Acting for Screen & Digital Media

In its selection of students and lecturers, the degree programme has an international focus. International partnerships are being actively pursued in order to strengthen cooperation and foster networking within the international professional field. At present, a partnership is in place with NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) in Milan. During your studies the HKB offers you the opportunity of completing exchange semesters and work experience placements in Switzerland or abroad.

E:UTSA – Europe: Union of Theatre Schools and Academies

The MA programme is part of the Master Campus Theater CH, a cooperation of the four Swiss theatre programmes at university level in Bern, Lausanne, Verscio and Zurich.

Since our master’s degree programme is integrated into a university which teaches a wide variety of art forms you also get the opportunity to network across disciplines during your studies in Bern.

In this module you learn

• to act in front of the camera 
• to master various acting techniques that facilitate acting in front of the camera
• to work with your voice and body

In this module you learn

• to dub
• to do vocal and creative work with a microphone
• to acquire the basics of acting with digital technologies such as motion capture and green screens
• to use digital tools in theatre and act as a performer in such settings

In this module you learn

• to know and understand the technical and artistic aspects of film as a medium, through film analysis and historical contextualisation
• to get to know the dramaturgy and function of screenplays
• to read screenplays for your own acting work

In this module you learn

• acquire basic skills in working with camera, sound, lighting and editing equipment.
• to shoot and edit scenes yourself
• to collaborate in smaller teams across multiple disciplines

In this module you apply the skills and knowledge gained in the other courses:

• In cooperation with various cooperation partners, you  shoot scenes or short films (trying out the interplay between directing and acting)
• In the course of the programme, you will create and present a showreel.

This module focuses on professional networking:

• Workshops on casting, e-casting, agencies etc. prepare you for a career in this area.
• Meetings with experienced actors, directors, casting directors and agencies will provide insights into the field

The MA thesis consists of a practical film or media project and a written reflection.

You can consolidate your skills in various elective courses, such as:
-    Podcast
-    Hosting
-    scriptwriting (writers rooms) 
-    guerrilla filmmaking

Kai Ivo Baulitz is an actor, acting coach, and writer. Following theater engagements in Bochum, Wuppertal, and Göttingen, he appeared in numerous film and television productions directed by Margarethe von Trotta, Sönke Wortmann, Kai Wessel, and Markus Imboden, among others. He also teaches (film) acting and directing as a guest lecturer at institutions including the Folkwang University of the Arts, the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, and the Bern Academy of the Arts. Baulitz is an award-winning playwright whose works have been featured at various festivals.

Simon Bitterli completed his Master’s degree in Film at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK) in 2019. Since then, he has worked as a freelance cinematographer across a wide range of formats, including feature films, television productions, documentaries, and commercials. During his studies, Bitterli gained extensive hands-on experience in the lighting department on numerous productions of varying scale.

She lives and works as a screenwriter and showrunner in Berlin. After completing a BA in Classical Philology and English at the University of Oxford, she earned a Master’s degree in Expanded Theater at the Bern University of the Arts (HKB). She has experience in theatre as an assistant director, director, actor, and dramaturg. From 2010 to 2013, Jana Burbach worked as a dramaturg and writer for 400asa. One of the projects created during this time was Der Polder, a science-fiction transmedia project developed in a writers’ room led by Jana Burbach. This project marked her transition from theatre work to screenwriting, with a focus on writers’ room collaboration. From 2013 to 2014, she received a scholarship at the Drehbuchwerkstatt München and participated in Serial Eyes the following year. Since then, she has been working as a screenwriter and showrunner. This year, her series Parallel Me was released on P+.

Raquel Kishori Dukpa is a screenwriter, producer, and casting director. She studied at the University of Hildesheim with a focus on film, queer-feminist theory, and popular culture. Since 2016, she has been part of JÜNGLINGE and contributed as casting director, producer, and researcher to their debut feature film FUTUR DREI. Since then, she has developed and produced various film and series projects together with Faraz Shariat and Paulina Lorenz as part of their collective. For her work as a casting director, she received the German Acting Award in 2021.

