1.1 About DOK Leipzig

The International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film – in short: DOK Leipzig – is an annual festival for documentary and animated film. The festival is organised by the city of Leipzig. It commissions the non-profit Leipzig-based Dok-Filmwochen GmbH with the preparation, realisation and management of the festival.

The 67th edition will take place in Leipzig from 28 October to 3 November 2024.

1.2 About DOK Neuland

Since 2015, DOK Neuland has provided an exhibition platform for the art of immersive Extended Reality works such as 360° films, virtual reality (VR experience | VR installation | VR theatre), augmented reality works, mixed reality works, participatory films, media and web-based art, multimedia installations, apps, games. As we look towards the future, we are excited to discover and showcase even more technologies and media we may not even be aware of yet. DOK Neuland is a playground for new ways of storytelling and breaking the frame.

The exhibition takes place every year during the festival week and is open to everybody. Admission to the exhibition is free.

In close cooperation with the artists, we design an exhibition platform that provides both an ample space for each individual work and an experience in and of itself. Each exhibition dares to look into the future and asks how our conventions and habits might change. We also ponder the questions of which conditions are best for experiencing new media and which spaces can do justice to these innovative works. We are excited to work closely with artists to support their vision and bring their works to the public.

2.1 Submission Procedure

XR Submissions will be considered for our DOK Neuland exhibition. As a result of the COVID- 19 pandemic, we are keeping the option for an online component of DOK Neuland open. If your project is selected for the exhibition, we will discuss this with you as required.

The submission form can be found at www.dok-leipzig.de/en/mydok from 15/3/2024 until 1/7/2024. Any number of works can be submitted by one person or company if the submission requirements are met.

The submission form asks for all information important for the processing and evaluation of your work. The submitter must be authorized to submit the work to the festival by the rightsholders – and possibly confirm a selection in the DOK Leipzig programme.  

2.2 Submission Deadline

The first and final submission deadline is 1 July 2024. A later submission is only possible after consulting the DOK Neuland department (xr [at] dok-leipzig [dot] de (xr[at]dok-leipzig[dot]de)).

2.3 Submission Fee

Submissions to DOK Neuland are free of charge.

2.4 Premiere Regulations 

DOK Neuland is a curated exhibition without a premiere regulation. No specific premiere status is required to qualify for the submission. Older pieces are also eligible for DOK Neuland 2023. Showing a piece before the festival is therefore no problem.

2.5 Submission Copy

We ask you to provide a link that gives us access to your work in addition to a read-me document giving information on installation and computer requirements.

If you upload your content to an online platform, please include the link in your entry form. Please name your online content the same as the title of your work in your entry form. Please ensure that when you fill in the entry form, you enter the direct link to your project.

If you chose to give us access to your work via file transfer, please specify on the submission form which File Transfer Service you are using, including the URL. Please note if the download link changes, please notify xr [at] dok-leipzig [dot] de (xr[at]dok-leipzig[dot]de) with the new updated version. DOK Leipzig will then download your project for viewing, but please make sure not to add download links that expire within a short time frame. You may also include any links to your work and/or installation plans (on PDF) in the form, containing measurements and associated materials and tech riders for complex installations.

Trailers and film clips will not be accepted as submission copies.

2.6 Technical Requirements and Selection Process

During our selection process, we’ll have access to the most current technologies as it is important for us to actually experience your pieces. This can sometimes be tricky when you are in development or beta versions. Please make sure to be available for questions after the submission deadline.

Technical devices we will use for the selection process are e.g., Oculus Rift S, Oculus Quest (1-2), Oculus Go, HTC Vive Pro, HoloLens (1. Generation), Smartphone, Tablet. Please let us know if another tool would be necessary.

For those working in immersive virtual reality, please give us access to an executable file and associated content folders or APK format in the case of the Oculus Quest. If your project is a 360° film video, please include a link to access a high-quality video file. The file should be an MP4 (H.264 or H.265container) or MPK. For those submitting performances or large installations please provide documentation of the experience or a video to the direct intended project.

2.7 Prototypes

The festival allows the submission of prototype versions. When submitting a prototype, it should be taken into consideration that the selection process does not allow for the viewing of several versions. Therefore, when submitting a prototype, it should be ensured that it accurately reflects the final version in broad outline or via additional material such as a storyboard (etc.).

The submission form should indicate what changes are to be expected until the final version.

2.8 Language Versions

For the submission, it is necessary that the work is available in German or English. If the original language is not one of these two languages, the work must be provided with appropriate subtitles in German or English.

2.9 Festival Participation

The final decision of the DOK Neuland curation will be announced at the beginning of August at the latest. Selected XR works will receive an official confirmation by email to the person indicated as contact in the submission form.

No XR work may be withdrawn from the DOK Festival programme after participation has been confirmed in writing via the participation form.

By submitting the work, the submitters declare that they are the owners of all rights of the submitted work. For the purposes of these regulations, “rights owners” are the authors of the subject matter or any other natural or legal person or group of persons who has acquired an intellectual property right in the subject matter, which covers the acts referred in these regulations and for which a grant of rights of use or a transfer to third parties is possible.

The submitters warrant that no legal claims of any kind may be asserted by third parties in respect of the materials made available. If third parties make claims against DOK Leipzig regarding the materials and works provided, DOK Leipzig will inform the submitters immediately. The submitters are obliged to clarify the matter with the claimants and to bear the full costs incurred by DOK Leipzig for the necessary legal defence.

DOK Leipzig writes its own texts about the presented works for the festival catalogue, the programme booklet and the website.

DOK Leipzig receives the right to use excerpts from the film of a maximum length of three minutes as well as the PR material provided by the rights holders (such as trailers, photos and stills) for press and public relations work, free of remuneration and unlimited in terms of time and space (for the duration of the protected object). This also includes the distribution of the material to reporting media (television, radio, podcast, social media and other multimedia formats) for non-commercial use as well as the publication of the material on www.dok-leipzig.de and the festival's social media channels. DOK Leipzig guarantees that the length of ten percent of the total running time of the work will not be exceeded.

The festival reserves the right to use and archive selected viewing copies for internal purposes and non-commercial, non-public educational work. Commercial use of the archived view copies by the festival is excluded.

By submitting an XR work, the submitter agrees to the use and storage of the basic work information for archive and research use in our database, even if the submitted work will not be selected. Find more information about the use and storage of your data in our Data Protection Declaration.

Registration for participation in DOK Leipzig 2024 constitutes acceptance of the above regulations. The festival directors have the right to regulate all cases not provided for in the regulations as well as to allow exceptions in special and justified cases. The festival director decides on all questions not included in these regulations.

In the event of differences between the texts in different languages, only the German version of these regulations is binding.

Leipzig, 14 March 2024

If you need assistance or have further questions on how to submit your work, please contact DOK Neuland curator Dana Melaver by email at xr [at] dok-leipzig [dot] de (xr[at]dok-leipzig[dot]de).