Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München

The International Documentary Film Festival Munich (Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München e.V. – DOK.fest München for short) has been held annually in Munich, Germany since 1985. Since 2001 it has been organised by the association ''Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München e.V.'' (International Documentary Film Festival Munich Association) together with the ''Filmstadt München'' association. The festival focuses on socially relevant and artistically valuable documentary films.

''DOK.fest München'' also includes the industry platform and think tank ''DOK.forum,'' the educational programme ''DOK.education,'' the ''Student Award'', the Africa focus ''DOK.network Africa'', the year-round programme ''DOK.aroundtheclock'' as well as the festival in the region ''DOK.tour''. The executive and artistic director is Daniel Sponsel, and the deputy director is Adele Kohout.

''DOK.fest München'' is one of the largest documentary film festivals in Europe. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was held exclusively online for the first time, with part of the proceeds benefiting the usually participating cinemas and a record attendance of more than 75,000 viewers. In 2021, the festival also moved into the digital space and presented 131 films from 43 countries, seen by over 71,000 viewers during the festival time in May. The 37th ''DOK.fest München'' 2022 was held as a dual festival for the first time.

History

The founding of ''DOK.fest München'' goes back to the initiative of the Bavarian section of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dokumentarfilm / Documentary Film Association (AG DOK) Munich, which had set itself the goal of popularising documentary film and making it accessible to a broad audience. In cooperation with the ''Filmstadt München'' ''e.V.'', an association of local film initiatives, the 1st Munich International Documentary Film Festival was launched in 1985 with municipal support. Gudrun Geyer was appointed director and ran the festival until 2001.

Following the resignation of Gudrun Geyer in 2001, Hermann Barth took on the task of raising the festival's profile in Munich, Germany and worldwide on behalf of the newly founded association Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München e.V. Since 2002, the festival has been operating under the brand name ''DOK.fest'' with an expanded programme.

In 2009 Hermann Barth stepped down and the new management was taken over by Daniel Sponsel with the initial executive support of Christian Pfeil. Sponsel relies on the proven successful concept of Germany's largest festival for long documentaries and expanded the programme to include the German-language competition DOK.deutsch, the guest series DOK.guest, the retrospective and ''DOK.education'', the educational programme. He also launched the industry and young talent platform ''DOK.forum'' in 2011.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a new conception of the festival as ''DOK.fest München @home''. In the online edition, there were daily award ceremonies, events and live online discussions with filmmakers in addition to the documentary films on the digital screen. The industry platform ''DOK.forum'' also moved the planned workshops, pitches and discussion rounds into the digital space. For school classes, the educational programme ''DOK.education'' offered free viewing links with teaching units for three age levels. In 2021, the second online edition of the festival took place and in 2022 the first dual version: from 4 to 15 May 2022 at the Munich venues and with a time delay from 9 to 22 May 2022 online.

Series and awards

The festival programme of DOK.fest München is divided into competitions, thematic series and specials. A selection of current international documentaries with a length of 52 minutes or more will be shown. For the competition sections, special consideration is given to premieres. In 2022, the 17 prizes of the festival were endowed with prize money and provisions totalling 66,300 euros. The VIKTOR is awarded within the framework of the three main competitions. The VIKTOR DOK.international is the festival's main prize.

VIKTOR DOK.international – International Competition

* 2011: ''Der Fall Chodorkowski'' – Cyril Tuschi
* 2012: ''Six Million and One'' – David Fisher
* 2013: ''Sur le rivage du monde'' – Sylvain L' Espérance
* 2014: ''See No Evil'' – Jos de Putter
* 2015: '' Something Better to Come'' – Hanna Polak
* 2016: ''Natural Disorder'' – Christian Sønderby Jepsen
* 2017: ''Nowhere To Hide'' – Zaradasht Ahmed
* 2018: ''The Distant Barking of Dogs'' – Simon Lereng Wilmont
* 2019: ''Der nackte König – 18 Fragmente über Revolution'' – Andreas Hoessli
* 2020: '' Acasă, My Home'' – Radu Ciorniciuc
*2021: Anny – Helena Třeštíková
*2022: ''Trenches'' – Loup Bureau