Emrah Ertem was born in 1979 in Turkey, grew up in Wermelskirchen (North Rhine-Westphalia), and entered the media industry directly after finishing secondary school in 1998. He worked as an employee in three different casting agencies before becoming a freelance casting director in 2001. For more than 25 years, Emrah Ertem has been responsible as a casting director for assembling the casts of numerous renowned and highly successful German and international streaming, television, and film productions.

Nora Fingscheidt is a German film director and screenwriter. From 2008–2017, she studied Directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, graduating with her documentary Ohne diese Welt, which won the Max Ophüls Prize and the First Steps Award in 2017. Her first feature film, Systemsprenger, won the Berlinale’s Alfred Bauer Prize in 2019 and received international acclaim. Her latest film, The Outrun, starring Saoirse Ronan, premieres in Swiss cinemas in November.

Giles Foreman is a leading acting coach in the UK, US, and Europe, specializing in realism on stage and screen. Known for his methodical approach, he emphasizes Yat Malmgren/Laban Technique, also called character analysis or movement psychology, and has introduced this technique to actors in London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Zurich, Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Madrid, Rome, and Cairo. Recently, he was awarded a special honour by the Swiss Film Academy for his work as a film acting coach.

Corinna Glaus is one of Switzerland’s foremost casting directors and owner of Glaus&Gut Casting. She studied ethnology and began her career as a dramaturge and assistant director at various German state theatres before moving to Swiss film in 1980. Glaus has cast numerous Swiss films and was awarded the Swiss Film Prize in 2004. She is a member of the Swiss Film Academy, European Film Academy, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Marcy Goldberg is a Swiss-Canadian film and cultural studies scholar. She teaches at several Swiss art universities, moderates panels and talks at various festivals and cultural events, and works as a freelance journalist, translator, and media consultant. She is a regular guest on Eric Facon’s Kultur-Stammtisch talk show and occasionally appears on Sternstunde on Swiss television.

Patrice Goodman is a Canadian actress known for her lead role in the comedy series Sunnyside, for which she and the ensemble received a Canadian Screen Award. She has also appeared in popular series such as The Handmaid's Tale, The Umbrella Academy, and Slasher. Goodman teaches Meisner Technique and acting at institutions like Armstrong Acting Studios, Toronto Film School, Mallorca Film School in Spain, and the Munich Film Academy in Germany.

Born in Bern in 1992, Michael Karrer completed his Master of Arts in Fiction Directing at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK) in 2021. His debut feature film FÜÜR BRÄNNT premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2023, where it went on to screen at festivals worldwide and receive several awards. His second feature film, FIRST DAYS, is set to premiere in Rotterdam in February 2026. In addition to his work as a director, Karrer works as an editor and serves as a freelance lecturer at ZHdK. He is also a co-founder of SABOTAGE KOLLEKTIV, a production company dedicated to supporting projects created under socially and ecologically fair conditions.

Luis August Krawen is a media artist, director, and filmmaker. Raised in Berlin, he was a member of the youth theatre P14 at the Volksbühne. While studying at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies in Gießen, he discovered 3D animation as an artistic tool and has since worked at the intersection of theatre, opera, and film. He has realized video works at institutions including Schauspielhaus Zürich, Burgtheater, Volkstheater Wien, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Münchner Kammerspiele, Residenztheater München, Maxim-Gorki-Theater, Deutsches Theater Berlin, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Volksbühne Berlin, and the Bayreuth Festival. His own projects were developed, among others, at the Staatsoper Hamburg and during his two-year residency at the Münchner Kammerspiele, which led to his stage debut Nightcore and the fully motion-capture-based film adaptation of Leif Randt’s Planet Magnon (Filmfest München premiere, 2024). He has also directed at the Staatstheater Nürnberg and was invited for a second time to the Theatertreffen with Double Serpent by Sam Max.

