Accessibility
This page gives you an overview of the accessibility of our venues and the parts of the programme that are accessible. We are aware that parts of the festival are not fully accessible and that we are not yet able to address every need for accessibility. We invite you to come along with us on this journey and look forward to seeing you at the festival!
The festival takes place in many cinemas in Leipzig. Some of our cinemas and screening venues are accessible without using stairs. More detailed information is listed below.
The cinemas Schauburg, Schaubühne Lindenfels and our screenings of DOK im Knast in the Regis-Breitingen juvenile detention centre are not barrier-free.
CineStar
Barrier-free access
Petersbogen, 1st floor (accessible by lift)
Petersstraße 44
Assistance dogs are permitted.
Barrier-free bus stop: Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz and Neues Rathaus (tram: various lines)
Disabled parking spaces:
The Petersbogen car park is barrier-free. Three marked disabled parking spaces are located behind the Petersbogen car park at Burgplatz 2 (BAUWENS building). A further 3 marked disabled parking spaces are located at Markgrafenstraße 3.
The entrance to the CineStar is accessible via a lift in the Petersbogen passage. There are no acoustic floor announcements in the lift.
To access the cinema auditoriums, you must register at the entrance to use the lift. A wheelchair-accessible toilet is available on the 2nd and 4th floors. Disinfectant is available.
A guidance system is not available. Assistance dogs are permitted.
Cinema 2 & 4: 3 wheelchair spaces with accompanying person
Cinema 5 & 6: 1-2 wheelchair spaces with accompanying person
The wheelchair spaces are located at the back near the entrance on the platform.
Cinémathèque Leipzig in der naTo
Barrier-free access
Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 46
Barrier-free stop: Südplatz (tram 10 and 11)
Assistance dogs are permitted.
Disabled parking spaces are not available directly at the naTo. There are 3 marked disabled parking spaces 550 metres away in front of the district court at Bernhard-Göring-Str. 64.
The cinema is accessible without steps. There are 10 wheelchair spaces. Rows 1-3 are at ground level.
A wheelchair-accessible toilet near the cinema and charging stations for electric wheelchairs are available.
Main station east hall
Barrier-free access
Willy-Brandt-Platz 5
Barrier-free stop: Main station (tram, train: various lines)
Disabled parking spaces: 11 marked disabled parking spaces in the multi-storey car park (Osthalle)
The entrance to our pop-up cinema in the east hall at the main station is step-free via Willy-Brandt-Platz. You can reach the east hall from the platform level via a lift. The lift has acoustic floor announcements and is equipped with Braille.
Wheelchair spaces are available at the side of the rows of seats at the front or at the back.
A barrier-free toilet is available on each of the three floors. Information can be found here.
The toilet in the basement is freely accessible from 8am to 8pm. On the cross platform, the toilet is freely accessible from 6-24 hrs. The toilet on the ground floor is accessible with a Euro key and can also be requested at the customer information desk.
Disinfectant is available.
Stepless access via a lift.
There is a signposting system, but not in the east hall.
Assistance dogs are allowed, please inform us in advance. Customer information: 0049 341 14 12 7 17
There are electric, tactile door opening systems in the east and west halls and in the central building.
Prager Frühling Kinobar
Partially/restricted barrier-free access (with a shallow step at the entrance)
In the Haus der Demokratie
Bernhard-Göring-Straße 152
Barrier-free stop: Connewitzer Kreuz (Tram: 9, 10, 11)
Disabled parking spaces: 2 marked disabled parking spaces at the House of Democracy
There are about six wheelchair spaces at the side in front of the screen.
A wheelchair-accessible toilet is available.
Assistance dogs are allowed in the theatre.
The lift buttons are in Braille, there is an acoustic floor announcement and there is a guidance system for blind people.
Passage Kinos
Barrier-free access (toilet only partially accessible)
Hainstraße 19 a
Barrier-free stop: Goerdelerring (tram: various lines), 400 m to the cinema
Disabled parking spaces: 2 marked disabled parking spaces in Große Fleischergasse 12.
Astoria: 2 wheelchair spaces in row 1 left and right outside
Wintergarten: 1 wheelchair space (smaller wheelchairs) in row 7 on the edge
More information about the cinemas
There is a barrier-free toilet in the courtyard, but this is only accessible with an accompanying person. You will need a key for this. If required, please contact the service staff at the counter.
Polish Institute Leipzig Branch
Stepless access (lift must be unlocked by staff)
Note: The doors in the building do not open and close automatically.
Handwerkerpassage, 1st floor
Market 10
Barrier-free stop: Markt (line 89) and S-Bahn + Goerdelerring (tram: various lines), 550m to the Polish Institute
Disabled parking spaces: The Polish Institute is located in the pedestrian zone. 3 marked disabled parking spaces approx. 300 m away at Neumarkt 1-5 (near Galeria Kaufhof), Q-Park Marktgalerie multi-storey car park
Wheelchair spaces are available at the edge of the hall, near the entrances.