VIKTOR DOK.deutsch – German-speaking Competition

* 2011: ''Wadans Welt'' – Dieter Schumann
* 2012: ''Das schlechte Feld'' – Bernhard Sallmann
* 2013: ''Der Imker'' – Mano Khalil
* 2014: ''Nirgendland'' – Helen Simon
* 2015: ''Aus dem Abseits'' – Simon Brückner
* 2016: ''Holz Erde Fleisch'' – Sigmund Steiner
* 2017: ''Bruder Jakob'' – Elí Roland Sachs
* 2018: ''I'm a bad guy'' – Susanne Freund
* 2019: ''Die bauliche Maßnahme'' – Nikolaus Geyrhalter
* 2020: ''Weiyena – Ein Heimatfilm'' – Weina Zhao and Judith Benedikt
*2021: Zuhurs Töchter – Laurentia Genske and Robin Humboldt
*2022: ''Zusammenleben'' – Thomas Fürhapter

VIKTOR DOK.horizonte

* 2011: ''El Mocito'' – Marcela Said
* 2012: ''Bachelor Mountain'' – Yu Guangyi
* 2013: ''A World not Ours'' – Mahdi Fleifel
* 2014: ''Cantos'' – Charlie Petersmann
* 2015: ''Ce qu'il reste de la folie'' – Joris Lachaise
* 2016: ''A Maid For Each'' – Maher Abi Samra
* 2017: ''Motherland'' – Ramona S. Díaz
* 2018: ''Demons in Paradise'' – Jude Ratnam
* 2019: ''Está todo bien – Alles ist gut'' – Tuki Jencquel
* 2020: ''They call me Babu'' – Sandra Beerends
*2021: ''Things we dare not to –'' Bruno Santamaria
*2022: ''No simple way home'' – Akuol de Mabior

megaherz Student Award (until 2016: megaherz Filmschulpreis)

* 2015: ''If Mama ain't Happy, Nobody is Happy'' – Mae de Jong
* 2016: ''La Fin d'Homère'' – Zahra Vargas
* 2017: ''Per Song'' – Shuchang Xie
* 2018: ''Sand und Blut'' – Matthias Krepp and Angelika Spangel
* 2019: ''In Search...'' – Beryl Magoko
* 2020: ''Regeln am Band, bei hoher Geschwindigkeit'' – Yulia Lokshina
*2021: ''The Case You –'' Alison Kuhn
*2022: ''Pushing Boundaries'' – Lesia Kordonets

FFF Talent Award Documentary Film

* 2011: ''El Bulli – Cooking in progress'' – Gereon Wetzel
* 2012: ''Schnee'' – August Pflugfelder
* 2013: ''Der Kapitän und sein Pirat'' – Andy Wolff
* 2014: ''Im Schatten der Copacabana'' – Denize Galiao
* 2015: ''Mission Control Texas'' – Ralf Bücheler
* 2016: ''Europe, She Loves'' – Jan Gassmann
* 2017: ''Salicelle Rap'' – Carmen Té
* 2018: ''Früher oder später'' – Pauline Roenneberg
* 2019: ''Congo Calling'' – Stephan Hilpert
* 2020: ''Chaddr – Unter uns der Fluss –'' Minsu Park
* 2021: ''Väter Unser –'' Sophie Linnenbaum
* 2022: ''Hoamweh Lung'' – Felix Klee

Documentary Film Award by

Goethe-Institut

* 2022: ''Liebe, D-Mark und Tod'' – Cem Kaya

ARRI AMIRA Award

* 2016: ''Tempestad'' – camera: Ernesto Pardo, direction: Tatiana Huezo
* 2017: ''Cameraperson'' – camera and directing: Kirsten Johnson
* 2018: ''Caniba'' – camera and directing: Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor
* 2019: ''Rediscovery'' – camera: Phie Ambo and Maggie Olkuska, direction: Phie Ambo

Since 2020, the prize has no longer been awarded.

