Black-white photo of a man sitting at a desk. He's sporting a huge mustache, thick dark glasses and combed back hair. In his hand he holds a pencil to a paper and he is surrounded by buckets of brushes and pens

Films with a Special Focus

Using films as a lens to open minds, uncover lives behind the headlines, and break silences — this is what films in DOK Leipzig’s out-of-competition sections endeavour. These sections run alongside the four competitions for documentary and animated films having a special focus: Central and Eastern Europe, an artistic style that challenge the narrative conventions as well as highlights of the Doc Alliance festival network in Europe.

Panorama

In the section focusing on films from Central and Eastern Europe, the topic of war on Europe’s border is still very present in the documentaries of these regions. “A Simple Soldier” by Ukrainian Artem Ryzhykov and his fellow director Juan Camilo Cruz documents how war destroys dreams and futures of people as it turns them into soldiers from one day to the next. “Trains” by Maciej J. Drygas uses historical footage of trains to show how a vehicle once used to carry people to the countryside became a means of transporting soldiers to the front.

Camera Lucida

Films in this year’s Camera Lucida section zero in on people and their realities in various contexts: in science, prison,and avant-garde cinema.  The four feature films in this section broaden perspectives and encourage thoughtful contemplation. In "Little, Big, and Far," Jem Cohen reflects on on working in academia and the melancholy found in a life of science. "Conbody vs. Everybody“ by acclaimed director, screenwriter, and cinematographer Debra Granik documents the reality of convicted criminals in America, and "Bulle Ogier, Portrait of a Hidden Star“ by Eugénie Grandval centres on a maverick figure associated with the French New Wave.

Doc Alliance Award

And at the Doc Alliance Award, the three feature-length and three short documentaries depict life with parents grappling with alcoholism, caught between love and powerlessness, longing and intoxication (Monica Strømdahl’s “Flophouse America” and Myrid Carten’s “A Want in Her”) or they simply capture the beauty the world holds despite its many conflicts in the fairytale-like, poetic 16mm shots of landscapes in Portugal from“Unstable Rocks” by Ewelina Rosińska.

Find more informationen about the sections in our press release.