No barrier-free toilets. The toilets are at ground level, but very narrow. Disinfectant is provided.
Assistance dogs are allowed.
Charging stations for electric wheelchairs are available in the hall and anteroom.
Contact person Rainer Mende:
rainer [dot] mende [at] instytutpolski [dot] pl (rainer[dot]mende[at]instytutpolski[dot]pl)
Tel.: 0049 341/702 61-0
Regina Palast
Partial/limited barrier-free access (wheelchair access only possible with an accompanying person, via the rear entrance at the courtyard)
Dresdner Straße 56
Barrier-free stop: Gerichtsweg (tram 4, 7), 400m to the Regina Palast
Disabled parking spaces: none
Cinema 1: 3 wheelchair spaces with accompanying person
Cinema 5 & 6: are not barrier-free accessible
There is no barrier-free toilet.
Our festival centre is located in the Museum der bildenden Künste (MdbK) Leipzig, Katharinenstraße 10. The museum is accessible barrier-free.
Barrier-free stops: Goerdelerring (tram: various lines, 500 m away) or main railway station (tram, train: various lines, 550 m away)
Disabled parking spaces: 4 marked disabled parking spaces at the Brühl entrance.
The entrance via Katharinenstraße and the entrance via Böttchergasse are barrier-free. The doors can be opened automatically and are labelled with contrasting markings.
Our ticket office and guest office are located on the ground floor. The DOK Neuland exhibition in the basement is accessible via a lift with wide doors and low controls.
Barrier-free toilets are located in the basement and can be reached via the lift.
Main station 1st floor
See above. The 1st floor is accessible by lift, the exhibition includes a staircase – therefore it is only partially accessible for wheelchair users.
Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig
Barrier-free access, please note swinging doors at the entrance.
Cinémathèque
Barrier-free access to cinema, exhibitions, space for 5 wheelchairs with advance reservation.
The toilet is not barrier-free.
Public transport: Accessibility at the tram stop: Karl-Liebknecht-/Kurt-Eisner-Str.
Parking spaces for people with disabilities: none
If you have any questions about travelling, accessibility or structural conditions, please email at info [at] cinematheque-leipzig [dot] de (info[at]cinematheque-leipzig[dot]de).
More information on the website.
Galerie KUB
The outdoor area and the forum (large room in the front of the Galerie KUB) can be visited barrier-free, the rear gallery room has a door threshold of 0.15m deep, which can be bridged with an existing ramp. There is also a fixed disabled toilet in the gallery. The door is 1 metre wide and the toilet is equipped with a ramp and an emergency button. If you have any questions, please contact the gallery team: team [at] galeriekub [dot] de (team[at]galeriekub[dot]de)
More information on the website.
OpenStreetMap
This open-source map includes information on the accessibility of individual locations and stops. As the map is maintained by volunteer users, the information may not always be complete.
Wheelmap
Most of our venues and event locations are rated at wheelmap.org, a map for searching for and finding wheelchair-accessible locations. Wheelmap can be accessed via your Internet browser and is also available as a smartphone app.
LVB network map
LVB (Leipzig’s public transport) provides a map showing all connections and stops within Leipzig. It can be downloaded as a PDF.
Certain selected films in our programme are screened with audio description and/or extended subtitles – both of which are in German. In addition, selected film talks at the festival will be interpreted into German Sign Language. We are currently unable to offer an accessible programme of films in English.
Why aren’t all the films accessible?
Some of the films at DOK Leipzig have never before been screened in cinemas. Many are completed only a short time before the festival begins and have their premieres here. Others are retrieved from the archives and are decades old, so that accessible versions of most of them do not yet exist. The German audio descriptions and SDH versions found in our programme of accessible films are ones we have created specifically for the festival.
For several films in our programme we offer Audio Descriptions in German via the app Greta. The app is available free of charge for both iOS and Android, and it is useful to install it before the screening already. You can find our films in the app under “Preview – Events”.
Most films at DOK Leipzig are shown in their original version with English subtitles. For a selection of films we also provide German subtitles and subtitles for the deaf or hard-of-hearing on screen. Please note that SDH subtitles will be provided in German and enable viewers who do not understand the film's original language or English to access German subtitles. The subtitles will be shown on screen, you don’t need an app or device in the cinema.
A few films may contain flashes of light that may trigger seizures in people with visual sensitivities. We indicate this with an icon (in form of a flash) that you will find in the film programme search on the respective film pages and in the calendar.
The barrier-free offer is supported by the Saxon State Ministry of Science and Art. This measure is co-financed with tax revenues on the basis of the budget approved by the members of the Saxon State Parliament.
