The revised programme structure of the 63rd edition of DOK Leipzig goes hand in hand with new awards. Two of the Silver Doves, an award introduced this year, are funded by first-time sponsors of DOK Leipzig.

3sat is sponsoring the Silver Dove in conjunction with 6,000 euros for the best feature-length documentary or animated film by an up-and-coming director, thus reaffirming the broadcaster’s commitment to talented international directors.

The Friends of DOK Leipzig will also be sponsoring an award for the first time. The Leipziger Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Filmkunst e. V. is sponsoring the Silver Dove, worth 1,500 euros, in the Golden Section competition for the audience award for best short documentary and animated film. The award-winning films in the newly introduced Golden Section competitions will for the first time be chosen by people from Leipzig who have applied to sit on the jury.

A longtime award sponsor at DOK Leipzig is Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, which among other things sponsors the 10,000-euro Golden Dove in the International Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film. MDR is also the exclusive media partner for radio and TV.

DOK Leipzig also presents numerous awards of partner organisations. A total of 22 awards are presented at DOK Leipzig, five of them as part of DOK Industry to promote film projects. Festival director Christoph Terhechte would like to thank all of DOK Leipzig’s partners and sponsors: “This year’s edition of our festival will be held under extraordinary conditions. Its realisation depends all the more on the funding, grants and contributions in kind from our partners and sponsors, whom we would like to thank warmly for their support.”

DOK Leipzig continues to receive generous funding this year. The main supporters are once again the city of Leipzig, which is also the proprietor of Leipziger Dok-Filmwochen GmbH. The Free State of Saxony has also been a main supporter of DOK Leipzig for many years. In addition, the Saxon Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism allocates project funds for programmes of inclusion in order to facilitate the participation of everyone interested in film. This measure is co-financed by tax revenue according to the budget adopted by the Saxon State Parliament. A main supporter this year are once again the EU programme Creative Europe Media, the Central German Media Fund and the federal government’s Commissioner for Culture and Media: they all provide crucial support to the festival and its offerings for the film industry. Furthermore, the festival is able to count on the commitment of a large number of other supporters, sponsors and partners; all of them do their part to make everything that the festival offers a reality.

PŸUR is providing support on the technical side of the hybrid festival as a premium partner. The company will provide the Wi-Fi at festival venues and will offer crucial assistance to DOK Leipzig in the implementation of live streaming this year at the CineStar.

Big Cinema is again assisting the festival in processes of digitalisation and cinema playout and is in charge of the technical and organisational aspects of the film screenings in the East Wing (Osthalle) of the main railway station. ECE Promenaden Hauptbahnhof Leipzig is also facilitating the free film screenings in the East Wing. In addition to films in competition, the films that are part of a special programme called “Genius Loci: Train Stations, Films and Progress” will be presented exclusively in the East Wing of the main station. The Genius Loci programme of films on the subject of industrial heritage is supported by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony. This measure is co-financed by tax revenues according to the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament.

DOK Leipzig enjoys particular visibility around the city thanks to the cooperation of its regional printing partner, MaXxprint.

The German Foreign Office is a further sponsor of the festival, and ZDF has generously supported the festival for years.

The SLM (Saxon State Agency for Private Broadcasting and New Media) is once again a strategic partner, sponsoring the festival’s numerous offers for young talent. These include the offerings dedicated to up-and-coming talent that are part of the International Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film, the master class, the DOK Spotters, the school screenings and DOK Neuland. The Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin will be helping to make this year’s master class possible.

DOK Neuland has been supported by ARTE since its inception. Using new digital technologies for innovative storytelling is a major objective of the European culture channel. Partnering with DOK Neuland in the area of technology is Grover, a Berlin-based technology rental company that has been providing digital artists, filmmakers and designers flexible access to technical equipment since 2017. DOK Neuland also receives funding from MDR Media, the US Consulate in Leipzig and Sennheiser.

Further partners that support DOK Leipzig with financial and non-cash contributions are also instrumental to its success. The infobox next to the market square is made possible by modulbox mo systeme. For years, loyal partners of DOK Leipzig have included such companies as Computer Leipzig, Xchange Technology Rentals and CineStar. The ver.di union of film-industry workers has also long been a partner of DOK Leipzig.

DOK Leipzig is also pleased to cooperate with numerous partners in the area of content.

The media partners of DOK Leipzig 2020 are Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, Cineuropa and, for the first time, Screen International.

An overview of the awards, award sponsors and juries of DOK Leipzig can be found here: Awards & Jurys