DOK Leipzig

Get your accreditation for DOK Leipzig 2026 now! Until 9 July, industry professionals can benefit from the Early Dove Special and get their accreditation at a reduced rate.

The accreditation offers exclusive access to ...

• the DOK Industry Programme activities and networking events
• the festival film programme

• masterclasses and talks with inspiring guests

There are various accreditation types, rates and deadlines. Find out which type fits best to your festival experience: Check out our accreditation types.

We can’t wait to see you this fall and celebrate the 69th DOK Leipzig edition with you! Enter the Early Dove Club now.

Get your accreditation now

The winners of the Doc Alliance Award 2026 have been announced today during the Doc Day Lunch at the Marché du Film in Cannes.

Best Feature Film:

The main award, endowed with €5,000, goes to “The Case Against Space” (UK/France) by Graeme Arnfield. In the film, Arnfield reconstructs the world’s first strike in space, which took place in 1973. The jury particularly praised its “claustrophobic lo-fi aesthetics” that “foreground the human testimonies.”

The jury also gave a Special Mention to “Fantasy” (Fantaisie | France) by Isabel Pagliai.

Best Short Film:

The award for Best Short Film (€3,000) goes to “Some of You Fucked Eva” (France) by Lilith Grasmug. Through a montage of YouTube videos, the film explores the story of a typical cheerleader and the social and cultural microcosm of an American high school. The jury was impressed by the film’s atmosphere, “permeated by the fears and passions of teenagers.”

More information can be found in our press release.

Congratulations to all award winners!

Watch online now:
A selection of more than 30 films nominated for the Doc Alliance Award in recent years is available to stream on DAFilms.

Producers, we’re thrilled to receive your documentary, animated documentary and – brand new in 2026 – feature animation projects for the DOK Co-Pro Market 2026.

The introduction of fully animated projects is the next natural step to expand DOK Industry’s animation offerings and aligns with the festival’s commitment to support feature-length creative animated films.

Join us for two days of networking and co-financing. Meet your potential future co-producers, funders, broadcasters, and distributors to collaborate on new creative documentaries and animated films. In 900+ one-on-one meetings, we match 35 selected projects with potential partners from the international industry. 

What Type of Projects Are We Looking For:

• Ambitious, creative, author-driven documentary, animated documentary and fully animated projects from all over the world
• Projects in development or early stages of production
• Feature-length projects and series

Come to Leipzig and gain fresh insights into the German and international non-fiction markets through talks, panels, and case studies.

DOK Co-Pro Market will take place 26–27 October as part of DOK Industry in Leipzig. The deadline for entries is 1 July 2026. We’re thrilled to receive your new projects!

Read more about the DOK Co-Pro Market and apply

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 Documentary 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