We are thrilled to announce the DOK Industry Awards 2023! Five prizes have been awarded to new documentary projects participating in three DOK Industry formats. Huge congratulations to all winning teams and big thanks to our award partners.

DOK Co-Pro Market

At the DOK Co-Pro Market, a total of three awards were handed out. The Saxon Award for the Best Documentary Project by a Female Director went to Daria Yurkevich and her project “GENESIS” (Belarus, Germany). The prize, sponsored by the Saxon State Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism, is endowed with 5,000 euros.

The Current Time TV Award, endowed with 2,000 euros, sponsored by Current Time TV, went to “Divia” by Dmytro Hreshko (Ukraine, Poland).

“Shaina 13 to 15” by Tamara Erde (France) picked up the Unifrance Doc Award, providing subtitling services, sponsored by TitraFilm, and a Unifrance membership for its French producer.

DOK Preview Germany

At DOK Preview Germany, the D-Facto Motion Works-in-Progress Prize went to “Johatsu – Into Thin Air” (WT), directed by Andreas Hartmann and Arata Mori (Germany, Japan). The prize, sponsored by D-Facto Motion GmbH, comes with post-production services valued at 10,000 euros.

DOK Short n’ Sweet

At DOK Short n’ Sweet, the Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg Award went to “A Move” by Elahe Esmaili (Iran). The award comes with a Letter of Intent along with a short evaluation and one consultation session for sales possibilities.

We are excited to announce a number of dedicated formats in this year’s edition to further expand industry activities to the animation sector and boost mutual exchange and networking between documentary and animation film professionals. Events in the DOK Industry Programme include Animation Lab DOK Leipzig (10–13 October), a four-day animation workshop, organised in a first collaboration with CEE Animation. During the workshop, documentary producers developing their first animated documentary (short, series or feature) will explore the landscape of the animation industry and gain insights into the specifics of production and distribution.

The panel by AG Animationsfilm: “Diversity: Less Talking, More Action!” will take place on Festival Friday (13 October, 14:00–15:30) and address the issue of diversity in animated filmmaking and the need for action. A Get Together, hosted by AG Animationsfilm, ASIFA Germany, AG Kurzfilm and DIAF, will also take place on Festival Friday (18:30) at the Festival Centre, where accredited guests will have the opportunity to meet their colleagues and make new connections in a relaxed atmosphere. Animation filmmakers will also be able to meet esteemed members of the documentary community and experts from the field during Animation Meets Doc.

Events in the public festival programme include a DOK Talk on feature-length animated films, Animation Perspectives and the Animation Night with Tess Martin.

We are thrilled to welcome 35 new documentary film projects from 30 countries. At our DOK Co-Pro Market (9 and 10 October), they will meet potential co-production, financing and distribution partners.

Some of the selected projects tackle pressing issues of our time, while others contemplate the future and offer alternative visions of society. The selection features four animated documentary projects and three projects that expand the genre of true crime.

Part of the selection are also five promising projects that the DOK Industry Team scouted at trusted partner training initiatives and film markets: East Doc Platform, Durban FilmMart, CoPro Israel, BDC Discoveries and DOC LAB POLAND’s DOCS TO START.

The projects span across geographies, coming from Europe, the US, three South American countries, six Asian countries and six African countries, including one fixed co-production between Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Some of the invited directors and producers have already shown their films at our festival in the past. Filmmakers from Leipzig Jonas Eisenschmidt and Constanze Wolpers are returning with their new project. Petit à Petit Production will also be back at the festival with a new project.

Check out the 35 projects here and find more information about the selection in our press release. Congratulations to the teams!

Call for Producers without a Project

Producers who are actively looking to co-produce new audio-visual works and have a relevant track record of international co-productions can still apply for participation in the DOK Co-Pro Market without a project. The deadline is 7 September. Read more and apply here

We are happy to announce that the second session of this year's Ex Oriente Film workshop will be held for the first time in Germany, in collaboration with our festival, from 6 to 11 October 2023.

A total of 12 creative documentary feature films and five docuseries projects are participating in this year’s intensive sessions. Among the tutors of the second session are VP and Executive Producer of Documentaries for HBO Europe Hanka Kastelicová, sales agent Manuela Buono (Slingshot Films), producer Erik Winker (CORSO Film), and documentary film editor and story consultant Yael Bitton.

The Ex Oriente Film workshop is a project-based training programme from the Institute of Documentary Film (IDF). The three-module creative lab offers a comprehensive support for creative documentary projects in development and early production from Central and Eastern Europe. The third session of this year’s workshop will take place during the East Doc Platform in Prague in March 2024, in partnership with the One World International Human Rights Film Festival.

We look forward to welcome the participants and tutors here in Leipzig!

Discover more about Ex Oriente Film