DOK Leipzig looks back on a successful edition of the festival this year, with a total of 41,523 attendances having been registered. Particularly satisfying was the interest shown in the events on site. 30,596 attendees were counted at the cinema screenings, talks and industry events as well as at the DOK Neuland exhibition. From 17 to 23 October, audiences at the Leipzig venues were shown 255 films and extended reality (XR) experiences from 55 countries. Following the week of the festival, eleven award-winning films from the programme were available online throughout Germany in the DOK Stream for one week.

The six programmes in the Retrospective “The Female Documentarists of the GDR” as well as the two Matinees on related themes were very well received. The two Master Classes by Mila Turajlić and Špela Čadež also met with enthusiasm. The free screenings at the Leipzig main station were again in high demand, as was the DOK Neuland exhibition of immersive XR experiences.

“After two years of operating under pandemic-related restrictions, this edition of the festival was a very important one for the filmmakers as well as for us,” concludes festival director Christoph Terhechte. “We’re very pleased to have received such exuberant feedback from our audience and from the industry representatives, which demonstrates to us just how important face-to-face interaction is for the film industry and for cinemas. It’s particularly gratifying that we were able to reach a very young audience and get lots of people to return to the cinemas.”

The festival’s online offerings, including the programme of films in DOK Stream, were accessed 10,927 times by the audience in Germany and by international representatives of the industry.

Following a hybrid version in 2021, the DOK Industry platform returned to a focus on in-person participation this year. Live streams, recordings and podcasts also provided various online access to the programme. The industry events met with great interest. The newly established DOK Archive Market including the keynotes, case studies and individual consultations with experts on film archives, were particularly popular. The short film pitch DOK Short n’ Sweet and the programme focusing on the animated film industry were also attended by numerous accredited professionals.

During the week-long festival, 1,471 international industry representatives met in Leipzig, with a further 210 accredited participants attending remotely. On two days after the end of the festival, accredited professionals had a further opportunity to network online. In total, DOK Industry recorded around 8,425 attendances this year.

24 prizes were awarded during the week of the festival, including the nine Golden and Silver Doves. The festival’s main award, the Golden Dove in the International Competition, worth 10,000 euros, was awarded to Theo Montoya for his documentary film “Anhell69”.

Overview of all award winners: Awards & Juries