DOK Leipzig continues to receive generous funding this year. The main sponsor is the city of Leipzig, which is also the proprietor of Leipziger Dok-Filmwochen GmbH. The Free State of Saxony has also been a major sponsor of DOK Leipzig for many years. In addition, the Saxon Ministry of Science, Culture and Tourism allocates project funds for 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. The EU program Creative Europe Media, the Central German Media Fund and the German government’s Commissioner for Culture and Media, who has also been supporting the cultural and creative industries since summer 2020 with an emergency and recovery aid package called NEUSTART KULTUR, are also providing crucial support to the festival and its events and activities for the film industry.
Thanks to the generous support of the US Consulate General Leipzig, US filmmaker Shelly Silver was able to complete her project called “Hey You!”. Silver’s film Girls/Museum was in the International Competition in 2020. During the festival week from Oct. 25 to Oct. 31, her new video installation will be projected on to the façade of the Museum der bildenden Künste (MdbK) every day from 5 to 10 p.m. In written sentence fragments, the personified museum will speak to its audience. Sometimes seductive, sometimes inviting, provocative, warning, asking — a figure that knows it must change, but is not quite ready to do so.
On the evening of Oct. 24, starting at 6 p.m., persons accredited for the festival are invited to the ceremonial opening of the installation.
At this year’s edition of DOK Leipzig, a total of 63,250 euros in prize money will be awarded. In addition, there are non-cash benefits worth 10,000 euros that filmmakers will be able to use in developing their films.
A long-time award sponsor at DOK Leipzig is Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, which since 2013 has been sponsoring the 10,000-euro Golden Dove for the International Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film. MDR is also the exclusive media partner for radio and TV.
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. 3sat has been broadcasting documentary auteur films and supporting their production since 1993. By sponsoring this award for young directors at DOK Leipzig, 3sat is reaffirming its commitment to talented international directors.
The film distributor Weltkino is once again the award sponsor for the German Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film. Weltkino has been a valuable addition to the German cinema scene for more than six years. This independent distributor places particular importance on high-quality film art. For this reason, Weltkino is donating a share of 7,000 euros to the Golden Dove, which is endowed with 10,000 euros, in the German Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film.
The Friends of DOK Leipzig are once again among the award sponsors. The Leipziger Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Filmkunst e. V. is sponsoring the Silver Dove, worth 1,500 euros, for the Competition for the Audience Award Short Documentary and Animated Film.
DOK Leipzig also presents numerous awards of partner organisations. A total of 23 awards will be presented at DOK Leipzig. Festival director Christoph Terhechte would like to thank all of DOK Leipzig’s partners and sponsors: “We’re fortunate that our partners and sponsors are renewing their generous support for us in this year, which marks our return to the cinemas and to an in-person festival. For this, we thank them from the bottom of our hearts.”
Five of the awards are presented at DOK Industry to promote film projects. The award of the European Women’s Audiovisual Network honours a project by a female director in the DOK Co-Pro Market which tells a story from a point of view thus far marginalized and underrepresented in the world of film. The Saxon Award for the Best Documentary Project by a Female Director and the Current Time TV Award for a project from central or eastern Europe also honour projects at the DOK Co-Pro Market. The DFM Works-in-Progress Award, sponsored by D-Facto Motion, will again be awarded during the DOK Preview Germany presentation of rough cuts. In the short film pitch DOK Short n’ Sweet, the Square Eyes Festival Consultation Award, sponsored by the Dutch distributor Square Eyes, will for the first time be presented to a short film project.
In addition, the festival relies on the commitment of a large number of other patrons, sponsors and partners who help to make the festival’s offerings possible.
PŸUR is providing technical support for the festival as a premium partner. The company is providing Wi-Fi at festival venues and is assisting in the streaming of events at the Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig.
Big Cinema is again assisting the festival this year in processes of digitalisation and cinema playout and is handling the technical and organisational aspects of the film screenings at Leipzig Central Station (Osthalle). ECE Marketplaces are also facilitating the free film screenings there.
DOK Leipzig enjoys strong visibility around the city thanks to its collaboration with partnering regional printer MaXx Print.
The Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany and the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony also support the festival, and ZDF has also generously supported DOK Leipzig for years.
The SLM (Saxon State Agency for Private Broadcasting and New Media), again a collaborative partner, is sponsoring the festival’s numerous offerings for young talent. These include the award for up-and-coming filmmakers in the International Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film, the master classes, the DOK Spotters, the school screenings and DOK Neuland.
DOK Neuland has also been supported by ARTE since its inception. Using new digital technologies for innovative storytelling is a major objective of the European culture channel. MDR Media, the US Consulate General Leipzig, Sennheiser and HTC Vive also offer financial support for DOK Neuland.
Further partners support DOK Leipzig with financial and non-cash contributions and are thus instrumental to its success. The infobox in the market square is made possible by modulbox mo systeme. For years, loyal partners of DOK Leipzig have also included Computer Leipzig, 3sat and ver.di Filmunion.
The festival is also pleased to have numerous collaborative partners on the content level.
DOK Leipzig will show around 170 films and extended reality works from all over the world from 25 to 31 October this year. The festival will open on 25 October with the world premiere of The Rhine Flows to the Mediterranean Sea, a documentary by Offer Avnon. The festival centre is located in the Museum der bildenden Künste (MdbK) Leipzig.
An overview of the awards and juries at DOK Leipzig can be found here: Awards & Juries
Supporters of the festival are listed here: Partners & Sponsors
