As in previous years, young audiences can look forward to a diverse selection of charming documentaries and animated films at DOK Leipzig. The festival’s Young DOK section combines two programmes: Kids DOK, with its age-appropriate films for children, and Young Eyes, for teenagers.
Awaiting the youngest filmgoers at Kids DOK 3+ are short film reels featuring animated fables and relatable everyday stories: about cheeky rats, grumpy badgers, tidying-up races and a judoka who refuses to let leukaemia knock him down.
At Kids DOK 5+, we meet a family of capybaras, lovingly animated dragons, and a clever bark beetle girl. In other films, everything goes wrong during a holiday, and viewers are immersed in imaginative realms where children play without adults.
For filmgoers aged 12 and up, Young Eyes has four long-form documentaries in store that approach meaningful questions with conviction, intelligence and humour – sometimes even with glitter. Will Fanta’s dream of touring with a famous acrobatic circus come true? What’s the deal with the mysterious drawing that Mary’s father has left to her? What does it mean to grow up as a person of colour in Austria? And how does Karla wish to tell the story of her transition? One of these films will receive a special honour: the Young Eyes Film Award, sponsored by the Rahn Dittrich Group for Education and Culture.
The international films have German subtitles or a German voiceover or do without dialogue altogether. Tickets to individual Young DOK screenings cost €5. Tickets go on sale on 9 October. Day care and after-school groups can already register.
Information about the films at Young DOK: Film lists 2025
Film stills for download: Press Download Area
DOK Education: Inspiring opportunities for teachers and pupils
For many years, DOK Leipzig has been committed to promoting media literacy and has offered schoolteachers and their pupils the chance to explore documentary film as a cinematic form of expression. The DOK Education programme includes school screenings during the festival, the Teachers’ Day workshop for educators, the DOK Spotters youth editorial team and the Youth Jury, which presents the Young Eyes Film Award.
School screenings will be held on two mornings during the week of this year’s festival and will include follow-up discussions aimed at school classes:
On the Wednesday of the festival, DOK Leipzig will screen “Austroschwarz”, a film in which one of its directors, Mwita Mataro, reflects on growing up in Austria: facing racism, stereotypes and being different. He listens to children and adults, shows the audience discussions with educators, psychologists and politicians, and opens up in front of the camera at home. Mwita Mataro and co-director Helmut Karner will both take part in a discussion of the film.
Date: Wednesday, 29 October at 11:30 a.m. at CineStar 5
On the same day, VISION KINO and DOK Leipzig will be holding a Teachers’ Day event to accompany the film. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., interested teachers can engage in an in-depth discussion of the film and its anti-racist educational aspects at the Polish Institute in Leipzig. The school screening is included in the workshop.
In the second school screening, on Thursday, the documentary “Niñxs” addresses transgender issues. This film centres on a Mexican teenager named Karla. Over a period of eight years, the filmmaker observed her everyday life and her transition. Their collaboration has resulted in an imaginative, playful and colourful coming-of-age story told from a trans perspective. The post-screening discussion will be held with director Kani Lapuerta.
Date: Thursday, 30 October at 11:30 a.m. at the Passage Kino Astoria
Register for Teachers’ Day and the school screenings on the DOK Leipzig website.
