Film Archive

Kids DOK 2020
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Souvenir
Paloma Canonica, Cristina Vilches Estella
Father and daughter climb up high, glide through water, travel over land, fly through the air and into space. A film about collecting souvenirs.
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Souvenir

Souvenir
Paloma Canonica, Cristina Vilches Estella
Kids DOK 2020
Animated Film
Spain,
Switzerland
2020
14 minutes
without dialogue
Subtitles: 
None

The day begins for father and daughter. They climb beyond their treehouse, glide over and under water, cross blooming landscapes, travel through the air and fly on into space. By ship, bicycle, balloon or on foot. A film about travelling, collecting souvenirs in passing and the question of what’s left at the end of a life.

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Paloma Canonica, Cristina Vilches Estella
Script
Cristina Vilches Estella, Alicia Bayona Casas, Paloma Canonica
Cinematographer
Alicia Bayona Casas, Cristina Vilches Estella, Paloma Canonica
Editor
Cristina Vilches Estella
Producer
Cristina Vilches Estella, Paloma Canonica
Sound
Cristina Vilches Estella, Eric Martín Álvarez
Score
Sofía Oriana Infante
Animation
Cristina Vilches Estella, Paloma Canonica
Filmstill Tale of the Three Flames

Tale of the Three Flames

As três chamas
Juliette Menthonnex
International Competition Documentary Film 2023
Documentary Film
Portugal,
Hungary,
Belgium,
Switzerland
2023
21 minutes
Portuguese (Portugal),
Spanish,
Dutch
Subtitles: 
English

“See you next year!” a Portuguese fire warden says as he dismantles his control equipment at the end of the season. Humans and nature in southern Europe may be used to forest fires, but that does not change the facts: The ever more massive conflagrations are caused by climate change. We have long been living in the age of fire.

In the Portuguese interior, a forest fire has just devastated a large area. Wounded nature is silent, not a single bird is heard, only the wind that makes the charred tree trunks rustle. But the vegetation recovers astonishingly fast. Where all life seemed to be gone, greenery soon sprouts from the ruined trees. The residents of the affected region are engaged in the reconstruction with great respect for their natural environment. Because plants, too, are sentient creatures. In quiet, almost melancholic, but also hopeful images, the film pays tribute to the strength of the trees and illustrates how essential it would be for humanity to learn to live in harmony with nature again.

Annina Wettstein

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Juliette Menthonnex
Cinematographer
Ilona Szekeres, Sergio da Costa
Editor
Antoine Flahaut, Juliette Menthonnex
Producer
Véronique Vergari, Victor Candeias, Agnès Boutruche
Sound
Juliette Menthonnex
Sound Design
Yatoni Roy Cantu
Kids DOK 2022
Filmstill The Queen of the Foxes
The Queen of the Foxes
Marina Rosset
The queen of the foxes is sad. To cheer her up, the other foxes look for discarded human love letters. But there’s nothing about beautiful red fur in them …
Filmstill The Queen of the Foxes

The Queen of the Foxes

La reine des renards
Marina Rosset
Kids DOK 2022
Animated Film
Switzerland
2022
9 minutes
French
Subtitles: 
German (Overvoice), English

The foxes of the pack roam through the city every night to cheer up their sad queen. They search the people’s rubbish for unsent love letters. But those ignoramuses write nothing rapturous about furry ears and bushy red coats! The queen stays sad and the foxes must think of something else.

Lina Dinkla

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Marina Rosset
Cinematographer
Marina Rosset
Editor
Marina Rosset
Producer
Marina Rosset
Sound
Peter Bräker
Score
Rahel Zimmermann
Animation
Marina Rosset
World Sales
Stine Wangler
Kids DOK 2022
Filmstill The Smortlybacks Come Back!
The Smortlybacks Come Back!
Ted Sieger
In search of fresh water, the Smortlybacks reach the shore of a vast sea. A mysterious creature and their magic fish help them cross the ocean.
Filmstill The Smortlybacks Come Back!

The Smortlybacks Come Back!

The Smortlybacks Come Back!
Ted Sieger
Kids DOK 2022
Animated Film
Switzerland
2022
8 minutes
without dialogue
Subtitles: 
None

The Smortlybacks are peaceful, fantastic-looking creatures, riding through the desert with the leader of their pack: no water, no shrub, no tree in sight! They are all desperate because their water supplies are running out. After a while they reach the shore of a vast sea. A mysterious creature and their magic fish help them cross the ocean.

