Christina Wolf and Daniel Sponsel will open the festival from the (empty) Deutsches Theater, with several guests joining in via video.
BEHIND THE HEADLINES | HINTER DEN SCHLAGZEILEN by Daniel Andreas Sager, produced by Marc Bauder, bauderfilm and distributed in Germany by RFF - Real Fiction Filmverleih, World Sales by NEW DOCS will be the opening film of the 36 DOK.fest Munich @home.
Daniel Sponsel, CEO of DOK.fest Munich: “We are happy to open the 36th DOK.fest München with BEHIND THE HEADLINES. In this film, everything comes together: a highly relevant topic, strong protagonists and outstanding cinematic craftsmanship. Daniel Sager lets us witness at first hand how European history is being written.” Director Daniel Sager and the film's protagonists Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer will talk with presenter Christina Wolf and festival director Daniel Sponsel about the film, its making and the Ibiza affair during the opening ceremony.
The 36 DOK.fest Munich 2021 - entirely online
The 36. DOK.fest München, Germany’s biggest documentary film festival, presents its entire programme online. Until most recently, the DOK.fest München team had been preparing for a dual edition, planning to show films both on location in cinemas in Munich as well as online. In light of the current state of the corona pandemic this dual concept is no longer viable. The festival's management has decided to host this year's event, as has been done last year, exclusively online. It will be extended for one week and takes place from 5 – 23 May.
Save the Date: Press conference on 27 April 11 a.m. online at www.dokfest-muenchen.de.
The VFF Documentary Film Production Award is sponsored by the VFF Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film und Fernsehproduzenten mbH. It is endowed with 7,500 euros. Unique in Germany, it focuses on the work of documentary film producers. The award will be awarded for the fourth time in 2021. And as April 16, 2021 announced - the winner are the producers of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER, Frank Müller (DOPPELPLUSULTRA Film & TV Produktion), Guevara Namer & Antonia Kilian (Pink Shadow Films).
The nominees are:
- ANAMNESIS | ANMAßUNG by Chris Wright, Stefan Kolbe
Producer: Heino Deckert, ma.ja.de Filmprod. - COURAGE by Aliaksei Paluya
Producer: Jörn Möllenkamp, LPP Living Pictures Productions GbR, - THE WORLD BEYOND SILENCE | DIE WELT JENSEITS DER STILLE by Manuel Fenn
Producers: Thomas Jeschner, René Frotscher, Volker Zobelt, Sunday Filmproduktion, - ETERNITY AT LAST | ENDLICH UNENDLICH by Stephan Bergmann
Producers: Melanie Andernach, Knut Losen, Made in Germany Filmproduktion, - FREAKSCENE — THE STORY OF DINOSAUR JR by Philipp Reichenheim
Producers: Antoinette Köster, Stephan Holl, Philipp Reichenheim, Rapid Eye Movies, - GLITTER & DUST | GLITZER & STAUB by Anna Koch, Julia Lemke (Badabum Duo)
Producers: Martin Heisler, Katharina Bergfeld, Flare Film GmbH, - HELMUT NEWTON – THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL by Gero von Boehm
Producer: Felix von Boehm, LUPA FILM GmbH, - MR BACHMANN AND HIS CLASS | HERR BACHMANN UND SEINE KLASSE by Maria Speth
Producer: Maria Speth, Madonnen Film GmbH, - JIMIS LAST FESTIVAL | JIMIS LAST BLUES by Rasmus Gerlach
Producer: Rasmus Gerlach, Kinoki GmbH, - OECONOMIA by Carmen Losmann
Producers: Mareike Wegener, Hannes Lang, - PURPLE SEA | DAS PURPURMEER by Khaled Abdulwahed, Amel Alzakout
Producers: Alexandra Gerbaulet, Ines Meier, pong film GmbH, - THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER by Antonia Kilian
Producers: Frank Müller, Antonia Kilian, DOPPELPLUSULTRA Film und TV Produktion, Pink Shadow Films, Greenlit Productions Oy - WHO WE WILL HAVE BEEN | WER WIR GEWESEN SEIN WERDEN by Erec Brehmer
Producer: Erec Brehmer
The German Documentary Film Music Award is unique in the German-speaking territories in recognizing the original score for a feature-length documentary and considered as a platform for the work of composers and the value of music as a narrative layer in documentaries. The award is endowed with 5,000 € and is sponsored by the Versicherungskammer Kulturstiftung and goes to the composer of the original score. The award ceremony will take place for the ninth time as part of DOK.fest München.
