Starting in March, Dana Melaver has joined our festival team as curator for the XR exhibition DOK Neuland.

Dana is an artist and filmmaker based in Berlin. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including in Berlin, New York City, and the 2023 Larnaca Biennale. Her film “Sleepless Birds” (2023), co-directed with Tom Claudon, premiered at Hot Docs in Toronto and won the Christian Berger Cinematography Award at Innsbruck Nature Film Festival.

In her projects Dana uses artistic methods as research tools, working creatively through ideas of the human experience. She often engages with scientific and technological theories and the ways in which they change our idea of individuality. Whether in video or installation, borrowing from aquaculture or oenology, the projects toy with the boundaries that delineate our being. Prioritising engagement as practice, Dana frequently works with collaborators in the making process and includes participatory elements in exhibition.

Dana will be organising and curating the public XR exhibition that takes place during the festival week. The call for XR contributions is now open – Dana is looking forward to receiving your submissions by 1 July. Read more how to submit

We are happy to welcome you to our DOK team, Dana!

Since 2015, we dedicate an exhibition platform to the art of immersive documentary storytelling: DOK Neuland. Each year during the DOK Leipzig festival week we invite our audiences to discover selected international XR pieces in the public exhibition.

The call for submissions to the 2024 DOK Neuland edition, taking place from 28 October to 3 November, is now open. We look forward to receiving your artistic XR contributions until 1 July.

What are we looking for?

XR works that question conventional narrative forms and open up new audio-visual experiences – be it through virtual reality, mixed reality or augmented reality experiences, 360° films, performances, media or web-based art, sound installations, projection mapping or looped films, participatory films or games. Or you surprise us with new XR formats we can’t even imagine right now! 

Do you have an idea for a special project such as a site-specific XR installation or hybrid performance for a stage? Send it over. We are very happy to work together with artists to facilitate their vision and showcase new ways of working outside the traditional frame.

You can submit your XR works until 1 July directly on our website. There is no premiere required and no submission fee applying for DOK Neuland.

Head to our DOK Neuland page to find out more about the exhibition, read the regulations, and access the entry form:

Go to DOK Neuland

Show us your new documentaries and animated films!

The call for films for DOK Leipzig 2024 is now open. Until 1 July, you may submit animated or documentary films of any length that were produced in 2023 or 2024 (if they have not been shown public before 15 October 2023). Read more about the requirements your film must fulfill in the submissions rules and regulations.

Questions? We’ve also put together answers to your most important questions about the submission process, such as what kind of premiere your film should be, and how the submission fee works, in this FAQ.

Ready to get started? You can submit your film on our website from 15 February until 1 July 2024. Just log in to your existing myDOK account (or register for a new one) where you will find the entry form, and off you go.

The Leipzig City Council agreed to extend the contract of our artistic director for three years. The Lord Mayor of Leipzig was authorised to take the appropriate decision at the shareholders’ meeting of Leipziger Dok-Filmwochen GmbH.

Christoph Terhechte, who headed DOK Leipzig since January 2020, will continue to run the festival until January 2028 following this decision. Read more details in the press release.  

With this in mind: Happy holidays and a good start to the New Year 2024! We look forward to seeing you at our 67th edition from 28 October to 3 November 2024.