Jakob Lass (born 1981 in Munich) is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is considered one of the defining figures of German Mumblecore, particularly the Berlin-based “Berlin Flow” movement, known for its improvisation-driven and realist narrative style. While still a student, he began directing feature films outside conventional funding structures. He achieved his artistic breakthrough in 2013 with the largely improvised feature Love Steaks, which won all awards of the Förderpreis Neues Deutsches Kino at the Filmfest München and received the Max Ophüls Prize in 2014; the film was also nominated for the German Film Award. Other notable works include Frontalwatte (2011), Tiger Girl (2017), and So was von da (2018), as well as the television series How to Dad (2022). His working method is characterized by minimalist scripts, intense improvisation, and close, collaborative engagement with a core creative team.

After training and working as a graphic designer, Jan-Eric Mack studied film directing at Zurich University of the Arts from 2009 to 2014. There he created several award-winning short films that were screened at over one hundred festivals worldwide. His master’s film FACiNG MECCA won more than 25 awards, including the Swiss Film Award 2017 and a Student Academy Award, and it was shortlisted for the 90th Academy Awards. In 2019, Mack directed the third season of the successful drama series WILDER for Swiss Television SRF, followed in 2023 by the international historical series DAVOS 1917. He is currently in post-production for his feature film HAPPY FAMILY and is developing two more feature films, ZIVILISTEN and GAULI, as well as the miniseries UNDER THE ICE.

Till Müller-Klug – writer, theatre-maker, lecturer – is a founding member of the performance group Interrobang.
Interrobang develops new performative and digital formats that engage with contemporary social phenomena and questions. They produce at HAU Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin and perform across the German-speaking world and at international festivals. As a lecturer, he has taught at institutions including the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design and participated in the international symposium Large Language Models in the Performing Arts at Zurich University of the Arts.

Kathrin Neusser stood in front of a microphone for the first time at the age of six and continued dubbing into young adulthood. After studying Romance languages, general and comparative literature, and history, living abroad for several years, and spending several more years in arts and cultural management, she has been writing dubbing scripts since 2014. Since 2016, she has also been working as a dubbing director (including The Unforgivable, Call Jane, Armageddon Time, Come On, Come On, White House Plumbers, Leave the World Behind, The Outrun, Dune: Prophecy).

Marianne Oertel is a speech professor at Bern Academy of the Arts. Having lived in various European countries, she brings a multicultural approach to her work. Oertel speaks German, English, Swedish, Russian, and French and understands Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, and Swiss German.

Yves Regenass studied Cultural Studies and Aesthetic Practice at the University of Hildesheim and is a founding member of the media-theatre collective machina eX, with which he has realized numerous productions both within and beyond Europe. From 2013 to 2017, he worked as a program dramaturge at ROXY Birsfelden (CH), where he supported a wide range of productions in theatre, performance, and dance. For several years, he has taught on the subject of games in theatre at institutions including the Bundesakademie für kulturelle Bildung Wolfenbüttel, the Hochschule der Künste Bern, and many others. With machina eX, Regenass received the Georg Tabori Prize. His projects have been invited to festivals such as Impulse Festival, Theater der Welt, and the Schweizer Theatertreffen.

Jens Roth is a trained actor and director and has worked as an acting coach for more than 30 years. Since 2000, he has been developing his own body-oriented acting technique called SourceTuning, which has since become well established in German-speaking countries and can be applied both on stage and on film. His focus, however, has long been on film. In 2015, he published a workbook explaining the technique: SourceTuning – The Reliable Intelligence of the Body. The method has supported many actors in successful film projects, including Felix Kammerer for his leading role in the Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front, for which he received the German Film Award.