DOK.fest Award of SOS Kinderdörfer weltweit

* 2014: ''Neuland'' – Anna Thommen
* 2015: ''Toto and His Sisters'' – Alexander Nanau
* 2016: '' Sonita'' – Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami
* 2017: ''Komunia'' – Anna Zamecka
* 2018: ''The Distant Barking of Dogs'' – Simon Lereng Wilmont
* 2019: ''Bruce Lee & The Outlaw'' – Joost Vandebrug
* 2020: ''Copper Notes of a Dream'' – Reza Farahmand and Bayerischer Rundfunk

* 2015: ''Electroboy'' – Marcel Gisler
* 2016: ''Parchim International'' – Stefan Eberlein and Manuel Fenn
* 2017: ''Miss Kiet's Children'' – Petra Lataster-Czisch and Peter Lataster
* 2018: ''Tackling Life'' – Johannes List
* 2019: ''Another Reality'' – Noël Dernesch and Oliver Waldhauer
* 2020: ''The Euphoria Of Being'' – Réka Szabó
*2021: ''He's My Brother –'' Cille Hannibal and Christine Hanberg
*2022: ''Girl Gang'' – Susanne Regina Meures

German Documentary Film Music Award

* 2015: ''Above and Below'' – composition: Paradox Paradise (John Gürtler, Jan Miserre and Lars Voges), director: Nicolas Steiner
* 2016: ''Dreams Rewired'' – composition: Siegfried Friedrich, directors: Manu Luksch, Martin Reinhart and Thomas Tode
* 2017: ''6 Jahre, 7 Monate und 16 Tage – Die Morde des NSU'' – composition: Elias Gottstein, director: Sobo Swobodnik
* 2018: ''Beuys'' – composition: Damian Scholl and Ulrich Reuter, director: Andres Veiel
* 2019: ''Stress'' – music: Jana Irmert, director: Florian Baron
* 2020: ''Die letzten Österreicher'' – music: Klemens Bittmann, Christian Bakanic and Christofer Frank
*2021: ''Soldaten'' – music: Christoph Schauer
*2022: ''Mein gestohlenes Land'' – composition: Carsten Nicolai aka Alva Noto, director: Marc Wiese

German Composition Funding Award

* 2016: ''Stray Dogs'' – composition: John Gürtler, direction: Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter
* 2017: ''Die Geheimnisse des Schönen Leo'' – composition: Alex Maschke, direction: Benedikt Schwarzer
* 2018: ''Go back!'' – composition: Florian Erlbeck
* 2019: ''Mau Ke Mana – Or: Where Are You Going?'' – composition: Max Gausepohl, direction: Max Sänger
* 2020: ''Awalatje – Die Hebammen'' – Anna-Marlene Bicking, Sarah Noa Bozenhardt and Sonja Kilbertus
* 2021: ''May It Be A Girl –'' composition: Akmaral Zykayeva, direction: Katerina Suvorova, production: Viktoriya Kalashnikova
* 2022: ''I don't want to be just a memory'' – composition: Bráulio Bandeira, Kei Watanabe, direction: Sarnt Utamachote, production: Klaus Salminen

VFF Documentary Film Production Award

* 2018: ''Grenzenlos – Geschichten von Freiheit und Freundschaft'' – producer: Birgit Schulz (Bildersturm Filmproduktion), directors: Johanna Bentz, Camilo Colmenares, Sandra Dajani, Madeleine Dallmeyer, Nazgol Emami, Diana Menestrey, Khaled Nawal and Birgit Schulz
* 2019: ''Boy Of War'' – producer: Fabian Driehorst (Fabian&Fred), director: Cyprien Clément-Delmas and Igor Kosenko
* 2020: ''Jenseits des Sichtbaren – Hilma af Klint'' – producers: Eva Illmer (Ambrosia Film GmbH) and Halina Dyrschka (also director)
* 2021: ''The Other Side Of The River'' – producers: Frank Müller (Doppelplusultra Filmproduktion), Guevara Namer and Antonia Kilian (Pink Shadow Films), direction: Antonia Kilian
* 2022: ''1001 Nights Apart'' – production: Sarvnaz Alambeigi (Rabison Art Production), Stefan Tolz and Thomas Riedelsheimer (Filmpunkt GmbH) and Louise Rosen (Louise Rosen Ltd.), direction: Sarvnaz Alambeigi

