Festival Review 2023
From 8 to 15 October 2023, audiences had the opportunity to see 225 films and XR works from around 60 countries in venues around Leipzig. In addition, one film a day was available online for 24 hours throughout Germany in the DOK Stream.
In total, the festival counted 45,500 attendees at its cinema screenings, panel discussions, industry events and the DOK Neuland XR exhibition. The films in the Audience Competition and the opening film, “White Angel – The End of Marinka”, which opened in cinemas across Germany after the festival, were particularly well received.
Audiences were also very enthusiastic about the short films in the International Competitions and the Animation Night with Tess Martin. The Animation Perspectives section as well as both matinees related to the theme of the Retrospective “Film and Protest – Popular Uprisings in the Cold War” were filled to capacity.
The free screenings at the main station attracted more than 2,000 people. DOK Neuland was also at capacity. About 1,000 people came to see the exhibition of immersive XR works at the Museum der bildenden Künste (MdbK).
All in all, DOK Industry welcomed more than 1,700 accredited professionals who came together to network and to pitch or discover upcoming film projects.
Besides the on-site industry activities, live streams, recordings and podcasts also provided various online access to the programme. On two days after the end of the festival, accredited professionals had a further opportunity to network online.
At the second edition of the DOK Archive Market, more international archives and footage libraries introduced their collections than in the previous year.
24 awards were presented, including the nine Golden and Silver Doves. The 10,000-euro Golden Dove Feature-Length Film in the International Competition Documentary Film went to Peter Mettler for his documentary “While the Green Grass Grows” (Switzerland, Canada). The newly created Golden Dove for a feature-length animated film went to Xu Jingwei for “No Changes Have Taken in Our Life” (China).
As part of DOK Industry, five awards were given out to outstanding documentary film projects in development or in production. The awards were presented in cooperation with international partners.
