Our 68th festival edition will be the last under the direction of Christoph Terhechte. For personal reasons, he has decided to end his contract two years prior to its expiration, remaining in his position until 31 January 2026.

“Leading DOK Leipzig through the last five years and defending the international standing of the world's oldest festival for documentary and animated film was a challenge for the team and for me as director,” says Christoph Terhechte. “We have mastered the task with united forces. Health setbacks have now prompted me to retire. However, I will remain associated with the festival and hope that the recent successes can be continued.”

Christoph Terhechte has introduced a number of innovations over the past five years. He streamlined the programme structure, strengthened the role of animated film at DOK Leipzig and established the audience competition with a jury of Leipzig film enthusiasts. With “Panorama: Central and Eastern Europe” and “Camera Lucida”, he created two new sections out of competition. He always emphasised the importance of cinema culture and also expanded our presence around the year with the ‘DOK Days’ and the summer cinema. 

"I deeply regret Christoph Terhechte's decision. With him at the helm, we were able to put the DOK-Filmwochen GmbH back on a solid economic footing. After the difficult years that the coronavirus pandemic caused for the festival industry, Mr Terhechte and his team have done an excellent job in stabilising the festival and recently achieved a record number of visitors in 2024," said Dr Skadi Jennicke, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Arts of the City of Leipzig.

The process of choosing a successor will begin shortly. The selection committee consists of the Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board, Dr Skadi Jennicke, members of the Supervisory Board and external consultants from the film and documentary film industry. A suitable successor is expected to be found by autumn at the latest.

We would like to thank Christoph Terhechte for his creativity and the great collaboration over the past years. We look forward to celebrating the festival together one more time this autumn.

Read more in our press release.