Award of the Subtitle Workshop Münster (OmU Promotion Award)

* 2008: ''Comeback'' – Maximilian Plettau
* 2009: ''Bernsteinland – Ein Todesmarsch in Ostpreußen'' – Julia Bourgett
* 2013: ''Meine keine Familie'' – Paul-Julien Robert
* 2014: ''Das Leben nach dem Tod am Meer'' – Martin Rieck
* 2015: ''Nicht alles schlucken'' – Jana Kalms, Piet Stolz and Sebastian Winkels
* 2016: ''Fragmente meiner Mutter'' – Britta Schöning

Since 2017, the prize has no longer been awarded.

Retrospective

* 2011: Klaus Wildenhahn
* 2012: Wim Wenders
* 2013: Werner Herzog
* 2014: Kim Longinotto
* 2015: Avi Mograbi
* 2016: Andres Veiel
* 2017: Georg Stefan Troller
* 2018: Helga Reidemeister
* 2019: Heddy Honigmann
*2021: 75 Jahre DEFA-Dokumentarfilm
*2022: Years of dictatorship under Francisco Franco

Homage

* 2021: Helena Třeštíková
* 2022: Heidi Specogna

DOK.edit Award – presented by

Adobe

* 2021: ''Nemesis'' – editors: Thomas Imbach and David Charap, direction: Thomas Imbach
* 2022: ''Daughters'' – editors: Åsa Mossberg and Line Schou, direction: Jenifer Malmqvist

DOK.talent Award of Haus des Dokumentarfilms (formerly Pitch Award of Haus des Dokumentarfilms)

* 2015: ''Aliyah'' – Rafael Bondy
* 2016: ''My Jewrovision'' – Walter Solon
* 2017: ''Awalatje – Die Hebammen'' – Sarah Noa Bozenhardt
* 2018: ''Merci de votre visite'' – Julia Furer
* 2019: ''Chagrin Valley'' – Nathalie Berger
* 2020: ''After the Gods –'' Jasmine Alakari
* 2021: ''Der siebte Sohn –'' Max Carlo Kohal
* 2022: ''Von Pflanzen und Menschen'' – Antshi von Moos

British Pathé Archive Award

* 2019: ''Wenn der Nebel sich lichtet'' – direction: Nancy Brandt, production: Ralf Kukula
* 2020: ''Queen Of Chess –'' Bernadett Tuza-Ritter, Gabor Harmi, Lili Kovacs
* 2021: ''Life Is Not A Competition But I'm Winning –'' direction: Julia Fuhr Mann
* 2022: ''I Used To Be The Mayor –'' Alexander Sussmann (direction), Karoline Henkel (co-production)

DOK.series Award

* 2021: ''Un Pedazo de Paz'' – direction: Jacobo Albán and Carlos Zerpa, production: Carlos Zerpa and Benoît Ayraud
* 2022: ''Memory Wars'' – Hendrik Löbbert (direction), Erik Winker and Daniela Dieterich (production)

DOK.digital – Award for new narrative formats

* 2020: ''Social Score'' – Vinzenz Aubry, Sebastian Strobel, Ralph Tharayil and Fabian Burghardt (Sansho Studio)
* 2021: ''Safespace'' ''–'' Whitney Bursch, Säli El Mohands, Rosa Fabry, Saphira Siegmund, Lea Wessels, Ariane Böhm, Elena Münker and Kim Neubauer
* 2022: ''Sneakerjagd'' ''–'' Benedikt Dietsch and Lorenz Jeric

FairFilmAward Non-Fiction

* 2018: Florianfilm
* 2019: ifage Filmproduktion

Since 2020, the prize has no longer been awarded.

