The call for films remains open until 1 July, but we are already watching and discussing your films together with our selection committee. In addition to festival director Ola Staszel and programme coordinators Lina Dinkla, Jana Kraft and Vika Leshchenko, the committee comprises 11 film experts. A warm welcome to:
International Competition Dokumentary Film
- Borjana Gaković
Film and media scholar, curator and author. Borjana’s work focuses on representations of history and medialities of historiography, European cinema of the 1960s and 1970s, feminisms in history and the present and war and trauma in film.
- James Lattimer
Programme advisor at the Viennale. James was a programmer for the Berlinale Forum for many years and headed Documenta Madrid. He has curated film series for Arsenal Filminstitut, Museo Reina Sofia and Volksbühne Berlin.
- Seggen Mikael
Curator and cultural manager focusing on film and media, with a strong emphasis on intersectionality, inclusion, and amplifying marginalized perspectives through programming and public discourse.
- Anca Păunescu
Has been intensively involved in documentary film selection, curation and creative advising for special programmes at European festivals for nine years. Currently co-curator of One World Romania and main documentary film programmer at the Neisse Film Festival.
- Carolin Weidner
Studied film studies and journalism, followed by freelance work as a journalist for various newspapers and magazines. Member of the DOK Leipzig selection committee since 2017, and of the Berlinale Forum panel since 2023.
- Annina Wettstein
Programmer, curator and consultant on festival and world sales strategies, moderator and researcher. She has worked with European festivals in various roles for almost 20 years (documentary and fiction oriented festivals as well as animation).
International Competition Animated Film
- André Eckardt
Combines curatorial and archival practice with experimental and ephemeral films.
- Franka Sachse
has been an animation artist since 2010, a lecturer in animation since 2011, and co-founded the studio Paper Plane Animation with Ana Vallejo in 2025.
German Competition
- Jan Künemund
freelance film journalist, curator and PR agent, lives in Berlin.
- Anke Leweke
Has been working as a curator and programme consultant for various festivals since 2001 (the Berlinale Competition and Forum, Marrakech, Shanghai, and Hong Kong). Her main profession is that of a freelance film journalist.
- Luc-Carolin Ziemann
Loves working with, about and for films, especially when these films deal with reality in an artistic way.
We’re thrilled to welcome you all (back) and are already curious to find out which cinematic gems will be waiting for the Leipzig audience and the filmmaking communities this year.
By the way! If you haven’t applied with your film yet – the call for films remains open until 1 July for documentary and animated films of all lengths. Let’s go!
See the Call for Films
