Seven new and unusual German creative documentaries were presented at DOK Preview Germany in cooperation with German Films. Each film has a unique and ambitious style and our charming moderators Simone Baumann and Tanja Georgieva gave a sneek peak into the new titles. All projects were presented in more detail by their film teams.

This year we welcome our new partner D-Facto Motion. For the first time the “DFM Work-in-Progress Prize” valued at 10,000€ is given out to one of the selected German documentary project. The prize is awarded to the film deemed most prospective for distribution.

This year’s winner is the project Who owns my Village by Christoph Eder. With the curious eyes of a child from years gone by, Eder returns to the village where he was born, on the shores of the Baltic, to watch the inhabitants awaken from their political lethargy and battle for the fate of the popular tourist destination. The film is currently in post-production and planned to premier in 2020.
More info about DOK Preview Germany

The festival has only just launched and we already have a prize winner! The Development Prize for the Best Female Director by the Saxon State Minister for the Arts was awarded at our opening event on 28 October at the CineStar 8 cinema before an audience of some 700 invited guests. Dr. Eva-Maria Stange, Saxon Minister for Science and the Arts, presented the 5,000-euro prize to South African director Godisamang Khunou for her project Black Women and Sex.

The jury, which included Toni Bell, Anca Paunescu and Katja Wildermuth, decided on the winner in the run-up to the festival. Their jury statement reads:

“We on the jury were so proud to review the 20 projects that were selected for the inaugural Female Director Prize for the DOK Co-Pro Market. The projects spanned the globe and truly demonstrate the uniqueness and universality of female driven stories. The project selected showcases black female sexuality in Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia, through the eyes of a trans woman, an entertainer, and a mother who has the audacity to believe and teach that God meant for sex to be equally pleasurable for both men and women. For her unique and brave voice, and for tackling a topic that will certainly resonate with women throughout the African diaspora, we award this inaugural prize to Godisamang Khunou for Black Women and Sex.”

The South Korean project My Missing Aunt by director Juyeon Yang received an honourable mention.

Projects by female directors selected for the DOK Co-Pro Market were eligible for the award, which was donated by the Saxon State Ministry of Science and the Arts.

The selection of projects for the 15th DOK Co-Pro Market is now complete. 35 film projects from 40 countries have been selected out of 309 submissions. They will now have the chance to find international co-production and financing partners at the beginning of the festival in Leipzig.

“For the last years we've put the priority on looking for and engaging with filmmakers not to fill diversity quotas, but more because our curiosity drives us to crave different perspectives and voices. We choose to work with professionals whose points of view challenge the status quo,” says Brigid O’Shea, head of DOK Industry. “Without exaggeration, the overall quality of the 309 submissions for the DOK Co-Pro Market was incredibly high this year, and we had tough decisions to make.”

The selected film projects present a great variety of visual languages, narrative perspectives and thematic approaches. These include film projects that deal with the realities of living in a diaspora or accompany people who, due to current social or political upheavals, have had to shift their centre of life. Other directors provide intimate insights into personal family stories.

Ukrainian producer and programmer Darya Bassel (Docudays UA) and Jamila Wenske, managing director of the production company Achtung Panda!, are jointly responsible for the project selection.

On the first two festival days, 28 and 29 October 2019, around 900 individual meetings will take place at the DOK Co-Pro Market, where producers will encounter potential partners. These include international financiers and co-producers from broadcasters ARD, SVT, SRF, ORF, ARTE France and RAI. New partners such as Mubi, Vice, Ryot Films and other representatives of leading online platforms will also be taking part.

Four prizes will be awarded as part of the DOK Co-Pro Market.

Throughout the year, DOK Industry Programme staff, as well as the festival director Leena Pasanen, travel the world looking for extraordinary projects to take part in our DOK Co-Pro Market. Through partnerships with different international organisations, we select 5 projects to participate in the DOK Co-Pro Market with automatic selection. This year we are happy to welcome:
 

BDC Discoveries:

No place for you in our town Nikolay Stefanov and produced by Ralitsa Golemanova, Bulgaria

Doc Lab Poland:

Together by Marek Kozakiewicz and produced by Agnieszka Skalska, Poland

Doc Montevideo Pitching:

Roaring Lambs by Andrés Ramírez Pulido and produced by Johana Agudelo Susa, Colombia

Durban Cinemart:

Black Women & Sex by Godisamang Khunou, South Africa

Ex Oriente/East Doc Platform:

The Pit by Nikolay Bem and produced by Uliana Beletskaya, Russia

Additionally, 8 projects will be selected also via partners for our DOK Preview Training works-in-progress presentation. Check back in September to find out who will be joining us in Leipzig to showcase their new creative documentaries.