF Munich
(screenwriter)

I CARE
short | 20′ | Schmidbauer Film | HFF Munich
(screenwriter) 

KONFETTI
short | 8´ | HFF Munich
(screenwriter, director)

2020

EMMILOU RUN
medium-length film | 30′ | HFF München & Freundeskreis
(screenwriter, director, in evaluation)

YOLBE
short | 24′ | Schmidbauer Film | HFF Munich
(screenwriter, in evaluation)

THE PERFECT SOCIETY (WT)
medium-length film | approx. 30′ | Schmidbauer Film, HFF Munich
(screenwriter, in production)

STORY OF FEAR
feature film | 120′ |graduate project

MÆRE
medium-length film | approx. 30′ | Schmidbauer Film, HFF Munich
(screenwriter)

2019

MY LITTLE GIRL
feature film treatment | TV | MadeFor Film GmbH
(Writer’s Room, in development)

2018

BLAUPAUSE
short | Cloud-Rap-Musical | 13′ | HFF Munich
(screenwriter, director)

IMPULS
short | 18′ | HFF Munich
(screenwriter)

FÜR FRITZI
short |20′ | Cellardor Film & HFF Munich
(screenwriter)

2017

JAMAIS VU
medium-length film | 25′ | Cellardor Film & HFF Munich
(screenwriter)

2016

TELL ME MR. LO
documentary short | 8′ | HFF Munich
(screenwriter, director)

CLOSE
short | 14′ | HFF Munich
(screenwriter)

CROOKED FRAME
short, 15′, Cellardor Film & HFF Munich
(screenwriter)

Education

Diplom 2020 – Drehbuch
Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München

Studium – Regie für Kino & Fernsehfilm
Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München

Awards

MÆRE
Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis 2022 – Wettbewerb
FBW – Prädikat „Besonders Wertvoll“

COINS
Sguardi Altrove International Film Festival – Premiere
Aesthetica Short Film Festival – Wettbewerb

GÖR
Lola – Kurfilmpris 2021 – Gewinner
Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis 2021 – Gewinner

BLAUPAUSE
Independant Days – Int. Filmfestspiele Karlsruhe – Nomination Best Composer & Female Award
Oberaudorfer Musikfilmtage

IMPULS
Hofer Filmtage 2018
Kinofest Lünen
Short To The Point

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

JAMAIS VU
Blaue Blume Award 2018 – Nomination
Filmschoolfest Munich 2018 – Wettbewerb
Filmz – Festival des Deutschen Kinos – Wettbewerb