DOK.education Documentary Film Award for Young People sponsored by BLLV e.V.

* 2015: 1. prize ''Eine andere Zeit'' – Verena Wagner, 2. prize ''Von einem, der auszog'' – Filmgruppe algo, 3. prize ''Sophia 2013'' – Lilian Robl
* 2016: 1. prize ''Utopie der Unterschiede'' – Laura Kansy, Viktor Schimpf and Annika Sehn, 2. prize ''A Man's Road'' – Jonathan Gentz and Victor Sattler, 3. prize ''Musik als Zuflucht'' – Moritz Spender
* 2017: 1. prize ''Tell Me Mr. Lo'' – Maya Duftschmid, 2. prize ''Wo Leben anders ist'' – Theresa Setzer, 3. prize ''Mein Shirt'' – Mathis Hauter (with Leon Schreiner, Paul Schober and Eva Böhm)
* 2018: 1. prize ''Vielleicht'' – Filmgruppe algo, state BSZ Alfons Goppel Schweinfurt, 2. prize ''Billy zieht um'' – Daniel Aberl, 3. prize ''Anders sehen'' – Film Group of the Goethe Gymnasium Regensburg, special mention: ''Dem Gewissen folgen'' – Amelie and Moritz Geiger
* 2019: 1. prize ''Nana – Recover Your Smile'' – Sabine Nering, 2. prize ''3004 KM'' – Melisa Kocak, 3. prize ''Pepitu Anumu'' – Rebecca Fischer, Susanne Horban, Isabelle Sohling and Ines Zehetmeier
* 2020: 1. prize ''Ben – vom Leben erzählen'' – Armin-Knab-Gymnasium Kitzingen, 2. prize ''Die alte Gärtnerei –'' Stephanie Schaible, Anita-Augspurg-Berufsoberschule München, 3. prize ''Hummelsteiner Weg'' – Hummelsteiner Weg Mittelschule, 1. prize for 6- to 11-year-olds ''Mit Lotte durch München'' – Charlotte Knorr, documentary advancement award for 6- to 11-year-olds ''Unser Leben im Moment'' – Flora Weber
* 2021: 1. prize ''Ausnahmezustand'' – Film Groupe Antonia-Werr-Zentrum St. Ludwig, 2. prize ''Nicht aus dem Bilderbuch'' – Natalie Kurzweg, Anita-Augspurg-Berufsoberschule München, 3. prize ''Die Liebe einer Mutter'' – Leonie Ehrmüller, Anita-Augspurg-BOS, 1. prize for 6- to 11-year-olds ''Snowboarden ist mein Leben'' – Flora Weber, documentary advancement award ''Umweltsünden'' – Hummelsteiner Weg Mittelschule, special mention ''Die kleinen Dinge'' – Louisa von Schnurbein
* 2022: 1. prize ''Alt, Älter, Arm'' by Sara-Gina Grünwald, Städtische Anita-Augspurg Berufsoberschule München, 2. prize ''Imaginärer Freund'' by Aimée Vollmer, Gymnasium Trudering, 3. prize ''Ich zähle'' by Louis Höllenreiner, Städtische Anita-Augspurg Berufsoberschule München, DOK.fest Young Talent Award ''Zhao und die Brücke zur Gesellschaft'' by Noah Terschak, Jonas Scheuerer and Jennifer Meyer, Clermont-Ferrand Mittelschule Regensburg, Main prize for 6- to 11-year-olds ''Traumberuf Lehrerin!?'' by Charlotte Knorr, special mention ''Born Identity'' by Jasmin Sossou, Städtische Anita-Augspurg Berufsoberschule München

DOK.education – educational programme

The film literacy section ''DOK.education'' started in 2011 as the youth section of ''DOK.fest München'' and was aimed at a young audience aged 8 to 18. In 2013, filmmaker Maya Reichert took over the management and reorientation. The programme was expanded into a year-round pedagogical programme due to the increased focus on adult education in 2018. The aim of the programme is film education, media literacy and cultural education at the extracurricular learning venue of the cinema, in the classroom and, since 2020, online.