...and the winner is Christoph Schauer with his original score for SOLDIERS | SOLDATEN by Christian von Brockhausen, Willem Konrad, produced by NDR/RBB
The nominees are:
- 972 BREAKDOWNS – ON THE LANDWAY TO NEW YORK | 972 BREAKDOWNS – AUF DEM LANDWEG NACH NEW YORK by Daniel von Rüdiger, Composition: Daniel von Rüdiger, Stefan Carl (0101), P: leavinghomefunktion GbR
- THE WILD HEART OF EUROPE | DER WILDE WALD by Lisa Eder, Composition: Sebastian Fillenberg, P: Lisa Eder Film GmbH, Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald, Distribution Germany: mindjazz pictures Filmverleih,
- A CLOWN, A LIFE | EIN CLOWN, EIN LEBEN by Harald Aue, Composition: Ernst Molden, Nino Mandl (Der Nino aus Wien), P: Neue Vitaskop Film e. U., Vienna, Austria
- GLITTER & DUST | GLITZER & STAUB by Anna Koch, Julia Lemke, (Badabum Duo), Composition: Peta Devlin, Thomas Wenzel, Paul Eisenach, P: Flare Film GmbH
- CLASS STRUGGLE | KLASSENKAMPF by Sobo Swobodnik, Composition: Elias Gottstein, P: Guerilla Film Koop.
- LAND by Timo Großpietsch, Composition: Vladyslav Sendecki (P: NDR)
- MARY BAUERMEISTER – ONE AND ONE IS THREE by Carmen Belaschk, Composition: Simon Stockhausen, P: Accentus Music, __ .
- SOLDIERS | SOLDATEN by Christian von Brockhausen, Willem Konrad, Composition: Christoph Schauer, (P: NDR/RBB)
- ZURICH DIARY | ZÜRCHER TAGEBUCH by Stefan Haupt, Composition: Tomas Korber, P: Fontana Film, Stefan Haupt, Zurich, Swiss
DOK.forum – The Industry Platform of DOK.fest München
Think tank for the documentary film industry and platform for projects in the development process.
In workshops and other public events, the DOK.forum Perspectives is a platform for the discussion of media-political, technical and narrative trends. With the programme series Re:arranging Reality, it will focus on post-production in documentary film in 2021 and the current media policy from the perspective of developments caused by the pandemic.
As a co-production and ideas market, the DOK.forum Marketplace — May 5-11, 2021 online only — offers various formats for the further development and realisation of new documentary film projects. As a platform for ideas and coproduction, the DOK.forum Marketplace invites around 45 selected documentary film projects in development stage to Munich every year. Here they meet experts such as commissioning editors, producers, funding representatives, distributors and sales agents. The aim is to offer relevant film ideas a suitable forum through targeted matchmaking, to provide valuable feedback, to enable new partnerships and thus help the projects to get realised.

DOK.edit Award – presented by Adobe
At DOK.forum Munich, the DOK.edit Award – presented by Adobe, endowed with 5,000 euros, will be awarded for the first time.
The nominated German documentary production is
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SURVIVAL | ANLEITUNG ZUM ÜBERLEBEN by Yana Ugrekhelidze, 73min Editing: Agata Wozniak, P: FORTIS FEM FILM
Berger, Kruglova & Ugrekhelidze GbR,
single page:
• 36 DOK.fest Munich 2021 •
• 35 DOK.fest Munich 2020 •
• 34 DOK.fest Munich 2019 •
• 33 DOK.fest Munich 2018 •