Discover 5 new, up-and-coming documentary films from our partners, Doc Nomads. Fresh new documentaries looking for partners to help co-finance and distribute to hungry audiences across the globe.

Each DOK Partner Presentation consists of an introduction of the film teams and pre-recorded presentation open to all accredited guests, and a closed, invitation-only round table discussion with our finest decision makers.

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Curious about German animation? Catch a glimpse at brand new German animation and animated documentary projects at this Partner Presentation! Learn more about how the films were made and participate in our Q&A with the producers and directors and discover something new for your festival or slate!

The first project is an animated documentary TV-series that was produced by ZDF das kleine Fernsehspiel and ZDF digital. The series consists of 11 short films that visualise personal stories about political change in East and West Germany at the end of the 80s and early 90s. The stories are told by the protagonists themselves who contributed their memories to a digital audio-podcast called My Change – Our Unity? (Meine Wende – Unsere Einheit?).

The Last Whale Singer, still in pre-production, is the first feature animation that was selected for the initiative Outstanding Films for Children, which is a nationwide funding scheme created by public broadcasters, regional and national film funds and representatives of the German film industry and politicians. It tells the story of a teenage humpback whale who must face his fears and summon a mystical song to save the oceans from destruction by a monstrous creature. The film will be produced by Telescope Animation and directed by Reza Memari who also wrote the script. A series and a game are in development.

The third project is Student Academy Award-winner Ahmad Saleh’s (Ayny, 2016) brand-new short Night. The project was awarded the film prize for emerging Arab-German co-productions of the Robert Bosch Foundation in 2017. The stop motion animation, a co-production between Jordan, Qatar, Palestine and Germany, is now ready for distribution and looking for its world premiere.

A film festival without a fest is a sad thing indeed! If you’re missing your colleagues, stop by a hangout: no project pitching, no pressure, just a place to connect and hang out. We are inviting all the students attending DOK Leipzig to get together and get to know each other. Loose networking, new connections.

In addition to the masterclass with Annik Leroy and the film programme of the Homage dedicated to her, an extended Q&A with Annik Leroy will take place live on Zoom. You are invited to attend here!

DOK Short n’ Sweet is back with a new live pitch, closing out our DOK Industry Programme in 2020. We are keeping the format: seven projects will have three minutes to pitch to a panel of international experts. Keep it short, keep it sweet, and watch new project and talents take off from the comfort of your lounge!

From existential crisis to privileged deceleration. COVID 19 has exposed social problems. Whether film or virtual reality, the views inwards and outwards, on conditions and sensitivities are sharper than ever.

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Sign up for individual meetings with esteemed members of the documentary community and experts from the field. Expand your network, promote your upcoming projects and films, and get connected for 2021. Please submit your meeting requests for each meeting session in myDOK.

Confirmed Experts: CAT&Docs, Cinephil, Deckert Distribution, Dogwoof, Filmotor, First Hand Films, Lightdox, NEW DOCS, Reservoir Docs

Autobiographical documentary film has developed into a popular and widespread genre over the last decades. Initially often combined with family histories and the historiography of global - and often traumatic - events such as wars and other catastrophes, it now functions as a foil through which an understanding of complex interrelationships can be created by means of empathy and awareness raising for “micro-stories”. But the method is also fruitful as a means of addressing a wide range of universal problems: the search for self-realisation or the burden of family inheritance, economic or emotional fragility, questions of identity and belonging, or life in old age. We talk to the filmmakers whose films approach global themes from different perspectives at DOK Leipzig this year, based on their own family histories.
How does one film one's own family? What is the position of the directors, who sometimes act as silent observers, sometimes as the centre of events? How do you deal with found footage and materials from your own family archives? And how much distance is necessary?

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Nairobi’s Dazzling Club Culture – a digital world premiere
With DJ Jinku and Karun

Let’s celebrate not only the end of the 16th DOK Industry Programme, but also the first episode of the new podcast series TIMEZONES, launched in collaboration between the network for global music Norient and the Goethe-Institut.

A special performance of global sounds, experimental music and the stories behind it, singer Karun (formerly Camp Mulla) DJ and producer Jinku (EA Wave) will present the club culture of Kenya's capital Nairobi. Swahili Abstract, Afrohouse and Downtempo, an excursion into the dazzling club music of a globally networked city from the comfort of your lounge room.

available in the Media Library