More than 75,000 spectators watched the films of DOK.fest Munich @home and the events of DOK.forum and DOK.education. The number of actual viewers of the online edition is probably even higher, as it is not possible to determine how many people were sitting in front of the screens at any one time.

Around 170 experts and participants took part in the co-production market with projects in the development stage. More than 700 filmmakers from all over the world attended the online workshops and discussions. So the industry platform DOK.forum online can be considered as great sucess as well.
For next year Daniel Sponsel and his team are of course planning another festival on the big screen, but as well planning to take a piece of this online edition with them. So you can look forward to the 36 DOK.fest Munich May 5 —16, 2021

Click here for the full press release May 25, 2020

  

35 DOK.fest Munich — more than 75,000 spectators

 

 

 

 

Cinema is dead, long live cinema! Confessions of a film festival taking place online.
Greeting for DOK.fest München @home by Daniel Sponsel and Adele Kohout

 

opening ceremony 35 DOK.fest Munich @ home

 

 

2020 DOK.fest Munich comes to your home!

The full programm is online now.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis and all the official requirements, the organisators feel compelled not to let the 35th edition of the DOK.fest München May 6—17, 2020 take place in the usual form. The festival takes place as an online festival DOK.fest München @Home 2020.

Stay healthy!

 

 

 VFF Documentary Film Production Award 2020 goes to Eva Illmer and Halina Dyrschka.
 Sponsored by VFF Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film und Fernsehproduzenten mbH

For the documentary film JENSEITS DES SICHTBAREN – HILMA AF KLINT | BEYOND THE VISIBLE – HILMA AF KLINT, producers Eva Illmer (director, production) and Halina Dyrschka (production) receive this year's award, endowed with 7,500 Euros, which puts courageous and innovative production projects in the spotlight.

 

 

A wonderful signal in difficult times: We are pleased to be able to award all prizes of the festival in full this year and cordially invite you to the festive award ceremonies. Special thanks go to the prize donors of the VIKTORs, Bayerischer Rundfunk and Petra Kelly Foundation, as well as to the prize donors FilmFernsehFonds Bayern and megaherz. We will present the winning films in the presence of the prizewinners as well as representatives of the jury and prize donors.

  • VIKTOR Main Competition DOK.international
    The main prize of the festival honours outstanding films in the main competition DOK.international. The VIKTOR Main Competition is endowed with 10,000 euros and is donated by Bayerischer Rundfunk.
    ••• and the winner is  ACASA, MY HOME by Radu Ciorniciuc, coP: CORSO Film (DOK.International)
  • VIKTOR DOK.deutsch
    The DOK.deutsch competition presents films that deal with people and events in the German-speaking world. The VIKTOR DOK.deutsch is endowed with 5,000 euros.
    ••• and the winner is  WEIYENA – EIN HEIMATFILM by Weina Zhao und Judith Benedikt
  • VIKTOR DOK.horizonte
    The films in the DOK.horizonte competition tell of countries in transition. They are nominated for the VIKTOR DOK.horizonte, endowed with 5,000 euros, donated by the Petra Kelly Foundation.
    ••• and the winner is THEY CALL ME BABU by Sandra Beerends
  • FFF Talent Award Documentary Film
    The prize for young directors from Bavaria, endowed with 5,000 euros, is a cross-row award. It is donated by the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern.
    ••• and the winner is CHADDR – A RIVER BETWEEN US | CHADDR – UNTER UNS DER FLUSS by Minsu Park, P: KARBE Film (DOK.horizonte)
  • Megaherz Student Award
    The films of our partner universities compete for the prize for the best film in our student competition. The award is endowed with 3,000 Euros, the prize donor is megaherz.
    ••• and the winner is RULES OF THE ASSEMBLY LINE, AT HIGH SPEED | REGELN AM BAND, BEI HOHER GESCHWINDIGKEIT by Yulia Lokshina P: HFF Munich, wirFILM (Student Award, DOK.4teens)

Ceremony for the FFF Talent Award Documentary Film and Megaherz Student Award: Friday, May 15th, 8 pm @home (available via the front page of the festival)

Ceremony for the main prizes Saturday, May 16th, 8 pm @home (available via the front page of the festival).

 

 

LineUp German productions and coproductions
(click on the sections for the website of the film at the webpage of the festival, to stream the documentary)

The sections are:

DOK.international
Slices of life, insights and perspectives: the films of the international competition open doors into new worlds. They compete for the VIKTOR Main Competition, worth 10,000 Euros, sponsored by Bayerischer Rundfunk.

DOK.deutsch
The DOK.deutsch competition presents films that deal with people and events in the German-speaking region. In in-depth narratives we are exposed to extraordinary experiences and gain valuable insights.

DOK.horizonte
The films collected in the competition section DOK.horizonte talk about countries undergoing transition. They are nominated for the VIKTOR DOK.horizonte, worth 5,000 Euros, sponsored by Petra-Kelly-Stiftung.

DOK.panorama
DOK.panorama shows innovative documentary films from all over the world mapping the diversity and current trends of documentary storytelling.

Student Award
The Student Award of DOK.fest München presents outstanding documentary films by students of German-speaking film schools. The films are nominated for the Megaherz Student Award, worth 3,000 Euros.

BEST OF FESTS
Innovative cinema and intimate insights: The BEST OF FESTS series brings together films that have already been screened at other important festivals and celebrated or awarded prizes there.

DOK.music
From rock and pop, heavy metal and other weird sounds to classical music: DOK.music, as a new section, provides music for eyes and ears.

