Nick Cunningham

It may have been shunned by Norwegian television executives (male) back in the 1970s and subsequently shelved for nigh on 50 years, but Vibeke Løkkeberg’s chronicle of the first International Women’s Film Seminar at Arsenal Cinema in Berlin, in 1973, still packs a political punch in offering up a timeless reflection on gender equality (or lack thereof) and representation. The director explains all to Business Doc Europe.

Christoph Terhechte, artistic director of the DOK Leipzig festival for documentary and animated film and managing director of the Leipziger DOK-Filmwochen GmbH, has decided to terminate his contract for personal reasons two years before its expiry on 31 January 2028. He will remain in his position until 31 January 2026 before taking early retirement. The 68th edition of DOK Leipzig will take place from 27 October to 2 November 2025, and will be the last under Terhechte’s direction.

The selection includes 71 films in competition, featuring 56 world premieres, 12 international premieres, and 3 European premieres. “It is very exciting to share a competition line up that truly represents documentary as an art form made for the cinema. CPH:DOX is about celebrating documentaries and the people who make them, and programming this year’s festival has been a journey rich with discoveries,” says Mads K. Mikkelsen, Head of Program of CPH:DOX.

Berlin-based Irish filmmaker Feargal Ward discusses his new short film, world-premiering in Berlin. Tin City was a fake town where, some 30 or 40 years ago, the British army played out war-game scenarios against the IRA, as represented by plastic mannequins and 2D cut-outs. “The crucial thing for me was the idea of a war taking place between two entities (the IRA and the British army), but on a third site, not in Britain, not in Ireland, but transplanted to north-west Germany,” says director Ward.

The role is a joint leadership position and she will work in collaboration with Creative Director Raul Niño Zambrano. Poskitt will be responsible for the charity’s business affairs, including growing audiences, overseeing production and operations, and extending the festival’s partnerships and fundraising avenues. “In a world where truth, perspective, and empathy are more crucial than ever, documentaries offer us a deeper understanding of our shared human experience,” said Poskitt on taking up the role.

Ema Ryan Yamazaki talks to S. Leo Chiang about her Oscar-nominated short doc in which Japanese first graders, aged no more than 6 or 7, audition for a performance of Ode to Joy for the following year’s new intake of pupils. “For me it's basically an attempt to intimately take a look at the Japanese elementary education system which I went through,” says Yamazaki, “but doing it through a singular story that captures, in my opinion, the essence of why Japan is the way it is.”

With running times ranging from 10 to 119 minutes,  the 37 films in Competition will “once again showcase contemporary documentary in all its diversity, as world, international or French premieres.” The Paris-based festival runs March 22-29.

Documentary is once more in the ascendant at Berlinale with more than 50 non-fiction films in official selection and a reinstated Doc Salon programme (14-18 February) at EFM, during which networking and knowledge-sharing will be placed centre-stage. “There was a missing link because Doc Salon had happened until the pandemic, but then it hadn't been reinstated after the pandemic,” says new Berlinale Pro chief Tanja Meissner. “So there was a real gap for these people to meet, to mingle and to network because, as you know, networking is the biggest asset in our industry.”

More than 50 documentaries are selected for Berlinale 2025 across the festival’s Competition, Berlinale Special, Panorama, Generation, Berlinale Classics, Shorts, Forum and Forum Expanded sections. Timestamp by Kateryna Gornostai is the sole doc screening in Competition, while Forum/Forum Expanded and Panorama sections present 23 and 10 documentaries respectively. The 75th Berlinale runs February 13-23.

DOK Leipzig, the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, has opened the call for submissions for its 68th edition running 27 October to 2 November 2024. The festival is looking for documentaries and animated films of all lengths from the production years 2024 and 2025. Films up to 40 minutes are considered as short films. The deadline for submissions is July 1 2025.