The selection committee has nominated a total of 15 productions for the German Competitions Long and Short Documentary and Animated Films. Some of the directors involved have previously had films screened at DOK Leipzig, for example Katharina Pethke, Betina Kuntzsch and Johanna Seggelke. Female film-makers are heavily represented in the German Competition, having directed seven of the eight long documentary films nominated.

These are the topics of this year’s nominations:

As usual, some of the productions focus on current political issues. Topics include the situation of refugees in Camp Moria on the Greek island of Lesbos, the migration factor for families in the Dominican Republic and the protests against Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus.

Some films draw a connection between political and aesthetic discourse, for example in works about female body hair, a socialist monument in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin and the colour of the 100 yuan note in the People’s Republic of China.

Other works in the competitions portray extraordinary individuals and are partly the result of intimate relationships. Two films, for example, deal in very different ways with the documentary images of a past love. Two other works focus on soundscapes by portraying a musician, who continues her father’s musical legacy, and a passionate instrument-maker.

Who awards the Golden and Silver Dove?

This year’s jury consists of film-maker Maria Speth, festival director Gudrun Sommer and film lecturer and director Carsten Möller. The jurors will jointly determine the winning films of the Golden and Silver Dove in the German competitions of DOK Leipzig.

Read more in our press release and browse the film selection here.

The festival week is approaching fast and you can already look forward to seeing ten film programmes in Leipzig’s cinemas. Once again, we are placing greater emphasis on film history with the showing of a comprehensive „Retrospective” that had to be postponed last year.

The “Homage” section of this year’s edition is dedicated to renowned Israeli filmmaker Avi Mograbi, who also has a family connection to the city. Mograbi's mother fled from Leipzig to Palestine as a child to escape the Nazis. We will also realise the “DEFA Matinee” honouring Kurt Tetzlaff by showing a double feature of his last two DEFA productions. In the “Animation Perspective“ series the two Video and photo artists Claudia Larcher and Randa Maroufi will enter an artistic dialogue with their works.

Meanwhile, the programme “Modular & Modified: Animation and Musique concrète” will explore the interfaces between animation art and music history, and the “Kids DOK” series once again offers exciting discoveries for children and young people.

You can find complete film selection of these sections here.

With their strong artistic visions and personal stories, we are looking forward to highlighting 35 new projects at the 17th DOK Co-Pro Market! From 25 to 29 October they will meet potential co-production, financing and distribution partners.

The DOK Co-Pro Market 2021 is planned as a hybrid event with individual meetings and networking opportunities taking place in Leipzig as well as online.

Check out more here! Happy browsing and congratulations to the teams.

Producers interested in making meetings with the selected projects can still register their interest until September 27. 

The Stiftung Friedliche Revolution (Foundation of the Peaceful Revolution) will award its tenth “Leipziger Ring” prize at this year’s edition of DOK Leipzig. The award honours an artistic documentary film about democracy, human rights and commitment to civil society. It also often highlights the achievements of filmmakers who have courageously made their films with great personal commitment in the face of opposition and restrictions on free speech and the media.

The "Leipziger Ring" film prize has been awarded annually since 2010 at the festival, and includes prize money of 2,500 euros. In 2016 and 2020, however, the award had to be suspended. The last winner of the award was Girls of Paadhai by Natalia Preston in 2019.

Award ceremony at the Regina-Palast

"We are extremely pleased that the ‘Leipziger Ring’ film award can be continued with the 64th festival edition," festival director Christoph Terhechte said. "With this year's festival, DOK Leipzig returns to the cinemas, and thus to human encounters, exchange and discussion about films and life experiences. The festival sees itself as a piece of lived democracy and therefore also a fitting partner to the Stiftung Friedliche Revolution."

A jury appointed by the foundation's board of directors will choose the winning film from among a selection of nominations by DOK Leipzig. The "Leipziger Ring" prize will be presented at the festival's partner awards ceremony on 30 October at the Regina-Palast.

Read more in our press release.