 

 

 

 

DOK.forum – INDUSTRY PLATTFORM

DOK.forum is a think tank for the documentary film industry and a platform for projects in the development process. It has established itself as a meeting place for the German-speaking industry and offers a growing range of services for international filmmakers.

Due to the current exceptional situation, the DOK.forum cannot take place in its usual form. In order to enable filmmakers to continue their training and networking, our industry events will be transferred to the digital realm this year.

The DOK.forum Perspectives with digital and events invite you 2020 to develop visions and impulses, and a diverse range of workshops is also part of the program. As an online co-production and ideas market, this year the DOK.forum Marketplace will again offer various formats for the realization of new documentary film projects.

Participation in the DOK.forum Marketplace and the DOK.forum Perspectives is free of charge this year, and we would like to help ease the current economic situation of many filmmakers.

DOK.forum experts The Who's Who of experts of the digital DOK.forum Marketplace 2020 can be found here.

 

NETWORKS FOR FUTURE! 
Joining Forces for the Documentary Film Industry
May 07. 2020, 02:00 p.m.
in cooperation with various Creative Europe MEDIA Desks Industry experts* from all over Europe will gather online examining the power of networks to address the challenges the documentary industry is facing. We want to find out what solidarity means for today's film professionals and how we can collaborate to help our films reach their audiences. This is a unique opportunity for the European documentary community to enter into a discussion and learn from each other.

 

DOK.digital
The Future of Storytelling
May 08, 2020 04:00 p.m.
The new award DOK.digital seeks answers to the question of how facts and stories can be told in the future. With the online event DOK.digital - The Future of Storytelling we present the five nominated projects. They tell their stories interactively, cross-media - and above all digitally. The journalists and documentary filmmakers use the characteristics of the respective media for their content, thus enabling unique and novel perspectives on stories, situations and events. Whether browser game, audio walk or Instagram channel - there is something for every.n user.in to discover! The pitches for the €2,500 prize will take place online, live and in the presence of the jury.

 

PLAYGROUND DOCUMENTARY

• Workshop for a Successful International Distribution
Speaker: Pauline Mazenod (Windrose)?Saturday, 09. May, 10.00 am
Click here for the event
 
• Reach the Audience! Digital Marketing Strategies for Documentaries
Speaker: Mathias Noschis (alphapanda) Saturday, 09. May, 12.00 am
Click here for the event
 
• Expand Your Narrative Space with Digital Storytelling 
Speaker: Patrick Mueller (Docmine) Saturday, 09. May, 2.00 pm
Click here for the event
 
• SPACE DOGS – A Case Study on Editing for Documentary Filmmakers
Speaker: Anne Fabini, Iikka Vehkalahti (Rough Cut Service) Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter (Filmmakers) Saturday, 09. May, 4.00 pm [SPACE DOGS]
Click here for the event


 

 

DOK.special 40 years AG DOK

A small circle of documentary filmmakers joined together in 1980 with the aim of creating a lively documentary film culture in Germany. 40 years later, AG DOK is a professional association of more than 900 filmmakers and is also the largest film association in Germany.
DOK.fest München is celebrating this with an anniversary programme: four selected documentary films by AG DOK members shed light on important socio-political issues of their respective times and thus exemplify four decades of a lively documentary film culture in Germany.

 

DOK.special — 40 years AG DOK
  • DER SUBJEKTIVE FAKTOR by Helke Sander ©1981 (DOK.special 40 years AG DOK) Fighting the patriarchy: the women’s movement in the 1970s.
  • LAST YEAR TITANIC | LETZTES JAHR TITANIC by Andreas Voigt ©1990 (DOK.special 40 years AG DOK) D-Mark, election campaign, freedom of travel – what the turnaround meant in everyday life.
  • LOSERS AN WINNERS by Ulrike Franke, Michael Loeken ©2006 (DOK.special 40 years AG DOK) Ruhrgebiet goes China: Construction and dismantling of a coking plant. Who benefits from globalisation?
  • DEMOCRACY – IM RAUSCH DER DATEN by David Bernet ©2015 (DOK.special 40 years AG DOK) Data protection in the EU parliament. A politician in the sights of the economic lobby.

 more Information 40 years AG DOK at the DOK.fest Munich (German only)

 

 

CORONOGRAPHY – is the first visible outcome of a collective project by filmmakers from all over the world launched by members of AG DOK, the German Documentary Association in March 2020 that will constantly evolve, expand and grow — much alike the numbers and curves of  COVID-19.
CORONOGRAPHY's interactive map at the 35 DOK.fest Munich is showing the first wave of films created during the initial weeks of the pandemic, despite all the restrictions. The interactive map is a platform to make them easily accessible.
Participants of the project founded the association DOCFILMPOOL e.V. on April 28th as a collective platform for filmmakers from all over the world to share and contribute their stories.

 

 

 

 

 

Anne Harder (Neues Maxim), Kerstin Schmidt (Rio Filmpalast), Daniel Sponsel (DOK.fest Munich), Daniel Kuonen (Rio Filmpalast) and Bruno Börger (City Kinos Munich). © 2020 Ute Bolmer

Festival director Daniel Sponsel was able to hand over 19,000 Euros to long-standing partner cinemas. The amount came about through the solidarity contribution when buying tickets for the last festival.
DOK.fest Munich 2020 counted approx. 75000 streams of documentary films, which Kulturserver brought to living rooms and/or home offices all over Germany.

single page:
• 36 DOK.fest Munich 2021 •
• 35 DOK.fest Munich 2020 •
• 34 DOK.fest Munich 2019 •
• 33 DOK.fest Munich 2018 •