Lina Dinkla

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Ted Sieger
Cinematographer
Wouter Dierickx
Editor
Joder von Rotz
Producer
Josef Burri
Co-Producer
Gerd Gockell
Sound
Thomas Gassmann
Score
Christoph Utzinger
Animation
Marina Rosset, Joder von Rotz, Wouter Dierickx
World Sales
Georg Gruber
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Their Algeria

Leur Algérie
Lina Soualem
International Competition 2020
Documentary Film
Algeria,
France,
Switzerland,
Qatar
2020
70 minutes
Arabic,
French
Subtitles: 
English

After 62 years of marriage Aïcha Soualem is on her own again. Mabrouk, whom she has left, is nevertheless supplied by her daily with food and sugar cubes. Director Lina Soualem is interested in the relationship between her grandparents, who, as the last remaining Algerians in Thiers, France, look back on an eventful past. An empathic investigation all the way back to their native village of Laaouamer which leaves room for ambiguous emotions.

“Soualem” is the password which not only enables Lina Soualem to unlock the tiny, snow-covered village full of cousins in Algeria, which her grandparents left a long time ago. In a sense, “Soualem” is also the title of this gentle investigation of a granddaughter. And Laaouamer, that little place in Algeria, is only the final destination of a long journey which may be narrated via geographical coordinates but interweaves them closely with biographical and emotional ones. Aïcha and Mabrouk rarely talk about themselves. Instead, self-affixed wall badges speak: “The world’s best mom lives here” or “Welcome to the world’s best grandma’s”. To learn more about the couple, whose lives were shaped by French colonialism, Lina Soualem uses private photos and videos. Her investigation is full of love: persistent, but never prying.
Carolin Weidner

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Lina Soualem
Editor
Gladys Joujou
Producer
Marie Balducchi
Co-Producer
Karima Chouikh, Palmyre Badinier
Score
Julie Tribout, Rémi Durel
World Sales
Anna Berthollet
Nominated for: Prize of the Interreligious Jury, FIPRESCI Prize
Kids DOK 2023
Filmstill Pond
Pond
Lena von Döhren, Eva Rust
A small herring finds himself in a tidal pool and encounters many other, sometimes strange marine creatures. Only by joining forces can they defend themselves against the hungry seagulls.
Filmstill Pond

Pond

Tümpel
Lena von Döhren, Eva Rust
Kids DOK 2023
Animated Film
Switzerland
2023
9 minutes
without dialogue
Subtitles: 
None

A shimmering shoal of herrings are swimming through the wide ocean when they are suddenly broken up by seagulls. Separated from the shoal, a small herring ends up all alone in a tidal pool. Looking for a way out, he encounters many other marine creatures. Some scare him. But there’s no time for this now: Only by joining forces can they defend themselves against the hungry seagulls.

Lina Dinkla

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Lena von Döhren, Eva Rust
Cinematographer
Lena von Döhren, Eva Rust
Editor
Fee Liechti
Producer
Sarah Born
Sound Design
Tobias Diggelmann, Thomas Gassmann, Martin Waespe
Animation
Lena von Döhren, Simon Eltz, Ramon Schoch
World Sales
Georg Gruber
Filmstill While the Green Grass Grows

While the Green Grass Grows

While the Green Grass Grows
Peter Mettler
Hommage Peter Mettler 2023
Documentary Film
Canada,
Switzerland
2023
166 minutes
English
Subtitles: 
German

A film that teaches us mindfulness. In his audiovisual diary, award-winning Swiss-Canadian filmmaker Peter Mettler says farewell to his mother and father. But the film transcends his personal work of mourning. In an always dialogue-oriented search movement over the cycle of life, he reflects on this world and the next, on existence and time. It is an eternal circuit and flow – like the continuous passing of clouds and rivers.

Visually as well as intellectually, Peter Mettler draws upon personal conversations, philosophical and spiritual texts as well as his own film and sound archive. His approach is characterised by openness and humility towards life and nature. This attentive attitude characterises the director’s notion of “film-making” per se that has shaped all his works. “While the Green Grass Grows” comprises two parts of a larger epic diary project with the same title.

Annina Wettstein

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Peter Mettler
Script
Peter Mettler
Cinematographer
Peter Mettler
Editor
Jordan Kawai, Peter Mettler
Producer
Cornelia Seitler, Peter Mettler, Brigitte Hofer
Sound
Peter Mettler
Sound Design
Jordan Kawai
Winner of: Golden Dove Feature-Length Film (International Competition Documentary Film)