In their online text DOK.fest München co-directors Daniel Sponsel and Adele Kohout stress how “documentary film celebrates life in its contradictions and brokenness. It tells us stories about humanity and its fallibility, about everything that makes us human. Documentary films are above all living places of memory. Everything that seems to be completely present on screen is in reality already past and releases us into an uncertain future. Our awareness of this uncertainty is the essence and grants us the freedom to choose our further path.”
With this in mind, the festival this year presents 131 films from 43 countries, and opens this May 5 with Daniel Sager’s Behind the Headlines, which goes behind the scenes at a leading German newspaper to detail journalistic practices.
Thirteen films are selected for DOK.international, including Helena Treštíková’s Anny, the opening film Behind the Headlines, Heddy Honigmann’s No Hay Camino and Eva Küpper’s Dark Rider. They will compete for the VIKTOR Main Competition prize, worth 10,000 euros.
The thirteen DOK.deutsch selections deal with people and events in the German-speaking region. “In the in-depth narratives we are exposed to extraordinary experiences and gain valuable insights,” writes the festival. The VIKTOR DOK.deutsch prize is valued at 5,000 euros.
The films in the DOK.horizonte competition tell stories from countries in transition. They are nominated for the VIKTOR DOK.horizonte, endowed with 5,000 euros, donated by the Petra Kelly Foundation. Selections include Aïcha Macky’s Zinder (France/Germany/Niger), CPH:DOX winner The Last Shelter (France/Mali/South Africa), and Mohamed El Aboudi’s School of Hope (Finland/France/Morocco).
The Student Award of DOK.fest München presents outstanding documentary films by students of German-speaking film schools. The associated Megaherz Student Award is worth 3,000 euros.
The nine-film Helena Treštíková homage zooms in on the Czech “master of long-term observation” and her “freestyle of documentary work”, while on the occasion of 75 years of DEFA, the festival will present films from 50 years of DEFA Studio für Wochenschau und Dokumentarfilme.
The guest country in 2021 is Canada, during which the festival will present seven docs for and about Canada, its “indigenous culture and megacities, monarchy and liberalism.”
On the Industry side, the DOK.forum Perspectives promises “the most extensive edition to date” and sets four programme focal points. New Media presents projects dedicated to innovative forms of documentary storytelling. The new programme series Re:arranging Reality revolves around post-production in documentary film. Media Policy opens up a platform that provides space for the discussion of media policy issues. In the Workshops & Consultancies section, renowned international experts from the industry will be available for individual consultations and workshops will explore festival strategies, ways to international co-productions and impact producing.
DOK.forum Marketplace we present 50 projects in various stages of development – from initial idea to rough cut. For the first time, the Master’s Pitch will also take place online, during which nine selected teams will present their documentary film in the making to a professional audience and receive valuable feedback.
Daniel Sponsel and Adele Kohout round off their online address by citing Germany’s most highly-lauded documentarian, at the same time putting their festival’s online presentation into clear perspective. “When asked in an interview back in 1997 what the future of documentary film might hold, Werner Herzog remarked: ‘No matter through which channels we reach people with our films in the future, it will always be about showing them that they are not alone.’ What drives us and what motivates us to venture an online edition with DOK.fest München? Maybe you will actually watch our films at home alone this year, but you will share the ideas and ideals of the makers and the people in front of the camera who tell their story just for you.”
