We are excited to launch the Call for Projects for the 18th DOK Co-Pro Market! While age is just a number, we feel as curious, adventurous and energetic as any 18-year-old and are looking forward to seeing which projects you are bringing forth this year.

What’s the Co-Pro Market?

The Co-Pro Market is a co-financing and networking event, connecting producers with colleagues to finance new creative documentary projects and granting exclusive access to the multifaceted German and international non-fiction markets. The 18th edition of DOK Co-Pro Market takes place 17–18 October 2022, within the framework of our festival week in Leipzig.

What kind of projects are we looking for?

• ambitious, creative, author-driven documentary and animated documentary projects from all over the world
• projects in development or early stages of production
• feature-length documentaries suitable for theatrical release
• one-offs and series are also welcome to apply
• documentaries with an international audience in mind

How to submit?

You can submit your project via our website until 21 July 2022. Read the Co-Pro Market guidelines and start the submission process here.

We can’t wait to discover your new projects!

On 24 May, the Doc Alliance Awards will be presented in Cannes, as part of the Marché du Film industry programme. The awards support emerging talents in European documentary film, honouring one short and one feature documentary film. Both prizes are endowed with 8,000 Euro.

The films competing for this year's Doc Alliance Awards are chosen by the seven European documentary film festivals that make up the Doc Alliance network. Each festival has nominated one short and one feature-length documentary film from its past programme.

Our DOK Leipzig nominees are the feature-length film Nasim and the short film Light Years. In Nasim, filmmakers Ole Jacobs and Arne Büttner follow the Afghan Nasim and her family in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. The film was part of our German Competition in 2021 and was honoured with the DEFA Sponsoring Prize, ver.di Prize for Solidarity, Humanity and Fairness. Light Years by Monika Proba was shown in the International Competition Short Film last year. The film follows the two men as they try to face their situation between religious obligations, family expectations and their tender friendship.

Nominated for Best Feature Film:

• 5 Dreamers and a Horse (AM, DE, CH, DK, GE), by Aren Malakyan and Vahagn Khachatryan, nominated by Visions du Réel
• A Night of Knowing Nothing (FR, IN), by Payal Kapadia, nominated by FIDMarseille
• The Eclipse (NO), by Nataša Urban, nominated by CPH:DOX
• Kapr (Kapr Code) (CZ, SK), by Lucie Králová, nominated by Ji.hlava IDFF
• Nasim (DE), by Ole Jacobs and Arne Büttner, nominated by DOK Leipzig
• The Pawnshop (PL), by Łukasz Kowalski, nominated by Millenium Docs Against Gravity
• Yoon (PT), by Pedro Figueiredo Neto and Ricardo Falcão, nominated by Doclisboa

Nominated for Best Short Film:

• Abyss (DK), by Jeppe Lange, nominated by CPH:DOX
• Aralkum (UZ, DE), by Daniel Asadi Faezi and Mila Zhluktenko, nominated by Visions du Réel
• Beautiful Solution (CZ), by Eliška Cílková, nominated by Ji.hlava IDFF
• Joanna d'Arc (PL), by Aleksander Szamałek, nominated by Millenium Docs Against Gravity
• Light Years (PL), by Monika Proba, nominated by DOK Leipzig
• In the Billowing Night (FR), by Erika Etangsalé, nominated by FIDMarseille
• Peace (PT), by José Oliveira and Marta Ramos, nominated by Doclisboa

Who decides about the winners?

The winning films will be decided by a jury of seven international film critics and film professionals, also selected by network’s festivals. This year’s jury members are Esther Buss (Spiegel, Jungle World), Frederik Bojer Bové (POV.International), Teresa Vieira (Antena 3, Cineuropa), Nepheli Gambade (Critikat), Leila Basma (DOK.REVUE), Nicolas Wadimoff (filmmaker, producer) and Michał Walkiewicz (Filmweb).

We keep our fingers crossed for all nominees, and we are looking forward to celebrating the winners in May!

On Friday, 1 April at 7 pm, we present a fundraiser screening at Leipzig’s Kinobar Prager Frühling. We will show the animated short Deep Love followed by the feature documentary No Obvious Signs.

Ticket proceeds will go to our colleagues at the Docudays UA film festival, who are collecting donations for filmmakers documenting current events in Ukraine. More details about the fund initiated by Docudays UA can be found on their website: https://docudays.ua/.

Tickets for the fundraiser screening (8 €/ reduced 7 €) are available online via the Prager Frühling web shop or at the evening box office.

We look forward to seeing you there and wish to say thank you in advance for your support.

More about the films

Both films have been awarded at previous DOK Leipzig editions: Deep Love won the Golden Dove in our Next Masters Competition Short in 2019, and No Obvious Signs received the MDR Film Prize for an outstanding East European documentary in 2018.

Deep Love has no dialogue, No Obvious Signs will be screened in its original version with English subtitles.

Discover more about Deep Love and No Obvious Signs in our Film Archive.

“Films of the world – For world peace!” – the festival’s slogan proclaimed in 1961 appeared in a different global context then than it does today. Yet we are still firmly convinced that cinema can bring people of different origins and backgrounds closer together and contribute to a peaceful coexistence.

Peace in the world has been shaken once again. The news of Russian forces launching their attack on the sovereign country of Ukraine has left us in a state of horror. The Russian president pretends to act in the name of his people, but no one who has the interest of their country and people in mind will start a war.

DOK Leipzig declares its solidarity with the people of Ukraine and with the victims of war and displacement now and in the future. We will not cease to stand up for dialogue, mutual understanding and exchange, and we call for de-escalation and an immediate end to violence.

If you’re eager to help, below is a list of fundraisers for the people in Ukraine. We share these links to the best of our knowledge and belief, but without guarantee or liability for their contents. This list should serve as a first reference, as there are numerous other ways to get involved or donate.

Support for Ukrainian filmmakers

DAFilms, the streaming platform for the festival network Doc Alliance, to which we also belong, has launched a fundraising campaign for Ukrainian filmmakers. The team with Docudays UA festival in Kyiv will coordinate the distribution of donations on site: https://dafilms.com/program/1160-support-ukraine-with-dafilms

Together with numerous other film institutions and festivals, we have signed an appeal for the support of filmmakers in Ukraine. You can find the full statement on the website for the Institute for Documentary Film (Prague): https://dokweb.net/articles/detail/1279/support-to-ukraine

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk has set up a special ‘Emergency Fund for Filmmakers’ who are in danger as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine. You can find all details on the website of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam: https://www.idfa.nl

Want to help on location in Leipzig?

The city of Leipzig has compiled an overview of current donation and aid campaigns or offers at the municipal offices for refugees. The page is also available in Ukrainian and Russian: https://www.leipzig.de/ukraine-hilfe

Further links can be found in our German-language news article.

Interested in learning more about the background to the war in Ukraine?

The films included in the benefit campaign by streaming portal DAFilms are all thematically linked to Ukraine. They portray everyday life and provide insights into the country's history and the social upheavals of recent years. https://dafilms.com/program/1160-support-ukraine-with-dafilms