For schools

The "School of Seeing" (formerly: Documentary Film School) for school classes offers film screenings accompanied by media education and discussions with filmmakers. The focus is on short professional documentaries from the lives of children and young people. In the School of Seeing, participants learn to differentiate how they see films and are motivated to apply this to their own everyday media use in order to become critical and self-confident media users. For each curated film, a team of film experts creates accompanying school material for teachers. The programme went online in 2020 due to the pandemic and expanded its user base nationwide. In 2021, three online cinema rooms with 12 digital lessons for distance learning and classroom use were available to school classes.

For teachers, ''DOK.education'' offers year-round media education training in cooperation with certifying training academies.

With the European film education platform LEARNING BY DOCS young people experience European reality of life in the 20th century through documentary films. Together with two European documentary film festivals, ''DOK.education'' supports film and European education in the classroom across national borders.

For young people

In the year-round educational programme, practical workshops for children, young people, film groups and school classes are offered throughout Bavaria in a face-to-face setting and also online since 2020 in order to learn how to make films or read film as an artistic medium.

''DOK.education'' has awarded annual prizes in the Bavaria-wide youth film competition for documentary films by children, adolescents and young adults since 2015 with the aim of encouraging practical filmmaking and artistic expression in the documentary genre.

The label ''DOK.4teens'' identifies films in the festival programme that are officially released for audiences aged 14 and over. For the regular programme the usual age rating of 18 and over applies.

DOK.forum – industry platform

''DOK.forum'' sees itself as a think tank for the documentary film industry and as a platform for projects in the development process. Since 2011 ''DOK.forum'' has taken place at the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München and in recent years has established itself as a permanent meeting place for the German-speaking industry – with a growing range of offerings for international filmmakers. In 2020, the industry programme took place exclusively online. The programme is divided into two segments:

Public events: DOK.forum Perspectives

In panel discussions, workshops and case studies, the ''DOK.forum'' Perspectives take a look at the developments in documentary work and invite you to develop visions and impulses and explore relevant media policy issues. The public events are aimed both at the industry and the interested festival audience.

Coproduction and ideas market: DOK.forum Marketplace

The marketplace offers filmmakers the opportunity to meet editors and producers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol at moderated roundtables and present their concepts. The best student pitch concept is awarded the Pitch Award of Haus des Dokumentarfilms.

Virtual Reality Pop Up Cinema

Since 2017, ''DOK.fest München'' has been presenting a selection of international documentary 360° and VR experiences parallel to the festival in May in the Futuro exhibition house in front of the Pinakothek der Moderne.

Cinemas and festival venues

* Carl-Amery-Saal im Gasteig
* City Kinos
* Deutsches Theater
* Filmmuseum München
* Harry Klein (Club)
* Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (HFF)
* Instituto Cervantes München
* Katholische Akademie in Bayern
* Lenbachhaus
* Literaturhaus München
* Münchner Kammerspiele
* Museum Fünf Kontinente
* Neues Maxim
* NS-Dokumentationszentrum (München)
* Pinakothek der Moderne
* Rio Filmpalast

DOK.tour Bayern

''DOK.tour Bayern'' has been bringing selected films from the current festival year to the cinemas of the Bavarian region since 2011. In 2019 the ''DOK.tour'' toured 18 cities throughout Bavaria between October and December with five documentaries. In 2020, the DOK.tour took place on three weekends before Christmas with three films on the digital screen.

References

External links

DOK.fest München

{{DEFAULTSORT:Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival Munchen
Documentary film festivals in Germany
Mass media in Munich
Festivals in Munich