With this year’s retrospective, we are focusing on the radical political cinema of Latin America of the 1960s and 1970s – then a recurring theme at politically committed film festivals on both sides of the Wall. The surprising story of how these films moved back and forth between Leipzig, East Berlin, West Berlin and Oberhausen and were thus preserved is also a key element of the Retrospective. 

Anti-colonial cinema

The centrepiece of the Retrospective is formed by films from the so-called “Third Cinema” of Latin America – a radical cinema movement of the Global South that rebelled against social injustice, state repression and (neo)colonial dependency. They are supplemented by East German productions thematically linked to them.

Focus on Chile

The Retrospective‘s focus on Chile reflects the considerable attention given to Chilean current events and filmmaking at the time. Two of the seven programmes are concerned with the international solidarity with Chileans following the 1973 military coup and the experiences of Chileans living in exile in East Germany.

East and west exchanged film copies

A large number of the films showing as part of the Retrospective can be found in German archives today. This film material bears witness to the lively, interconnected festival, distribution and archival work being carried out on both sides of the Wall.

Through film discussions and a DOK Talk, the Retrospective explores how those working in the field in both East and West collaborated without paying heed to the complications of official inner-German relations. Both the State Film Archive of the GDR in East Berlin, which organised the Leipzig retrospectives, and the Freunde der Deutschen Kinemathek in West Berlin made copies of analogue film materials, exchanged them with each other through personal networks and archived them. Together, they thus played a role in making sure that these politically endangered films could be circulated and preserved.

For more information, please see our press release. 

All films in the Retrospective

This Retrospective is supported by funding from the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany. This year, the Retrospective is taking place in collaboration with the Arsenal Filminstitut, the German Federal Archives and the DEFA Foundation.

Film Still: „Chile lebt“, Regie: Juan Forch, Michael Börner © DEFA-Stiftung/Michael Börner

DOK Leipzig is once again presenting the most entertaining, creative and exciting films for children and young people from its programme of documentary and animated films. The heroes, animals and fantasy creatures in these stories go on adventures, overcome challenges and rise to the occasion.

Young DOK combines the Kids DOK programme for the youngest moviegoers of nursery- and primary-school age, and Young Eyes, which features films for teenagers.

Kids DOK offers short, animated fantasy stories and relatable everyday situations in curated programmes for fans aged 3+ and 5+, as well as for kids aged 8+.

Under the Young Eyes label, teenagers aged 12 can look forward to four feature-length documentaries that illustrate the diverse conditions in which other kids their age live. The Youth Jury decides which film is worthy of a particular honour and presents the Young Eyes Film Award sponsored by the Rahn Dittrich Group for Education and Culture.

The international films are screened with German subtitles or are dubbed; some do without dialogue altogether. Tickets for all screenings will be available from 8 October via our website. Single tickets for Young DOK cost €5.

Nursery and after-school care groups can be registered now.

Register now

DOK Education: Interactive activities for teachers and pupils

DOK Leipzig also offers pupils and teachers a number of ways to become actively involved during the week of the festival.

Registration for the DOK Leipzig Youth Editorial Team is open until 18 September. DOK Spotters get a behind-the-scenes look at the festival, learn the basics of journalism and get to apply these skills in a variety of ways directly within the context of the festival.

For teachers, the DOK Education programme also includes the Teachers’ Day continuing education seminar; for school classes, there are exclusive film screenings and guided tours of the immersive exhibition DOK Neuland. Registration for these is also open now.

Click here for all details and to register for DOK Education

Finally! We’re delighted to announce the first details and news of the 69th festival edition.

Festival director Ola Staszel, who has overseen the artistic direction and management of the Leipzig festival since January 2026, is launching a new section, “Positions”, that creates more space for exchange and debate. The selection of films is intended as a starting point and catalyst for dialogue and exchange – listening to one another, having conversations, accommodating differing views and contradictions, and questioning our own convictions.

Discover the first titles of DOK Leipzig 2026

The section consists of seven films that variously follow family members searching for traces of those who were disappeared during the Spanish Civil War (“Atlas of Disappearance”), counter oil extraction in Nigeria with poetry (“Hope is a Word”) and observe doubts giving way to obedience and routine at a French training facility for prison guards (“Detention”). A further title is „Union Town“, the last of three films exploring workers’ rights from Director Barbara Kopple – a two-time Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature.

The “Positions” programme will also feature two debate formats, developed in cooperation with Critics’ Week, following two film screenings. Further screenings will be followed by Extended Q&As with filmmakers and invited experts.

See all Films in „Positions“

Update on the Audience Award

Also new at DOK Leipzig 2026: the Audience Award, a Golden Dove for a feature-length documentary, will no longer be decided by a jury but by the audience in an online vote. We’ll let you know how exactly to take part in the coming weeks.

The sections “Camera Lucida” and “Panorama: Central and Eastern Europe” will not be continued.

... of course, we cannot reveal everything at this stage. Suffice to say: we’ll be launching a second new section – which includes the opening film – in mid-September. And until then, there’ll be more exciting programme series!

More about our film programme

Today in two months, we'll be kicking off the 69th edition of DOK Leipzig and are delighted to unveil this year’s motif. It shows a pair of bright red dungarees, once again designed by Leipzig-based graphic designer and illustrator Stefan Ibrahim.

“Our poster this year is deliberately open to multiple interpretations,” says festival director Ola Staszel. “In its references to the labour movement, politics, feminism and pop culture, the strength of the motif lies in its layers of meaning. That also ties in with the many voices within a community, which we want to place firmly at the heart of this year’s festival.”

Designer Stefan Ibrahim emphasises the unifying dimension of his motif: “The motif depicts bodies in motion and people interacting. Its association with work and production is, of course, intentional. Whether it be art, crafts, services or care work, everyone is included, everyone is seen. At DOK Leipzig and far beyond the festival, artists and cultural practitioners make an almost daily choice to engage in a creative process, with all its highs and lows, and to lay that process bare in all its many facets – whether in order to tell a story or to make it accessible to a wider audience. This poster pays tribute to that essential artistic labour and invites audience members to become active participants in an idea, a dialogue and a shared exploration.”

What’s up next

Tomorrow we’ll be revealing the first new additions to the 2026 programme, and offer further exciting insights over the coming weeks – until the full film programme for the 69th edition is published on 8 October.

From 26 October to 1 November 2026, Leipzig will once again become a meeting place for documentary and animated film fans from all over the world. If you don’t want to miss out on what’s in store for you at DOK Leipzig 2026, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.

We look forward to welcoming you soon!