Salomé Schneebeli is a choreographer, director, performer, and visual artist. She studied dance and choreography in New York, Strasbourg, and Amsterdam, and since the late 1980s has worked across theatre, dance, performance, film, and video. As a choreographer and director, she has created works at venues including Schauspielhaus Zürich, Burgtheater Wien, Thalia Theater Hamburg, Schauspiel Leipzig, Schauspiel Frankfurt, and the Staatstheater Nürnberg. Alongside her artistic work, she has been active since 2022 as an intimacy coordinator, supporting theatre, film, and television productions in the sensitive and consent-based staging of intimate scenes, most recently for series productions in the German-speaking context. Schneebeli lives and works in Zurich and Vienna.

Following her acting training, Karoline Schürer studied Speech Science, Phonetics, and Speech Art (BA/MA) at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, where her Master’s thesis examined the conditions and distinctive qualities of speech in fictional film formats. Since graduating in 2017, she has worked at the intersection of speech art and sound design. In addition to her teaching work as a voice and speech coach at the Akademie für Darstellende Kunst Baden-Württemberg, the Filmuniversität Babelsberg, and the Theaterakademie Vorpommern, she has been working since 2020 as a dialogue coach for German-language film and television productions. She is also active as a sound assistant on national and international film and television projects, has been teaching at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg since 2025, and is a member of the Deutsche Akademie für Fernsehen and the Women* Film Sound Network.

Corinne Soland is an actor and motion-capture performer. Corinne has provided movement and voice for Amazing Monster!, The Conspiracy, The House of Wonders, and FIFA World Cup. Corinne embodies the 3D mascot of the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne and voices Rita (Pompon), Jimmy (Peek Zoo), and Dimitri (Dimitri) in the SRF Guetnachtgschichtli. Since 2019, Corinne has been a research associate at the Immersive Arts Space and, since 2023, a guest lecturer at Zurich University of the Arts, where they teach the embodiment of 3D characters. Corinne has developed workshops on performing digital characters in collaboration with FOCAL, the acting school Schauspielfabrik, and the motion-capture studio Quantum Stage.

Anne Weinknecht has worked as an actress for 25 years, with a career spanning stage, television, and film. Since 2015, she has trained with Ivana Chubbuck and was certified as a teacher of the Chubbuck Technique in 2022. She now teaches at the Chubbuck Studio Berlin and coaches actors for a wide range of roles. Weinknecht continuously refines her artistic and pedagogical practice through ongoing training in Ivana Chubbuck’s classes. In addition to various day jobs, she has gained experience behind the scenes as an assistant director, casting studio assistant, script supervisor, and dialect coach.

• expressive acting potential at a professional level
• ability to develop a role/character/scene independently
• recognisable potential for acting in front of the camera
• ability to reflect on artistic processes and oneself
• contextual knowledge in the field of film and cultural criticism
• ability to engage in dialogue and criticism

The teaching and working language of the Master in Acting for Film & Digital Media is English. The languages of acting are German or English.

An active command of the English language at level B1 of the European Framework of Reference for Languages is a prerequisite for participation in the degree programme.

Foreign nationals must have valid travel documents recognised by Switzerland; frequently, a visa will also be required. Immediately upon accepting their place of study, international students also have to apply for a residence permit and submit proof of the necessary financial means to support themselves. Moreover, they have to take out health insurance before the start of their studies. Please make sure you are fully informed about the specific entry requirements for your country.

The ‘Chance’ Support Association awards scholarships to support international students pay the increased tuition fees. Further information can be found in the section ‘Grants, loans and support’.

For the first round, we would like applicants to submit a letter of motivation, an application video (e-casting), the application form and the additional documents listed in it.

The application video should include the following content:

• About-Me (a short personal introduction), max. 1.5 minutes.
• Two scenes, of which one can be written by the applicants themselves. Please give the scenes titles so that the source is clear. Max. 3 minutes for each scene.

