EDIMOTION ACADEMY 2026 – English EVENTS
The Edimotion Academy 2026 is comprised of five half-day workshops and a longer master class. One of the workshops and the master class are in English. Both will be held on Friday 16 October 2026 – the masterclass with Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir from 12:00–17:00, and the workshop with Hilde Bjørnstad from 14:30–18:00. For pricing and registration go to bottom of page.
Inspiration, exchange, and the communication of new learning impulses for professional filmmakers — these are the goals of the Edimotion Academy. Like last year, we have scheduled two events in English to be able to reach more of our international visitors.
MASTER CLASS: EVERYTHING YOU WANT IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FEAR
Friday, 16.10., 12.00-17.00
Lecturer: Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir
People often ask what the difference is between editing European independent films and Hollywood blockbusters. Truth be told, when it comes to the art of editing, there is no difference. Storytelling is storytelling. The challenge is always to find the emotional truth of a scene, the rhythm of a sequence, and shape a story worth telling. What is different ist he level of resources, expectations, and politics. More expectations and more politics can be difficult to navigate. For us editors, that means we have to be fearless, or at least pretend to be.
Every cut, every shift in tone, every structural change requires us to trust our instincts. Directors and producers count on those instincts. Yet it's easy to doubt yourself when you're surrounded by competing opinions, conflicting notes, and test-screening data that can be difficult to decipher. Learning how to navigate those conversations while staying connected to your own creative voice is an essential part of the job.
Success is rarely about having all the answers. More often, it comes from having the courage to enter the conversation, the courage to embrace doubt as part of the process, and the courage to keep your instincts sharp and well-trained.
Because if you want to thrive as an editor, everything you need may indeed be on the other side of fear.
About Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir
Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir is an internationally renowned film editor from Iceland, who has worked on a large variety of cinema films, documentaries and television series, both in her home country and in Hollywood. Her filmography includes several collaborations with the same directors, among them David Leitch, with such films as the upcoming „How to Rob a Bank“, produced by 87North, Bullet Train for Columbia Pictures, „The Fall Guy“ for Universal, „Atomic Blonde“ for Focus Features, and „Deadpool 2“, which earned her an ACE Eddie Award nomination for Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy).
WORKSHOP: EVERY CUT IS THE TRUTH - FINDING YOUR APPROACH TO CHARACTERS IN DOCUMENTARY EDITING
Friday, 16.10.2026, 14:30-18:00 Uhr
Lecturer: Hilde Bjørnstad
If, as Godard put it, “every cut is a lie”, can every cut also be a truth? In documentary editing, every decision about what to show, what to leave out and how to frame a character shapes the audience’s perception of a real person. How can editors protect their characters while aiming to tell the truth?
When editing documentaries, it is not always clear where a character’s story will lead. The shoot may still be ongoing, waiting for a breakthrough moment that never comes. There may be multiple characters with conflicting outcomes, or perhaps no single main character at all.
So where in the material do you start to fully understand the characters, and how and when do you introduce them? How do you balance what an editor wants to reveal with what the audience needs to understand? And sometimes: should a character stay or should they go?
These questions will be explored through two films edited by Norwegian film editor Hilde Bjørnstad: HEX (2026), about three young women forming the feminist black metal band Witch Club Satan, and Punishment (2024), following four inmates on a silent Jesuit retreat inside a high-security prison.
Comparing different versions of the films’ opening sequences, the workshop will trace the journey from early cuts to the final versions and invite participants to analyze and discuss the editorial choices that shape documentary characters.
About Hilde Bjørnstad
Hilde Bjørnstad is a Norwegian film editor who has been working professionally since 2003, with a particular focus on documentary filmmaking. Her credits include Aslaug Holm’s award-winning documentary Brothers (Brødre, 2015) and Thomas Robsahm’s a-ha – The Movie (2021), as well as Punishment (2024), and Maja Holand’s HEX (2026). Her recent work also includes the short documentary Time of Plenty (2026). Across more than two decades of editing, documentary storytelling and the shaping of real-life characters have remained a central focus of her work.
Prices
Workshop with Hilde Bjørnstad: regular price €110, discounted price €90.
Master Class with Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir: regular price €200, discounted price €160.
Discounted participation is available for members of our cooperation partners, including members of TEMPO and their associations.
Early Bird offer
If you book by 27 September 2026, the total invoice amount will be reduced by €10. This applies to already discounted prices too.
Location
Filmhaus Köln, Maybachstraße 111, 50670 Cologne
Registration
To register, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page. After submitting your binding registration, you will receive a confirmation email with payment details.
By submitting your registration, you accept our cancellation policy: For cancellations made 3 weeks or more before the event, we charge 50% of the cost; for cancellations made 2 weeks or less before the event, we charge 80% of the cost. Cancellations made earlier than this are free of charge, but a processing fee of €20 will be charged.
Please send cancellations by email to: akademie@edimotion.de. Any questions can also be addressed via this email.