The video does not need to be a perfect film; a webcam or phone camera is sufficient. Existing scenes from showreels may be used. Video recordings of stage plays are not permitted.

The application video must be made available to the admissions committee via YouTube or Vimeo (please provide the link in the application form). It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that the video can be played or that the link can be viewed.
Please note: Videos via Dropbox, We-Transfer or similar platforms will not be accepted.

If the examiners give you a positive assessment, you will be sent an e-mail inviting you to the second round.

The aptitude test determines admission to the programme. It consists of a practical examination and an aptitude interview. In the aptitude test, competencies are assessed in the areas of body, speech/voice, acting expression potential, reflection potential, and contextual knowledge.

Practical Examination

The working basis here consists of:

• A guided body and voice training session.
• Along with the invitation to the aptitude test, applicants receive a role to prepare, which is then presented and rehearsed in front of the camera during the examination.

The jury of the preliminary test may assign you further preparation tasks for the aptitude assessment.

Aptitude Interview

The aptitude interview is based on the letter of motivation and the results of the practical examination. Important parameters in the interview are motivation, previous professional experience (if any), professional profile, and the applicant's capacity for reflection.

Aptitude Test Dates

If your video application is evaluated positively, we will invite you to one of the following aptitude test dates:

• Monday, 2 November 2026
• Tuesday, 3 November 2026
• Friday, 20 November 2026
• Saturday, 21 November 2026
• Monday, 7 December 2026
• Tuesday, 8 December 2026

Scholarships from the ‘Chance’ Association

The 'Chance' Support Association supports outstanding acting talent, helping to ensure that financial barriers do not prevent students from studying at the HKB. The scholarships are privately funded and are open to students from Switzerland and abroad, based on the same criteria: artistic excellence and financial need.

Students from Switzerland: The scholarship covers the full tuition fee of CHF 850 per semester for the entire standard three-semester duration of the full-time study.

Students from abroad: The scholarship covers two-thirds of the tuition fee, i.e. CHF 1,700 of the CHF 2,550 fee per semester, for the entire standard three-semester duration of the full-time study. The scholarships are based on the BFH fee regulations applicable at the time. If tuition fees change, the Support Association will adjust the scholarships accordingly.

Applications must be submitted to the Theatre Secretariat using this form by 31 October 2026 at the latest. The number of scholarships is limited.

BAföG for German Students

Auslands-BAföG (federal student financial aid for study abroad) can also be claimed during a Master's degree. Eligible students can be reimbursed for tuition fees for up to one year, up to a maximum amount of EUR 5,600. For the standard three-semester full-time program, this covers a large part of the total tuition fees. Applications should be submitted to the relevant BAföG office for study abroad. Further information is available at bafög.de. We recommend applying well in advance.

For advice relating to scholarships, BAföG and loans, please contact the Theatre Secretariat.

Are you trans? Would you like to be addressed differently from what is stated on your official documents?

When you register, you can enter your everyday first name and the (binary) gender you identify with and upload the application form for students and aspiring students. This will allow us to address you correctly during the application process.

Further information and application form

The location of the theatre division at Zikadenweg features over 3,000m² of work and performance spaces, including three adjustable stages (main, studio and rehearsal stage) equipped with professional theatre technology. 9 large project spaces are available to students as rehearsal and work studios. A dance and movement studio, several video editing suites, a workshop, a prop and costume store, as well as a theatre library provide an excellent environment for intensive theatre studies.

In addition to the infrastructure on site, students have access to the facilities at other HKB locations. The MediaLab is the skill and service centre for audio-visual design and photography at HKB. Workspaces and studios are fully equipped for production and available around the clock. Our MediaLab team offers courses and training in photography and videography. They are happy to help answer content-related and technical questions from students and lecturers alike. The multimedia library is the specialist library for the areas of design and art, conservation and restoration and the Y Institute (Institute for Transdisciplinarity). It is open to members of the HKB community and the public. 35,000 items are available in the open access library.